Good morning! Today we’re looking at two cute little stickshift hatchback runabouts down in Florida. But first, let’s see which little pickup you all chose yesterday:
Interesting. I figured for sure the extra room and the royal hue of the Nissan would give it the win. But it seems the MitsuDodge’s four-wheel-drive put it over the top. Me, I’d keep shopping, and try to find a 4WD King Cab Nissan. Preferably in purple, naturally.
Now then, today is March 1st, which means springtime is right around the corner. (Right? I mean, it has to be… right?) This means that soon, the farm-and-feed store down the road from my house will start selling baby chicks, and troll the “gentlemen’s club” next door by putting up a sign that says “Cutest Chicks In Town.” (I’m not making this up.) I thought of that as I drove by it this afternoon, and I thought: hatchling, hatchback – yeah, that’ll work for a theme. It’s no more lame or contrived than some of the others I’ve come up with. So let’s run with it, shall we?
2010 Nissan Versa – $4,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Ocala, FL
Odometer reading: 143,000 miles
Runs/drives? Yep
Nissan’s Versa was once, as our Editor-In-Chief likes to point out, the cheapest car sold in the US. It was brought in to fill the bottom end of Nissan’s lineup after the Sentra moved upmarket (as weird as it is to use “Sentra” and “upmarket” in the same sentence). You could get one of these for under ten grand brand-new in 2008.
Because Americans hate hatchbacks for some reason, Nissan offered the Versa with a grafted-on traditional trunk to make it a sedan. Fortunately whoever bought this one new was smart enough to understand the utility of having the whole back end of the car open up. They also eschewed the automatic transmission option. I confess I’ve never driven a Versa with a manual, but I’ve been stuck with two automatics as rental cars. I imagine (and hope) that a manual makes it slightly less punishingly dull to drive.
This Versa is in decent shape, and wears its 143,000 miles pretty well. Say what you will about cheap interior materials; they don’t look much different after 13 years than they did when they were new. I guess I’d rather have hard plastic bits in a cheap used car than “soft-touch” stuff that starts flaking off on your hands.
The seller says it runs well and everything works, including the air conditioning, and all the maintenance is up-to-date. Really, you can’t ask for more in a little used car like this than to be able to simply turn the key and drive off, and do the same thing the next morning to get to work. Simplicity, reliability, and practicality are all virtues in my book.
2008 Toyota Yaris – $3,800
Engine/drivetrain: 1.5 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Orlando, FL
Odometer reading: 180,000 miles
Runs/drives? You bet
In the beginning, there was the Tercel. And it was good. Not exciting, but really, really good. It lasted several generations, and provided millions of college students a reliable way to get home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. But then came the Echo, and it was somehow not as good. Even Consumer Reports, the fun-police of the automotive world, called it “dull.” The Echo begat the Yaris, and it was good again? Kinda? At least it was availabe in the US with a hatchback, which the Echo never offered.
The Yaris in the US was powered by a 1.5 liter four with variable valve timing. This one sports a manual gearbox, as small Toyotas should; a Tercel/Echo/Yaris with an automatic is not fun, to put it mildly. The Yaris carried over the Echo’s centralized instrument cluster, which I imagine makes changing between right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive versions easier, but requires drivers everywhere to take their eyes off the road to find and read the speedometer. I imagine you’d get used to it, but it’s one of the things that put me off byung a new Echo many years ago.
This Yaris is in good shape, with 180,000 miles on the clock. We don’t get a lot of details on its condition, but it’s a Toyota; as long as the maintenance has been kept up, it’s fine. I do note with some amusement that it, like so many others, sports cheap Pep Boys wheel covers; Yarises seem to shed their hubcaps with such regularity that I couldn’t even tell you what the stock ones look like.
It has air conditioning, and it works, which I imagine is vital for Florida. The paint and upholstery look good, though it is missing the side-marker light on the passenger’s side. It might be worth asking why.
[Editor’s Note: Okay, two things: That’s not a side marker lamp, it’s an indicator repeater, a very different sort of thing. If you were to make this mistake at The Citrus Wink, the fifth-best turn signal fetishist club in the Dakotas, they’d work you over. And over. Also, that vertical stack of HVAC controls is novel! – JT]
Little hatchback runabouts like these are all the rage in Europe and much of the rest of the world, but they never have really caught on here in the US. I’ve never understood why a small car with a regular trunk, which arguably makes it less useful, is preferable to a big hatchback opening. Regardless, these two have the correct cargo configuration, and the correct transmission type. Which one suits you?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
I brought my kid home from the hospital in a 2008 Yaris (they were born in January 2008), so because it’s a manual, it’s an easy choice. Ours was blue though.
