Subcompact Nissan Versa sedan has lots to love

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews also can be seen in the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News magazine published monthly out of Folsom, California.

Sacramento, California -- I have several friends who are Nissan Versa owners, and they represent a wide range of incomes and interests.

What they have in common is that they all LOVE their Versa.  Love it, I tell you.

OK, I get it.  What's not to love?  You get attractive, super-affordable, subcompact transportation with lots of standard features and exceptional gas mileage.  A car for the 21st century?  Sounds like it to me.

After spending a recent week in a 2020 Nissan Versa SR sedan with a continuously variable transmission, I had nothing to offer my friends but absolute agreement with their ardor for the Versa.

OK, the 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine is rated at only 122 horsepower.  But I knew going in that this was not a Corvette.  That's another review, and another planet altogether.  I will note that those 122 ponies moved my tester around quite nicely, and the fuel mileage ratings of 32 miles per gallon in the city and 40 mpg on the highway looked pretty good too.

The 2020 Versa is the model's third generation, and there are tweaks, design improvements and new touches bumper to bumper.  The exterior look of my ride had a friendly, sporty appeal.  Thankfully, the designers applied subtle changes and resisted temptation to go utterly wild.  If you've seen the size of some of the wildly oversize grilles on newly reworked subcompacts recently, you know what I'm talking about.

Inside my Versa, everything was just right, and well within reach of my hands.  The back seat area is tight, but again, that kind of goes with the whole subcompact experience.  The tester was stuffed with scores of perks, and even with some $3,000 in options -- heated front seats, intelligent cruise control and special lighting packages among them -- the bottom line on the sticker came to decidedly reasonable $21,490.

Nissan stressed that sedans remain popular among "Gen X, Millennials and multicultural customers" in the United States.  Well, for my money, I think this Versa's appeal goes well beyond that.  How about retired empty nesters needing a solid, affordable vehicle for their lifestyle?  Or maybe a good second car for 40-something suburbanites?  Or perhaps a nearly ideal car to purchase for your college-bound high school senior?

I think the Versa fills the bill for all these customers.  I would venture to speculate that all would end up loving their subcompact.