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Comparison review: seven economical sedans (first place)
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The Nissan Versa is a winner for offering the same sense of quality as its best
competitors while costing much less.
The Nissan Versa isn’t special, even by the standards of economical sedans. It’s not sporty and it’s not luxurious. It’s stumpy on the outside and unremarkable to look at on the inside. It doesn’t have much power and it doesn’t have class-leading gas mileage.
But the Versa is the best economical sedan for the money, largely because of the money. Its sticker price of $16,100 as tested is by far the lowest of these seven, and Fitzgerald Auto Malls will shave off more than $2,000 further.
And the $14,000 Versa equals or betters the level of space, comfort, safety, and refinement of its more expensive competition.
The Versa may fall off the radar in traditional comparison shopping because it’s one of two Nissan compact sedans, and the other – the Sentra – has more name recognition. But the more expensive Sentra only feels bigger than the Versa; it doesn’t offer anything else extra.
Get inside the Versa, and you’ll get an immediate sense of quality. Not luxury – the Versa looks and feels like an compact economical car. But as much as in any of its competitors, you get the sense that it’s a nice economical car. The seats look lumpy, but they’re actually surprisingly comfortable and do an excellent job of holding occupants in place in cornering without intrusive side bolstering. The fabric also looks and feels nice.
Similarly, the straightforward but basic dash is built without plastics that look or feel cheap. The door panels include padded armrests on all but the most basic Versas, surprisingly uncommon even in larger and more expensive cars. The rear seat is very spacious and, like the front seats, is high off the floor. The Hyundai Elantra’s seat is better-shaped, but the Versa seats four adults more comfortably than any other small car and many larger ones – including Nissan’s own midsize Altima and Maxima. The Versa may not be pretty from the outside, but its design has the clear functional purpose of providing maximum interior space. The trunk is also roomy, but it’s tall and not very long, leaving a bit less usable floor space than a few other small sedans.
The Versa also is pleasant and unremarkable to drive, similar to an Elantra or Toyota Corolla. The ride is very comfortable and controlled on smooth roads and handles most bumps well, though it’s a bit jumpy over a rapid series of bumps. With just 122 horsepower, the Versa isn’t very powerful, but the engine stays surprisingly quiet even when you push it hard, limiting an impression of gutlessness. Gas mileage is no better than the average competitor, however, at 24 miles per gallon in the city and 32 on the highway.
While the Versa’s slightly tighter exterior dimensions compared to an Elantra or Corolla make it more agile than those two cars, it isn’t very fun to drive either. While the Versa pulls off comfort and refinement very well, someone looking for sporty handling should probably keep looking.
The Versa did earn top crash-test scores from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, though it trails the Corolla (which performed just as well in those crash tests) by not offering electronic stability control.
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Consumer Reports and TrueDelta.com rated the Versa’s reliability as about average – and the average new car is unlikely to see many problems. TrueDelta also predicted Nissan’s ironing out of some early-production Versa flaws will lead to higher reliability ratings in the future, but for now the Hyundai Elantra is still the car to beat for the greatest likelihood of a trouble-free ownership experience.The Versa isn’t the spiffiest economical car. It’s roomy, quiet, comfortable, safe, and generally forgettable. But so are most of its competitors, and it does at least of a good a job as they do at providing those attributes. And though a Corolla or Honda Civic gets better gas mileage, the difference there does not come close to equaling the difference in their purchase prices.
The Versa is a good enough car to sell at the same prices as its competitors. It has the requisite qualities, as well as the necessary overall sense of quality. But it’s a clear winner because it doesn’t sell at the same prices as other economical sedans. At just over $14,000, it’s $1,300 less to buy than the next-cheapest car, and a Honda Civic costs a full third more – more than $4,600 extra.
An economical car must be economical. And an economical car that can save you thousands of dollars without forcing you to sacrifice a sense of quality is a winner.
Overall grade: A
Vehicle tested: 2009 Nissan Versa 1.8S
Vehicle base price (MSRP): $9,990
Vehicle price as tested (MSRP): $16,100
Estimated transaction price as tested: $14,047
Test vehicle provided by: Antwerpen Nissan of Clarksville, Md.
For more info: http://www.nissanusa.com/versa/
Coming up tomorrow: Conclusion
Wednesday, Dec 24: Fifth Place
Thursday, Dec. 25: Fourth Place
Friday, Dec. 26:
Third Place
Saturday, Dec. 27: Second Place
Sunday, Dec. 28:
First Place
Monday, Dec 29:
Conclusion
Photos by Brady Holt.
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