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Dueling Nissans: Sentra Vs Versa Sedan

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I must start by saying that I think the Versa sedan is the ugliest car on the US market right now.
To me it looks like an 80’s eastern European car.
So there I said it.
The current Sentra is no beauty queen but it looks like Marylin Monroe next to the Versa.


The rear view is the Versa‘s worst and dorkiest angle. Really.
A tall and narrow car with tiny wheels never looks good.
But is the cheapest car in the country and a bit less than $10 000. My test model was the 1.6 Liter Sedan with Air. Which turns out to be $12 000 including destination.

The Sentra

I drove was the SL model with a premium package, retailing $21 500.
So we’re talking almost $10 000 more than the Versa. A huge difference.(But a base Sentra starts at about $17 000)

HOW IT IS INSIDE

The Sentra dash is nothing amazing, but everything seems to work very well. The stereo has good sound quality. The SL comes with leather and the premium package adds a sunroof.
Everything is well put together and of good quality.
The seating position is a bit high. Too high for my taste.

The Versa I drove didn’t even have a radio. That also means no clock.
That means i had to drive playing the harmonica most of the time, or practice the guitar in parking lots.

You’d be surprised how many times a day you want to listen to .. something, anything.. or even check the time from the dashboard. Sure, we all have phones and watches. But the clock on the dash is such a habit… It’s just weird not having one.
The Versa interior is 100% hard and cheap looking. That’s what you get for buying the cheapest car around.
And it always reminds you that you did.



The back seat is roomy on the Sentra. But even more so in the smaller Versa.
It’s actually pretty amazing. You would thin that if they could do “whatever they do” to make such a small car that roomy, their Altima sedan should have the back seat of a Town Car. (But it doesn’t…)

HOW IT DRIVES:

Ride

Both cars have a very smooth ride. Making the Sentra feels like a more expensive car than it is.
There is nothing the ride, or anything else, can do to make the Versa feels like a more expensive car….
But the Versa didn’t feel as stable on the freeway. It felt really light.
Again, letting you know you got the cheapest new car around…

Steering

Steering in both cars is of course pretty light. But also precise.

Engine

The 2.0 Liter in the Sentra is an amazingly smooth and quiet engine. The car is always quiet and refined, no matter how you push it.
The smaller 1.6 Liter in the Versa isn’t.
It’s not terrible. But it gets really busy at speed past 65MPH. So I guess it kind of forces you to stay under the speed limit…

Transmission

The CVT shines again in the Sentra. Being very quick to respond to your right foot input.
The 5 speed manual in the Versa was fine. Very easy to shift and smooth.
But the shifter itself felt like I could break it if I went too hard on it.

SO???

The Sentra is a really good compact car.
Quick enough, smooth and super quiet. And the SL can become a small luxury car if you order every option.
Sure it isn’t really cheap. But carsdirect has loaded ones for under $20 000.

The Versa is cheap. And reminds it to you constantly.
To me, I would rather get a really decent used car for $12 000 than the Versa.
If you get a higher end version, you’d still have to deal with the cheap unstable feel at freeway speed, hard cheap looking and feeling plastics etc…
And then, that would be almost $15 000. (A base Sentra starts at $17 000)

I would recomand the Sentra for someone looking for a good compact sedan. Even the look grew on me in the week I had it.

On the other hand, the look of the Versa never did. And I would really recomand a good used car for the same money.
Or check out what the “cheap cars specialists” Hyundai/Kia have to offer for $12 000.
Even the similarly priced Chevrolet Aveo I drove last year was better and much more upscale.

Conversation 20 comments

  1. Thanks for doing this Vince. I dont like these two cars, but I have always thought that the small cars were much more interesting designs than the bigger ones… mainly because the bigger cars could just get by without dealing with issues of packaging (RE: backseat sizes). I

  2. I never saw the point in having both of these cars; they seem the same to be, but I didn’t sit in them or anything. They just seem like two small cars wanting to be big with those tiny wheels. I want to like the Sentra, but it just seems bloated (but all the new smaller size cars seem that way now a days). I like previous Sentra better, it looks sleeker and sportier; this one looks all big and weird. The Versa should be shot immediately. It doesn’t even blend in with the bigger Nissans and it does look out dated. I guess if someone is out to get a $10,000 car, they don’t care about the looks.

  3. Decent, affordable transportation. That’s what these cars offer and it’s what they deliver.

    Nothing more. Nothing less.

    And I drive a Honda.

  5. Sentra designed for “American tastes” vs Versa (or Tiida) designed for..well..everyone else I guess. Neither says much for what Nissan thinks of our tastes in cars.

