mmarshall

True to some extent, but some people want or need an El Cheapo price, and are willing to forgo some creature-comforts for it. Younger people, for example, often (but not always) demand fewer creature-comforts in their vehicles than their elders........although, of course, younger people make much greater use of music/video/downloading equipment. Young people, with stronger arms/legs/knees, are usually more willing to shift a manual transmission than Grandpa/Grandma, even in dense traffic.


Yes it is, especially compared to the LS460 and Mercedes S-Class. But a lot of people still don't have 60-65K to spend on a new car.....or even half that much. And the Equus, for 65K, offers only 4 exterior colors......an insult for luxury-car buyers, IMO.

mmarshall

Comfort, of course, is a relative term in cars of this class, bit it is comfortable compared to the Smart-for-Two and some small sports-cars.

mmarshall

Yes, the Versa might (?) be for them, although it should be noted that both Hyundai and Kia offer better warranties on the Accent and Rio.

The Versa, though slightly larger then the Fit and Yaris, competes more directly with them, especially in price, than it does the Corolla and Civic, which go head-to-head with the larger Nissan Sentra.

mmarshall

Well, what do you expect?.....a GS Hybrid costs five to six times what a Versa does (it starts at 59K). And unless your name is Trump or Rockefeller, you don't usually give a first-time brand-new car of that class to a college-student.

-J-P-L-

I have to disagree with the sentiment that this isn't a bargain. A NEW car for $11K is a bargain no matter how you slice it. The next cheapest new car is over $13K, and those offerings are smaller than the Versa. I'm not saying I'm a fan of the Versa, but you can't deny that it's a stunning value. Many people would love to have this instead of getting a used car with like 50-75K on the odometer for that money.

Also, comparing the value of say the Equus to the cheapest new car is apples to oranges. The Equus is NOT a better value, even though it is a screaming bargain in its respective class. How can 1 Equus be a better value than a fleet of 6 Versa's? Luxury cars carry inflated profit margins in their price tags, even the Equus. Sub-compacts barely make an automaker money. In fact, they have to usually be built in low wage countries just to exist (the Versa is built in Mexico).

Just like 15 double cheeseburgers at McDonald's is a better value than one $15 steak at a decent restaurant.

And sure, this is a cheap car, especially from a Lexus owners perspective, but remember that a good portion of the population can't even afford this or even no car at all. Always remember how fortunate you guys are.

With that all said, I am disappointed in the new interior. It is indeed a downgrade from the previous generation which started even cheaper. Check out this closeup showing how bad the HVAC switchgear is. Looks 10 years old. And this pic shows it with NAV, which of course won't be in the base cars. However, they did make the exterior look more upscale than the previous car.

mmarshall

Cheap hard-plastic interiors have become more or less an auto-industry standard the last few years, though some manufacturers are becoming sensitive enough to criticism that they are now starting to do a better job once again. GM and Chrysler, especially, have shown improvement, but unfortunately, some other companies still try and balance their budgets with interior-materials.

speedflex

I'm not clear on what happens with the Hatchback. So far all we've seen is the sedan. There was a pic of what is supposed to be the Versa hatch and it had a nicer interior. Nissan sells lots more hatchback Versas than sedan versions so there has to be a new one coming

-J-P-L-

Yeah, I don't know why they're staggering the release times. The first gen saw both the sedan and hatch released together. Just as the last gen Yaris sedan and hatch were released together, and now the Yaris hatch is coming, but no sedan in sight. The other away around from Nissan.

This is the 2012 Versa hatch. It's assumed the US would get this, but who knows.

mmarshall

I concentrated on the sedan because, for bargain-priced shoppers, it costs less than the hatchback. But, yes, I would probably chose the hatchback version myself......it is more versatile.

LexFather

Mike, can we talk about luxury cars maybe? I recently rented one of these for a week and yes its horrible but you then realize "damn it is a new car for 11k" and then you realize" this horrible car is 100 times better than a basic Sentra from 20 years ago".

The seats were dismal, the plastics were cheap but it was put together pretty decent. Since it seems to be a French car, some of the controls were on the inside of the seat which is PITA. There was a huge trunk, good room inside and tons of cupholders, great for traveling. Oddly the gauges were like recent Infinit's with the orange and MPG was decent but range could be better (not sure of the tank size).

Overall it just showed how spoiled we are with a Lexus, you really appreciate what you have. So in summary while I found it horrid, for 11k for a NEW car, well with that perspective its fantastic.

I will say the Kia Forte EX I rented recently was superb (no time to do a write-up), I rented a base model before, the EX was really nice for a small car.

That said, can we talk about luxury/exotics?

mmarshall

I'm not sure I understand the question. ......we discuss ALL cars in this forum, luxury and otherwise.

Maybe so for the basic 20-year-old Sentra, but I'm sure you remember the Sentra SE-R from the same time-period. It went like free beer at Clancy's. I remember shopping with a friend of mine and his father at a local Mazda-Nissan shop for a new Protege...we just sat there and watched 4 or 5 new SE-Rs go out the door to customers, in one day, just in the few hours we were there.

I agree that today's Versa trumps a 20-year old Sentra in some ways, but cars back then seemed to have thicker, more substantial doors/sheet metal/hardware than they do today. Some of the sheet metal and hardware they are putting into today's cars (the 3Gen Prius is a prime example) is tinny.


Yes, it's significantly larger than its Rio/Accent/Aveo/Fiesta competition....and the Smart Car ......no comparison.


There are some Chinese-designed/built small cars on the world-market for less than that (some starting as low as the equivalant of $7000 U.S.-dollars), but they clearly don't meet American safety/emission standards, and probably wouldn't meet the quality-demands of the average American consumer.

I reviewed a Forte a while ago at a friend's request. Nice OK small car, but nothing to write home about...and its interior materials were not up to those of its brother Hyundai Elantra. They also do a coupe (Koup) version.

Sure. Start a thread on any luxury car you want. I'll probably post in it, like I usually do.

And, don't forget, a number of my reviews (especially the Holiday Reviews each December) are on upscale products. I've done 100K Jag XKR convertibles, Mercedes E63s, and Porsche Panameras....and am planning a Mercedes S-550 in the near future per CL request.

lamar411

A good car for kids learning to drive, cheap and not super ugly.

Stormforge

perhaps i wasn't clear with my above comment. of course a GSh is a better than a versa! 1sicklex captured exactly what i wanted to say (but didn't):

and as Gojirra99 can testify, we see alot of immigrants from asia in our city who buy brand new cars such as M3, SL, etc for their kids going straight to college or university.

link: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/6600814-post3552.html

mmarshall

Like I said above, if you and Mike want to talk about GS Hybrids, I'll be glad to join in (hey, you know me......I'll talk about anything on four wheels) ........I just don't think that this is the thread for it.

KillaIS250

iTrader: (1)

Would make a good fleet car too for companies!