We drove to Florence tonight, which is where my old college friend Micah is working these days, and came home with a new Nissan Versa. It’s a 1.8SL sedan in silver.
This is the car for a single adult at our house. In other words, I’ll drive it to work, and Lea or I will drive it in the evening when we visit friends, go shopping, or whatever.
Buying a small car was not my plan. I told my bud T.J. a couple of weeks ago that it looked to me like the Versa had the most going for it in its segment, but that really, it was a ridiculous question in the first place. It’s like discussing the best jail food.
My intent had been to drive my F-150, which has been ceaselessly reliable, daily through about summer 2010, then buy a new Accord V6/6-speed manual coupe. However, my plan did not include $4 gasoline, and I’m spending $85 every ten days just driving back and forth to work. (That’s about $3100 a year, folks.) When we figured out that we could make half of the car payment just from fuel savings, it was a slam-dunk. I mean, sure it’s a depreciating asset, but gasoline just vanishes, right?
I expected to grit my teeth and think “yeah, but I’m getting 30 mpg.” Instead, I’m smiling. Obviously I’ve just driven it for one evening, but the car makes one hell of a first impression. The space in the car is freakish, like falling into a barn. (If I can get comfortable, it’s spacious.) I’m impressed with the level of equipment and fixtures. Visibility is outstanding. Power is satisfactory. The rags have picked on its handling a little bit—its tallishness creating body roll in corners and what-not—but relativity is your friend. After coming out of a half-ton crew-cab pickup, it feels positively spry to me.
Now I’m not crazy about the styling. It’s got a bit of Deputy Dawg car about it, with the tall greenhouse and tires like little black Cheerios. However, I think it has much less “clown car” about it than its peers. Also, we’re not replacing any existing vehicles—we’re keeping both the truck and Lea’s van—so we could guiltlessly select the sedan over the hatchback, which really is homely, in my opinion. The sedan does have a decent trunk. Really, there’s just room for one body, but it could be a really fat guy.
I’ll write some more over at Cowl Shake after I’ve spent a little more time with it. For now, just call me significantly happier than I thought I’d be.
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You are a people’s hero. I looked at the Versa, Fit, and Yaris before springing for the Civic Hybrid. My thinking favored the Fit at first blush, but the Versa might have won that decision-making process. The Yaris was just too dorky even for me (and I have completely stopped thinking of cars as objects of beauty or panache). We’ve had good luck with Nissan products (two Altimas, a Maxima, a Murano), in terms of reliability and performance.
You the man!
I love Nissans. Ever since we got that Altima. It gets about 30MPG when I drive it. The Maxima doesn’t get that good, but I like it too. They live for a long while. If my sister’s 10 year old maxima had not committed suicide earlier this year, she’d still be driving it and it would have been old enough for us to bedazzle it with fleurs des lis and get away with it.
I was wondering what you were sinking into that GINORMOUS truck you roll around in.
Mr. Chili’s office mate just bought a hybrid something-or-other. He had paid off his car and wasn’t wild about taking on a car payment, but he did the math and figured that he’d be breaking even in what he was spending in gas. Can you IMAGINE?!
I’ve started getting careful about how I drive my Golf, and I was up to 32 MPG last tank. Coasting down hills helps a lot (and, Gerry, here’s where that manual transmission comes in handy – I can just pop it into neutral (or, more safely, engage the clutch while keeping it in gear) and let gravity do most of the work).
mrschili–any car “coasting” down a hill will get tremendous mileage, depending, of course, on the steepness of the hill. Gravity is the friend of both automatic and standard transmissions. My car pegs the instant mileage readout (100mpg) on the downhills, and it is automatic. This is true even if I leave the cruise control engaged.
Nevertheless, your “hypermiling” technique is to be commended.
It … come on, a beauty like her needs a name.
Gerry: It is better for the earth, I suppose, but I won’t pretend that was a primary motivation. It’s pocketbook pain. Still, thanks.
‘seester: I’ve never owned a Nissan before, much less bought one new. I do, however, consider the third-generation Maxima (’89-’94) one of the finest four-door cars anyone’s ever built. And Nissan products enjoy strong resale value, which generally implies some measure of reliability. I think it’ll be fine.
Chili: It’s not THAT big. It’s still an F-150, and not a -250 or higher, after all. 🙂
cajunvegan: Thanks. The look is growing on me. I named the first three cars I had, and my fourth car was already named when I got it (purchased from my dad). I quit after that. I may name a fun/project car one day, but I think I’m done naming daily drivers.
My sister got a white Toyota Highlander. My sister hits A LOT of things (trees, curbs, San Antonio City Buses), so they hope it will bounce. They named it the “Bumble.”
I hesitate to tell ya this, but my 7-year-old Honda CRV (aka “The Pu$$y Wagon) gets 30ish mpg in town. Bit more when we take it on the road.
Maybe it’s just the special Sooze Magic…
Lea had an ’01 CR-V until we sold it to her sister to get the Odyssey. I liked it quite a lot, and I don’t like SUVs. My only gripe with it was that I thought it needed more guts on the interstate. Cullman Mountain was a solid five grand on the tach.
You’re doing better than she ever did. Lea’s got 26 all the time–city, highway, whatever.
There ya go… Sooze magic!
I learned today that the way I drive is called “hyper-miling.” I’d call it old-lady driving myself. Defensive, non-aggressive, happy to take my time… but then, I’m between jobs and never have to get anywhere in a hurry. Saves a lot on gas mileage.
Btw, TJ recommended this particular vehicle model when I was car shopping a couple of years ago. He NAILED it. When I test drove it, it said “Mama!”
I liked the CR-V until the day I was late for Aaron’s first well baby visit. It was the first time I drove the CRV with the infant seat deployed. It was behind the driver’s seat and Nathan’s car seat was behind the passenger’s seat. When I went to pop the infant seat on the base it wouldn’t fit. There was no room. I was late and I was already stressed trying to get an infant and a toddler out the door. There was no way I was going to start moving car seats around. So, I pulled the driver’s seat as far forward as it would go and finally got the infant seat in there. I drove to the doctor that way. Not the most comfortable situation for me but we made it there and back.
Naturally in the short term, we swapped the car seats around and pulled the passenger seat as far forward as it would go. That was not going to work as a long term solution,though, unless I wanted to take our next vacation with my head pressed against the wind-shield for the entire drive.
So, that’s the story of why I parted with my beloved CR-V. I guess in my case, I needed a vehicle to say “Mom” instead of “Mama!”…