What car? Cheapest new automatic; Versa vs Fiesta Vs ____?

Looks like my mom is going car shopping this weekend/buying in the near future and I'll tag along for support. She racks up the miles; 500+ miles a week, mostly freeway, new for the warranty, automatic transmission, cheap and reliable so she was looking at the Versa.

Nissan website says MSRP for base auto sedan Versa is $14315
I looked around and found the Ford Fiesta's MSRP for a base auto sedan is $14635

Not knowing much about either, I tend to lean toward the Fiesta, she is from the school of thought that believes Japan = reliable but I think she can be reasoned with.

Any experiences on either? other suggestions of models that should be considered due to incentives or discounts etc... I had a 1st gen Fit that I loved but a new Fit seems to be out of her price range and I found the Kia Rio sticker prices higher than the Ford and the Nissan. If it were me and that was my commute I'd go for 1st gen Insight, but I think for her, a new appliance with warranty will be the best bet.

Sonic. Might find a deal on a left over 2014 Cruze.

Fiesta seems to continue to have issues with the automatic transmission.

If you can find a leftover 2014 Hyundai Accent, there's $1000 on the hood. So $16k less a grand, and dealers want the 2014 models GONE. Frankly, I like the Accent better than either of the two you listed.

If its just her a Fiat Pop. The wife does about 250-300 miles a week and in the year and a half we've had it she's put about 49,000 miles on it with just routine Maintainance and a few steel wheels that were lost to pot holes. The only down side is that it needs plugs every 30,000 but they only take about 10 minutes to do.

Sonic is a decent car. I'd bet you can get a Rio or Accent at a good price. The Versa is good at eating up highway cruising miles.

CPO Fit would be a good choice too. You can get a 2012 or 2013 with a good warranty for cheap.

Wally wrote: and a few steel wheels that were lost to pot holes.

Those are either very soft steel wheels or very large potholes. In 30+ years of driving, I've never lost a steel wheel to a pothole.

I would try to get a deal on a Hyundai or accent as well, not that I lime them better, but that's a lot of miles to put on and I think the better warranty would make it worth a little more

In reply to EvanR:

I think it's a combination. Driving around Manhattan I see most of the ones with steel wheels are missing a hub cap and have a dented rim. So far the heavy cheap wheels from Tire Rack have been holding up much better.

If you can find a leftover Mazda2, they're cheap.

A friend of mine has had two versas (a 2009 and a 2013 I believe). They are both swell vehicles for her, great outward vision, decent power, great fuel economy.

Some will hate because Nissan, but there is honestly nothing wrong with them. Oh, and Fiesta's suck when trying to carry people in the back due to the sloped roofline, the Versa is much more capable in that regard.

make sure she drives each one on the freeway at speed. Some may be much nosier inside than others.

EvanR wrote: Fiesta seems to continue to have issues with the automatic transmission. If you can find a leftover 2014 Hyundai Accent, there's $1000 on the hood. So $16k less a grand, and dealers want the 2014 models GONE. Frankly, I like the Accent better than either of the two you listed.

I had a Fiesta with a CVT as a rental car a few months ago. I don't know if that one was atypical but it was simply miserable to drive. It stumbled and hunted and jerked. I tried to return it and get something else because I literally thought something was wrong with it but the rental company said it was fine.........they all did that. Other than that is seemed like a nice little car but the trans ruined it.

Fiestas don't come with cvts, they have an automated manual dual.clutch called the powershift . They are kind of jerky at parking lot speeds but do get great mpgs on the highway my wifes old fiesta got 44 on trips

That is unless they have changed something recently, and hers did have transmission work done under warranty,

Hyundai Accent/Kia Rio. Might be a tick more expensive--but will certainly have better standard content and have the best warranty. That to me means a better value.

You got my vote for the Honda fit. Cheap and bullet proof. I've owned both generations now, the second gen beats the first gen in mileage and pep and fit and finish. Much more refined carpet. And slightly less blind spot at the drivers side A pillar.

+1 on test drive anything at freeway speeds.

Consider that the smallest class cars tend to be geared to make up for displacement and get buzzy at interstate/freeway speeds. When I test drove a previous gen accent it was turning something like 4k at 70. The civic I went with runs 3k.

Trackmouse wrote: You got my vote for the Honda fit. Cheap and bullet proof. I've owned both generations now, the second gen beats the first gen in mileage and pep and fit and finish. Much more refined carpet. And slightly less blind spot at the drivers side A pillar.

I was going to say this as well. Its a small, reliable, Honda I doubt you could do better. Not sure how cheap though.

You always hear about the problems with the powershift, none about those with none. It seems that Ford may have found a fix and they have extended the warranty on the transmission.

Mu 2011 was at 42K miles with no problems when it got wrecked.

I now have a 2013 with 23K miles and no problems.

In general, reliability is good.

I had a 2012 Focus with the powershift. It worked fine on the highway but was not good a low speed. It never broke, just sucked at engaging/slipping into 1st. Useless in the snow. Completely useless. There is no easing into it. You would go immediately from no power to spinning tires. It had brand new tires on it too!

LISTEN This is how its done:

Go to autotrader.com, select new cars and select what you want. MSRP bears only a slight resemblance to what the best price on the car is.

The Fiesta is much better than the Versa. While usually Japense cars are reliable, the Versa is a car that was designed with a heavy emphasis on cost cutting and I would expect parts to wear out quickly due to those cost cutting measures. The Sonic is a good choice for some people but not all. Its not as sporty as the Fiesta and is horrific in the snow/ice on the OEM Hankook tires. In fact, my friend couldn't get out of his level parking spot after 2" of snow without a shovel and his tires are at full tread depth! If you look at the TireRack review for the OE tires, everyone has had a similar experience.

In terms of cost of ownership, Ford has good prices of maintenance, repairs and labor. In fact, they only charge $60 an hour where I live (most mainstream dealerships charge $100 and luxury dealerships such as BMW charge $160) and I just got the oil changed on my Mustang for $20 OTD! Parts are damn cheap to, a new brake master cylinder on my Mustang was $54!

Both have "interesting" automatic transmissions.

The Fiesta has basically a really cheaply built Dual-Clutch-Automatic, (think VW SMG). It is reportedly, problematic, and if not problematic, provides an odd feel when shifting at low speeds.

The Versa has a CVT. Now, Nissan has been all about CVT's in the US for close to 10 years now, so they sorta have most of the bugs out of it. However the driving experience leaves a bit to be desired. It sort of feels like driving a golf cart.

I agree with the others - Mazda2, Fit, or Rio/Accent.

I am not sure if I would want to deal with Fiat's long term reliability buy I have to believe that the 500L, wagon thing is not selling well. All I see are rental cars.
Are they down to giveaway pricing yet?
I have seen former rentals selling for $13.5k

Mmadness wrote: LISTEN This is how its done: Go to autotrader.com, select new cars and select what you want. MSRP bears only a slight resemblance to what the best price on the car is.

I feel like this needs repeated.

In my general area, don't over pay.

Fiesta S $11,400

Focus SE $11,726

Versa S $12,066