2014 Nissan Versa Note Review and Road Test

I seem to be the only car guy with a soft spot for the Versa. My peers at Car and Driver, Consumer Reports and Autoblog (among others) came off less than impressed by the least expensive car in America when we were all invited to its launch. That left me scratching my head. So I borrowed another one and came to the same conclusion: "Versa delivers a totally unobjectionable experience at a very compelling price." This apparent disconnect bothered me for a while but I wrote it off as a "lack of perspective" suffered by my peers in the biz. Seriously guys, what do you expect out of the cheapest car in America? The new 2014 Versa Note however isn't the cheapest car in America, nor is it the cheapest hatch in America. How does it stack up?

The last Versa Hatchback we had on our shores wasn't the least expensive hatch in America either and that was a big problem. I can forgive anything for the right price, but the old hatch sold along side its redesigned sedan namesake which had a much lower price tag. Before we dive too far into the Versa Note, let's talk price. Why? Because Nissan didn't just completely redesign their smallest hatch for 2014, they slashed the price tag as well. At $13,990 the Note misses the title of "cheapest five-door hatchback" by $190 to the 2013 Kia Rio 5-Door. Admittedly that's not the best way to start a conversation about a Versa which usually sells on "least expensive" taglines. Still, the Versa isn't terribly expensive and undercutts the Accent by $585, Fiesta by $610, Mazda 2 by $730, Yaris by $1,405 and the Fit by $1,435.

About that Note. Nissan's Versa hatch has been sold in other markets as the Nissan Note for a while and they decided to globalize things. Instead of renaming the car, they just tacked Note to the end since "Versa" seems to be a well-known model. That's why this hatch is singing this tune.
The Versa sedan is the easy sale in my mind. As the cheapest car in America I can forgive anything. Seriously. But the Note is a trickier ball of wax. The "I can forgive anything" title goes to the Rio 5-door which is the cheapest hatch. Except I find less to forgive in the Rio than in the base Note. That being said, the Note delivers better fuel economy, more rear seat legroom than many luxury cars and if it follows in the Versa sedan's footsteps it is likely to be very inexpensive to own. That leaves me with a split decision. If you want sporty, buy the new Fiesta. If you want the biggest little hatch with the best real-world fuel economy, the Versa Note is likely the option for you. Where the Rio and the Note lock horns is in the value argument. The top-end SL (I'm going to call it that since its easier) has almost all the goodies I need in a car at an impressive price. The Rio on the other hand offers a similar value but trades improved thrust for lower MPGs. With the 2014 Versa Note Nissan has really stepped up their game and it's still a car I would buy, but keep an eye on that Kia, the Koreans aren't resting on their laurels either.
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