New Cars Under

There have been several updates made to the Nissan Versa this year including the price. Taking a closer look at the base model is one of the more economical new cars under 12000 which can be found today. Roomy interior and high safety ratings combine to make the vehicle enticing for more than just its price and cost of ownership.

In a previous review of new cars under 10,000 dollars posted here we highlighted the Nissan and this model as one of the lowest priced new cars available. There have been numerous redesigns in the 2012 Nissan Versa Sedan and we ask some current owners about the actual gas mileage that they are actually getting. As for this years model, there are three trims to consider including the lowest priced version which is the 1.6 S that has a base price of $10,990. Following this sequence, the next trims are the 1.6 SV at $14,560 and the 1.6 SL at $15,560.

As we were looking for one of the base models to test drive, it became apparent that it can be difficult to find one of the Versa 1.6 S models on a new car lot since most of the dealerships we found did not have this base trim available. They had the SV and the SL but not the base, and from our experience you may have hard time finding one of these new cars under 12000 without ordering it specifically.

So we took one of the 1.6 SL models for a test drive. It was obvious that the real upside to the 2012 Nissan Versa is in the initial price and ongoing cost of ownership (40 plus MPG according to some owners for instance) and not in its power. But that is the whole idea, and as long as you keep this in mind then it will seem more like a proper fit to what you expectations are right from the start.

The acceleration felt like it was a bit hindered when the air conditioning system was on full power. This is rather typical among the smaller new cars for under 12000 we have driven recently. The 109 horse power engine which is found in each of the three different trims in the Versa line is more suited to getting good gas mileage than it is for taking on tasks which you would actually need a larger vehicle for though. Yet the interior of the Versa does have a nice quality feel to it and admittedly has more interior space than what we expected. You will not be hauling everything under the sun with the Versa, but for a small economical sedan all passengers should be quite comfortable during the ride and those daily commutes.

The EPA estimated fuel efficiency is 30 city to 38 miles per gallon highway. Depending on driving conditions the vehicle can average into the low 40’s according to some owners of the car. We also asked these owners what the most common type of driving they did in the car was and this included daily commuting (part city and part highway) to all highway miles. So no matter what type of driving you need a small economical new car under 12000 for, the efficiency of the Versa is impressive with these numbers keeping the long term cost of operating the vehicle down.

The 2012 Nissan vehicles each include similar vehicle coverage which can include 36 month/36,000 mile as well as 5yr/60,000 miles for the power-train but it is strongly recommended that you always double check the details within your area since the information can fluctuate among different new car dealerships. Aside from the warranties however, many people stick to their brand of choice (typically based on past experience) and other manufacturer’s new cars under $12000 have similar coverage as well as similarities in their base models specs. For instance, in this price range you should expect the car to have a manual transmission while the automatic transmission will be part of the upper-level trim options. We will take a closer look at those in a future post. Whether the options in these higher trims are worth the extra money is up to each individual.