  6. The Versa is beyond lame. You’re a loser if you own one and it’d be more sensible to buy a good used car for 12k.

    The Sentra only looks good when compared to the Versa. The Sentra is pretty terrible when compared to just about anything else in it’s class. In the 90s, you used to see Sentras everywhere. Today, not so much. I’d rather be seen in a Focus…. which aint saying much.

  7. The Versa is beyond lame. You’re a loser if you own one and it’d be more sensible to buy a good used car for 12k.

    The Sentra only looks good when compared to the Versa. The Sentra is pretty terrible when compared to just about anything else in it’s class. In the 90s, you used to see Sentras everywhere. Today, not so much. I’d rather be seen in a Focus…. which aint saying much.

  9. Just wait and see how uncanny and close Honda’s redesign of the Civic will be to the current Sentra. You will be amazed to see the giant step backwards for the Civic. Also, watch for a Rogue like CR-V to debut in 2012. Honda is on their fast way down on Jacob’s ladder!

  10. “Anonymous said…
    The Versa is beyond lame. You’re a loser if you own one and it’d be more sensible to buy a good used car for 12k.

    The Sentra only looks good when compared to the Versa. The Sentra is pretty terrible when compared to just about anything else in it’s class. In the 90s, you used to see Sentras everywhere. Today, not so much. I’d rather be seen in a Focus…. which aint saying much.”

    I completely agree.

    The Sentra is awful, the Versa is awful, and the SE-R Spec V is the biggest letdown ever.

    You can look for my story on the last time that Vince posted about Versa. I was on a test drive with a friend and his girlfriend in a brand new Versa and the hood blew open on the highway, destroyed the car and almost caused a major accident on I-66 between Vienna and Fairfax.

  11. Typical Nissan fanboy.

    Which is the best selling vehicle in the subcompact segment? Fit.

    Which is the best selling vehicle in the compact segment? Civic.

    Which is the best selling SUV in America? CR-V.

    Please do some research. The Sentra is crap, the CR-V outsells the Rouge at least 3:1. The next CR-V no one other than engineers has seen.

  12. the versa is a world car sold everywhere and the underpinnings sold as a renault. they rate great in every market. I their price category, there is not fit, yaris or hyundai that is as smooth or quiet or spacious…Nissan wins again!

  13. “#1 again said…
    the versa is a world car sold everywhere and the underpinnings sold as a renault. they rate great in every market. I their price category, there is not fit, yaris or hyundai that is as smooth or quiet or spacious…Nissan wins again!”

    Nissan wins at nothing.

    The Versa loses every single comparison test it has been in from major automotive publications in both the US and abroad.

    Where are you getting your information from?

    Nissan is #1 at nothing, especially not in their economy cars.

    Vince, can’t you just block the biased, ignorant and uneducated fanboy comments?

  14. That no-radio issue is actually not so much of an issue when I think about it. I don’t have to pay for a piece of junk that I would replace anyway.
    I get to save my money and put in a decent aftermarket system – I like how there’s room for a 2-DIN unit.

  15. Nissan does make some great driving cars. But let’s face it, the Sentra and the Versa are both very uncompetitive. Most other carmakers have really stepped-up their small cars while Nissan offers these cars which look and feel very early-90s.

  16. “Anonymous said…
    Nissan does make some great driving cars. But let’s face it, the Sentra and the Versa are both very uncompetitive. Most other carmakers have really stepped-up their small cars while Nissan offers these cars which look and feel very early-90s.”

    I agree with the second part of that comment.

    Aside from the GTR and the 370Z, I don’t think you can say any of their other vehicles drive “well”.

  18. “Gaetan daslit said…

    True dat, Nissan are bullet proof cars, but Versa and Sentra need some updating NOW!”

    Bulletproof?

    You better go pick up a copy of Consumer Reports. They don’t seem to think they are “bulletproof”.

  19. “Aside from the GTR and the 370Z, I don’t think you can say any of their other vehicles drive “well”.”

    Agreed. But let’s also include the two amazing Infiniti G cars. Nissan knows how to do it right. But they, like other automakers, don’t seem to understand how to do small cars anymore. And they’re pretty terrible at trucks IMHO.

  20. “Agreed. But let’s also include the two amazing Infiniti G cars. Nissan knows how to do it right. But they, like other automakers, don’t seem to understand how to do small cars anymore. And they’re pretty terrible at trucks IMHO.”

    The G twins are very good, I do agree.

    I still think the Civic is a very decent small car. If the Jetta/Rabbit/GTI didn’t have reliability issues they would be very good as well. The Mazda 3, regardless of how hideous it is, is a very competitive vehicle.

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