If you want to hear from someon who has a Versa.
It is the wife's car and a second choice to the Mazda3 I would have picked.
Wife likes the car. The room inside reminds me of Dr. Whos Tardis; you can haul anything and the backseat passengers never fail to comment on the room.
Would it be by first choice to drive to Florida? Not really. Do I catch myself taking it to the stores on weekends rather than the FRS, yeah, more often than not.
I love my 2010 Fit, but I drive in town and in traffic 90% of the time. It's so good at that role that I have to remind myself to take the E36 M3 out once a week so it doesn't get cranky about sitting still too much.
It's a great city car, and clearly was designed for that as opposed to longer hauls. Better interior materials than the competition, but definitely louder on the highway. The manual transmission is geared very short. It's pretty buzzy over 60 mph compared to a Fiesta or Focus. How much better is the gearing with the automatics?
In reply to ppdd:
Sport automatic is awesome. No buzz at 75mph. 85 is still nice. Change tires from the eco Junkers. I went to 205/50/16's and never looked back. Better handling, better snow grip. Lost two mpgs. Saved 200$
I'd say go with a Fit. From a price point, the Versa sedan is pretty hard to beat. I work for a Nissan dealer and the msrp is in the $14-$15k range for a Versa sedan with an automatic.
Drive as many as you can! Make a highway test mandatory if she's spending that much time in the car driving that many miles she'll want to be comfortable. Secondly (maybe should be first) Check all the safety ratings! Pretty sure the Rio does not have a good record for impact ratings.
In reply to singleslammer:
But not winter tires.
Appreciate all the input I will have her highway test all of your suggestions. We did talk about the Koreans having a better warranty and she does agree that would be a smart move due to how much she drives. Don't know if I can talk her into a Spark or Fiat but I'll bring them up. We're in southern California, no snow or even much rain to speak of. Did not think to look at autotrader and forgot about 2014 leftovers, thanks!
She liked the Fiesta a lot more than she thought she would, though the styling is too aggressive for her. The Versa felt slow to her, but I think it might have to do with how many passengers went on the test drive, or maybe the CVT.
Couldn't find any Mazda 2s locally, couldn't talk her into looking at the Cruze or Sonic. She digs the Fiat but warranty isn't as good as the Koreans plus she doesn't want to shop anymore. After a less than pleasant experience with the Kia dealer last night, she's decided on the Hyundai Accent hatchback.
Didn't think she would go for the Accent due to the hatchback, but she likes it and it comes better optioned than the Fiesta and the Versa (power windows and locks) and the warranty was the big selling point.
The local dealer has 5 2014s in stock, Autotrader is showing me everything at about MSRP (within 50 miles of 93030) Same dealership is offering $3400 off 2014 Elantra GTs but only have manuals :(
I know EvanR threw out 15k, what is a new 2014 Accent with Auto trans going for these days? (what should I aim for pricewise?)
Hyundai Accent Hatchback is a good bang for the buck. They have plenty of power so it should be bearable on the highway. Pretty cool that you can get it with a 6 speed manual too
After a month of on and off shopping, testing 4 cars from 3 different makes and trying unsuccessfully to get a good deal on a 2014 Accent, without further ado the winner is...
2015 Hyundai Elantra
Lakeside Blue
Dark gray interior
Auto dimming mirrors
Automatic
Floor mats
Cargo mat
Cargo net (I'll need to pick up the hooks)
I think I got her a great deal, especially since another dealer was trying to push her into a 2014 Accent hatch for a hair under 18k out the door, or the other entry level base model cars we looked at with no power windows or locks for similar money. Bigger/roomier, bigger engine and better fuel economy (vs everything else we looked at besides the Versa) that warranty, nicer interior, more standard options, she loves the color, etc. etc.
I was very specific on the "request a quote" webforms and can't believe how many sent me offers where the price included discounts I wasn't eligible for, or how many dealers blew up my phone when I stated I preferred to be contacted via email. Or how many gave me higher quotes than their advertised web price. And this was mostly for 2014 Accents.
The one good thing from that was being included in the weekly email blasts from those dealers and one was deeply discounting Elantras, so I contacted that dealer on Friday evening and a second Saturday morning, ended up buying from the latter Saturday night, just like that. Gladly purchased from the one dealer/salesman who emailed me back with a price quote that was for a car that met my criteria, transaction was as straightforward and smooth as I feel it should be. I didn't even counter his offer, well I did ask that he throw in a cargo net and cargo mat for her. No games, no "I gotchas" or anything sneaky/underhanded, nothing but a valiant but polite effort by the F&I guy to sell us an extended warranty. Extremely happy about how they treated my mom.
And when we went to sign the paperwork, the price was even less than what he quoted me via email.
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