Yaris hatch back seats are surprisingly roomy too – a rear facing baby seat fits there with room to spare. The rear seats are bigger than GD WRX’s.
The Echo was a first generation Yaris, originally sold as a Vitz in Japan since 1999 (and available in all Gran Turismo games). You could buy the hatch Echo in Canada though! And the Echo hatch is a Vitz and the Echo sedan was sold as a Platz. Our first Yaris was also a Vitz while the Yaris sedan was sold as a Belta. The third generation was a Vitz or Vios. The newest generation is Yaris for both versions around the world.
Gosh, I dunno. *Reeeeeeaaaaalllll* tough one here.
(see: my profile picture)
Around this time I was considering a new car to replace a very old Civic, and these two were in contention.
The Versa: Endearingly squishy, probably the funniest test drive I’ve ever been on because the salesman was reckless – it was great! He reclined the seat as I was driving and for a few seconds all I could see was roof at highway speeds!
The Yaris: Easily the better car, reminded me most of my old Civic. The center mounted gauges are high enough that you’re not taking your eyes off the road – they’re right in your peripheral vision. It was a decent ride.
Personally, the Yaris is better.
The Yaris is one of those cars that will be running around after the apocalypse. Zombie, nuclear, whatever. Yaris will be good to go.
I voted Yaris for one reason: my wife.
My wife does not care about cars beyond does it start and does the AC work?
I have never even sat in a Versa, but she’s had them as rentals twice, and those experiences instilled such a visceral hatred for the Versa in her (something about the seats, I think) that I would NEVER even SUGGEST putting our hard earned money toward one.
That Yaris could be flood titled, filled with medical waste and ACTIVELY ON FIRE, and I’d still pick it over the Versa. It’s THAT BAD. When we were looking for a car for our daughter, I showed her an ad for a Versa, and I swear to God, the look that came over her face nearly caused my phone to explode.
Yaris, just for my personal safety.
Yaris for me. After all, It’s a Car! What more could I want out of cheap transportation?
Both are good as commuters, college cars, or around the town option. The Yaris wins on price alone.
Take me to the YaYa. Close one here Toyota for reliabikity but Nissan because no damage. Toyota for price Nissan for 40,000 less miles. So Toyota because not white, black, or silver.
Versa without automatic and less miles than the Yaris? I’ll take it. The 2-door Yaris is sardine can
I’ve always had a soft spot for the Yaris. I don’t know why but I just love it. Same with the Fit. The Versa though not so much. Yaris it is.
Love how the versa is from my hometown lmao. Miss it a little
Don’t let the Ghosn era cheapening of the gen 2 Versa cloud your vision here. I don’t think we talk enough about how badly their corporate strategy in this country in the ’10s ruined the brand. Nissan managed to combine Kia style dealer tactics with subprime lending, hatefully unreliable CVTs, and thoughtless designs to make a pretty awful experience for anyone that made the mistake of buying one. The Versa is the posterchild for all of it. The second gen completely set any goodwill towards the Versa name on fire for being one of the most hateful cars I’ve ever experienced. You could feel the contempt from Nissan for choosing the Versa from the moment you laid your eyes on it.
But people forget that the first gen Versa was genuinely a decent car. I’ve driven one, with the automatic, and it was fine. The stick in this one is a bonus. I would typically default to Yaris here, but the Versa here has less miles, and is probably a bit more of a practical size. I still see these on the road in upstate NY occasionally, which is pretty shocking.
100% this. As cheap as the first-gen Versa was to buy, it never felt like the “race to the bottom of the barrel” proposition that the second-gen was. I remember reading plenty of magazine comparos back when it first came out, and while those aren’t some foolproof scientific test, I remember it consistently being ranked pretty high in the class, neck-and-neck with the Yaris (although the Honda Fit was clearly the king).
My sister had one of these until she outgrew it and it was a solidly built, practical, roomy-for-its-size, and (imo) decent-looking little hatchback that managed to be a shockingly not-hateful option for people reeling from the Great Recession.
Is it better than the Yaris? Hard to say. In this case though, I voted for it just based on the condition and the 4 doors alone.
