Life is funny, needs / jobs / change and we realized it was time to get rid of the 14 yr old rear wheel vehicle that got about 17mpg and was up there in miles after my wife got a job that requires her to drive about 70 miles every day.
In gas alone we were spending over $400 a month for her commuting and basic around town stuff, plus the expenses of unexpected repairs on the older car was always an unwelcome "SURPRISE!".
We drove so many cars mostly used honda toyota suzuki hundai ford chevy but we had not found the car we all fit in and that was comfortable to drive plus got 30+ mpg.
Wife is "normal sized" 5' 6" but I am 6' 6" and big (ok fat and tall), we have two kids 3 and 11, this car is for her work commute but we were hoping to find something we could all fit in too if and when needed, as we looked at many smaller cars I realized I probably had to sacrifice headroom / legroom for me to get her that mpg and I was ok with that but bummed I couldn't find a mix of interior size with ride and mpg.
After days of driving other cars and reading online searching etc we were just watching tv kinda frustrated honestly by not finding a car yet and happened to see the commercial for the Versa talking about the head and leg room and low starting price high mpg etc, I never had a Nissan but I checked it out more online and saw some of the features and the inside cabin room they were talking about and said lets go see one.
I could not BELIEVE the room in this car! I was even able to DRIVE it much less sit fine in the passenger side, then as the driver seat back and reclined a bit I got out and got into the backseat behind the drivers side and STILL had room! I didn't realize there were child safety things on the rear doors so I actually locked myself into the backseat, wife loved that one hehe.
The ride was the best for us by far seats were comfy bumps weren't jarring on your bones like they were in the focus and civic and with that cvt transmission it was a smooth drive vs most economy cars that sound and feel like a wind up toy as it goes thru the gears.
Overall it sure seems to fit all of our criteria and as we started doing the math here what we were spending in gas will be cut in half and for not much more than what a few used cars we were looking at with some out of warranty and having higher miles even we now have a new 2012 Versa with a 5 yr 100,000 warranty, starting with no miles on it (so we dont have to worry about major repairs or did someone beat it or wreck it as a used car), and best of all the gas savings alone pays for a good chunk of our new payment here.
The only thing we wished it had was a center console, I did find a few aftermarket ones for the earlier models and as 2012 is a new style they don't offer them yet but I am sure someone will be soon as this should be a very popular little car choice for many out there.
Wife loves her new 2012 Titanium 4door sedan with the cvt auto transmission, the only option we got was the convenience package for her phone etc and she loves it, calls sound decent too, oh we got floormats and splash guards too but nothing fancy like rims or spoilers etc.
Hoping to get a pic of it soon here to show out of state family on facebook and stuff, but she is really loving it so far!
Bill
In gas alone we were spending over $400 a month for her commuting and basic around town stuff, plus the expenses of unexpected repairs on the older car was always an unwelcome "SURPRISE!".
We drove so many cars mostly used honda toyota suzuki hundai ford chevy but we had not found the car we all fit in and that was comfortable to drive plus got 30+ mpg.
Wife is "normal sized" 5' 6" but I am 6' 6" and big (ok fat and tall), we have two kids 3 and 11, this car is for her work commute but we were hoping to find something we could all fit in too if and when needed, as we looked at many smaller cars I realized I probably had to sacrifice headroom / legroom for me to get her that mpg and I was ok with that but bummed I couldn't find a mix of interior size with ride and mpg.
After days of driving other cars and reading online searching etc we were just watching tv kinda frustrated honestly by not finding a car yet and happened to see the commercial for the Versa talking about the head and leg room and low starting price high mpg etc, I never had a Nissan but I checked it out more online and saw some of the features and the inside cabin room they were talking about and said lets go see one.
I could not BELIEVE the room in this car! I was even able to DRIVE it much less sit fine in the passenger side, then as the driver seat back and reclined a bit I got out and got into the backseat behind the drivers side and STILL had room! I didn't realize there were child safety things on the rear doors so I actually locked myself into the backseat, wife loved that one hehe.
The ride was the best for us by far seats were comfy bumps weren't jarring on your bones like they were in the focus and civic and with that cvt transmission it was a smooth drive vs most economy cars that sound and feel like a wind up toy as it goes thru the gears.
Overall it sure seems to fit all of our criteria and as we started doing the math here what we were spending in gas will be cut in half and for not much more than what a few used cars we were looking at with some out of warranty and having higher miles even we now have a new 2012 Versa with a 5 yr 100,000 warranty, starting with no miles on it (so we dont have to worry about major repairs or did someone beat it or wreck it as a used car), and best of all the gas savings alone pays for a good chunk of our new payment here.
The only thing we wished it had was a center console, I did find a few aftermarket ones for the earlier models and as 2012 is a new style they don't offer them yet but I am sure someone will be soon as this should be a very popular little car choice for many out there.
Wife loves her new 2012 Titanium 4door sedan with the cvt auto transmission, the only option we got was the convenience package for her phone etc and she loves it, calls sound decent too, oh we got floormats and splash guards too but nothing fancy like rims or spoilers etc.
Hoping to get a pic of it soon here to show out of state family on facebook and stuff, but she is really loving it so far!
Bill