It’s no surprise that car reviewers put most of their emphasis on the cool, flashy, high-performing and technologically advanced models. Those are the ones that garner attention and clicks. But the reality is that most drivers never actually buy a brand-new vehicle in their lifetime. Used car sales outnumber new sales about three and a half to one. The biggest reason is affordability. With automakers like Ford and Fiat Chrysler discontinuing their low cost, smaller cars, the list of options for a decent, affordable new car with a warranty is getting ever thinner. Despite, current problems it is facing, Nissan isn’t yet ready to give up on this market though, which is why we have the 2020 Versa.
The shift from small cars to crossovers over the past several years has meant not only a lift in rooflines, but also the bottom line on the window sticker. Entry prices for the most affordable crossovers like the Hyundai Venue and Nissan Kicks start between $17,000 and $18,000 and it’s not hard in many cases to get up to $30,000 for something like a Ford EcoSport or Jeep Renegade.
The Versa has long been Nissan’s value play. A decade ago in the wake of the great recession, Nissan launched a variant that was the last car in the US market available for under $10,000. That variant, while cheap, was not particularly desirable even in 2009. Hitting that price point meant you manual crank windows, no air conditioning and not even a basic AM/FM radio.
Times have changed. That level of minimalism just won’t fly in the 2020 automotive market. The new Versa that went on sale last summer is a bit more expensive even factoring in for inflation which would put that 10 grand Versa at a bit over $12,000 now. But with a starting MSRP of $14,730 ($15,655 with delivery) I would say this car is a vastly better car and a better value. Only the Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback is available at a lower price, and it is arguably much less car. The loaded SR model I drove came to $21,490 delivered.
Unlike that stripped out model of 2009, the base Versa S comes standard with an audio system with a 7.0-inch touchscreen that has bluetooth capability for connecting your phone. SV and SR trims add Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support. While the audio system performs adequately and has sufficient volume and fidelity for most of what you are likely to listen to on your commute, I do have to take Nissan to task yet again for the quality of the touchscreens they use.
The Versa has the same awful touchscreens used in many Nissan models. They are dim, lacking in contrast, washed out if the sun shines on them and virtually disappear when wearing sunglasses. Please Nissan, find out who supplies the great screens used by Hyundai and Kia on even their most affordable models and get those displays.
The base S trim level gets air conditioning and power windows as standard equipment and the SR I had comes with automatic climate control, albeit it is single zone, though that’s not really a problem. This being 2020, The Versa also gets standard automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection. The SV and SR also add radar-based blindspot monitoring and cross traffic alert. I’m a particular fan of cross traffic alert which is a big help when backing out of parking spaces between two SUVs.
The SR I drove also had the optional radar adaptive cruise control that maintains a safe distance to the vehicle ahead. As is increasingly the case today, the ACC has full stop and go capability which is handy when commuting in traffic. However, Nissan does something unusual with its ACC that I’ve not seen from any other manufacturer.
When the car comes to a stop, after 2-3 seconds, the ACC times out and you have to re-engage it with a tap of the accelerator or the steering wheel button when traffic moves again. For every automaker but Nissan, when the system times out, it keeps the brakes engaged until the driver does something so the car doesn’t move. For some reason, Nissan has decided to release the brakes at this point. If the driver hasn’t applied the brake pedal (which cancels the cruise control), the car will start to creep forward again. This is not unique to the Versa, the Armada I’m driving right now does the same thing. It would be better if Nissan followed the industry standard here and kept the brakes on until the driver does something.
Aside from the display quality and the ACC behavior, there isn’t really much else to complain about with this car. It’s far better looking than the previous generation and despite it’s fairly basic front strut and rear torsion beam suspension, it offers decent ride quality and driving dynamics. It’s certainly not going to keep pace with a GTI through corners, but it is capable and comfortable enough for daily commuting duties. The rear seat is big enough to comfortably hold a couple of adults and the trunk will swallow 15 cubic feet of stuff.
For $15,000 to $20,000 you can certainly get a nicer or more capable of vehicle with a few years and several tens of thousands of miles of use. But that vehicle won’t come with a new car warranty and may lake many of the newer features offered on even the base Versa S. There’s a decent chance that it also won’t match the 35 mpg average I got with the Versa even in some very cold weather.
In an era when the average transaction price on new vehicles is now almost double what a loaded Versa SR costs, if you want some basic transportation that’s going to be reliable and new, at a reasonable price, there aren’t a lot of choices, but the 2020 Nissan Versa is one that isn’t likely to disappoint you.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/samabuelsamid/2020/02/16/the-2020-nissan-versa-sr-provides-decent-basic-transportation-at-a-fair-price/
2020-02-16T16:28:00+00:00