The original Versa was actually a pretty well-received vehicle in the segment, even when it was up against the newly-introduced Fit. It was considered a smartly packaged car, definitely roomier than most of the cars it was priced against, actually even roomier than some cars a class up like the Civic of the time, and generally not an unrefined car. Despite the fact it was also the cheapest new car in the U.S. some years, you could also equip it pretty well for the class and time like a moonroof and keyless access. I think C/D put it 2nd or 3rd in a test of several small cars in ’07 or ’08 – behind the Fit naturally but a good showing.
The 2nd gen for 2012 seemed to go backwards, with only the smaller 1.6L underhood and less interior space and felt like a cheaper product overall – but that was how it went for many automakers with vehicles developed under the global recession, like the 2012 Civic and Camry. It didn’t help that small cars like the Fiesta & Sonic hit at the same time as the 2nd gen Versa, or the Soul just before, that were nicer or more cheerful cars.
If the Versa were a CVT I’d go Yaris, which is a Good Car, but with a manual I’ll take the extra space and fewer miles of the Versa. (Which is actually a 6-speed manual at that, I believe.)
Drove a Versa sedan slushbox as a rental once and it was probably the worst car I’ve ever driven. I’ve heard the Versa Note was not as bad, and the larger interior room and fewer miles push this Versa to the win for me.
Welp, I never met a Toyota I didn’t like (see username above) so…
Neither!
I voted for the Versa simply for one reason, 4 doors instead of 2. I’ve never driven either car, but 2010 was the year I had to part ways with my Elise because I needed something to tote around my newborn in, and being a 4 door makes things much easier. I toyed with the idea of getting a new car for the expected reliability, and the Versa was a consideration, but in the end chose a certified pre-owned 2006 Honda Accord (LX sedan with a 5 speed) that was coming off lease with only 36K miles on it. That Accord was so reliable that in the next 8 years I drove it as my daily transportation all it ever needed was regular oil and filter changes, wiper blade refills every other year, one set of new tires, and yearly inspection.
Going from a Lotus Elise to a Nissan Versa has to be one of the starkest downgrades in the automotive universe.
My dad used to say the worst day of his entire life when when he had to trade in his 1970 Challenger T/A for a Vega wagon when kids came along in the 70’s.
Man, that had to hurt.
Toyota for the durability. Easy choice.
The closest I was able to find myself was a Honda Fit with paddle shifting, which to be honest I never really use. I’d go with the Yaris and just take out the rear seats from the start.
This was a surprisingly difficult choice, with the Yaris winning purely on price.
Usually I’m all for bashing on modern Nissan, but a friend of mine had a white 2010 Versa Hatch with manual basically identical to this one, abused it to hell and back, barely ever did maintenance, and the damn thing ran until nearly 400000km before something failed too catastrophically to keep driving it (I can’t remember if it was ultimately a blown engine or transmission failure).
You’d probably be fine with either. They’re both reasonably comfortable, basic, reliable transportation as long as you aren’t planning on doing 6+ hour road trips.
“If you were to make this mistake at The Citrus Wink, the fifth-best turn signal fetishist club in the Dakotas, they’d work you over.”
I’m going to have to look this up. Just not on my work computer. Can such a thing exist? Let alone four of them that are better in the Dakotas alone?
It would be easy to write this off as a joke… if it weren’t for all of those articles Torch writes about tail lights and signal indicators…
I’m just gonna start calling them all “blinkers” and see if I can get Jason’s head to explode.
It is a toss up for me. My old neighbours had a Versa of approximately that age and it served them very well. Might have been bland and boring but they never had any noteworthy problems it. And it has 4 doors which is very useful. However the Toyota is probably overall a better car and I like the look a little more. I’d probably go Toyota if it were my money on the line but both should serve as decent transportation.
Easy because Toyota > Nissan.
And why would you want a trunk instead of a hatch?
One word. Noise.
Ahh… but thanks to this site… we know that BMW has solved this problem!
It’s a hard one. My sister has a Yaris exactly like that one although in Pacific Blue Metallic (somehow an even duller shade) – she bought it cheap ten years ago and now it has 220,000 miles of LA city driving on it, with minimal love or maintenance. Still goes strong.
The Versa has the benefit of having rear doors (an absolute must in my book) but on the other hand, Versas seem incredibly flimsy to me. This is the first time in years that I see one without broken off doorhandles. Yaris it is.
Hard one for me. Both are manuals which is a massive improvement for small cars with sewing machine engines. I have never driven a Versa but did drive a Yaris as a rental once and it was a miserable experience, and I am a Toyota guy through and through. So… I guess the Versa for me?