2009 Nissan Versa 1.6 Sedan Review

If you’re shopping for an inexpensive car, you might be tempted to look in the classifieds for a good used one. But Nissan has come up with an interesting alternative: a low-priced version of its Versa subcompact. Think of it as a new car with a warranty at a pre-owned car price.

The Versa 1.6 Sedan with the option package is a very good deal.

Yours for $12,498, the Versa 1.6 Sedan carries the lowest MSRP in Canada. However, keep in mind that Nissan isn’t revolutionizing the car industry here. It’s not the cheapest car you can buy as this is being written; pay cash and get a Chevy Aveo for under $10,000, a Hyundai Accent 3-door costs $9,995 and even an Elantra goes for $11,995. So how much car do you get for twelve and a half grand?

13% less power
In a peculiar move, Nissan yanked the 1.8-litre engine that was found in last year’s Versa sedan and replaced it with a 1.6-litre unit. I don’t know how much money is saved by doing this, but I can’t imagine it being significant.

Anyway, output decreases from 122 to 107 horsepower, and transmission choices are a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic. Equipped with the latter, our test car reaches 100 km/h in a leisurely 11.2 seconds; that’s about a second slower than the Versa Hatchback which still relies on the bigger engine.

The 1.6 does provide slightly better fuel economy, but we’re talking about more or less 5%. We averaged 7.5 L/100 km, which isn’t bad.

The Versa sedan drives and rides well for a subcompact, although it’s not very exciting. It feels more expensive than it is, but that didn’t prevent some staffers from saying that when the windshield wipers were on, the whole car vibrated.

Output decreases from 122 to 107 horsepower, and transmission choices are a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic.