Any speculation as to why the Versa sedan is fairing worse than the hatch?

[casionerd]

C&D: 'the Nissan Versa hatchback has been average while the sedan has been far below average-an oddity. '

http://www.consumerreports.org...s.htm

Also:

[NODES]

that is because there is less Sedan's then the hatchbacks.

[casionerd]

that is because there is less Sedan's then the hatchbacks.

This explains the sedan being less reliable than the hatch how?

[morgan]

First trick is they don't tell you what the ranking is based on, what data determines actual reliability? If it is based on customer feed back there is always the "expectation" to consider. If a customer bought the car because it was cheap and did not expect cheap quality overall the rating would be askew from actual reliability. If this is based on warranty data from what ever aspect $ vs #of complaints etc.. it is somewhat legitimate, though one then would have to consider what parts weren't reliable and how much that actually affected the longevity of the vehicle. Also they did note that the sedan is only from data gathered from the first model year so it could be possible only the people with problems responded if a survey was requested, and JD power isn't the best source for unbiased consumer input, fact of the matter is only time will tell actual reliability, and then it is only on an individual basis.

[Shad0wXCalibur]

I don't care what any stupid surveys, magazines, results, etc say. I love my sedan. It's not any less reliable or whatever than the hatch. It's the same freakin car.

[roboturner]

Here's my guess:

The hatchback is not a new car. It existed for several years overseas before it came to North America, and it has been here for several years since.

The sedan was a variant of the hatch, only built after the car was exported to NA, and made to cater to North Americans, who generally speaking prefer sedans over hatchbacks.

So maybe they haven't had time to iron out wrinkles that are particular to the sedan. I can imagine what those particular wrinkles are, but I'm sure there must be some fairly prominent differences between the two.

[NODES]

This explains the sedan being less reliable than the hatch how?

let's say for every 10 hatchbacks made they made 2 sedans.

now if say 4 out of 10 H/B had issues, that would be 40% failure rate and say 1 of the sedans made had a failure it would mean that 50% are bad.

Now multiply that thousands they sold and you get the bigger picture.

There is more Hatchback versions on the road then there is sedans, I believe Nissan built 70% Hatchbacks and the rest sedans, I read that in an article a while back.

[Codelicious]

let's say for every 10 hatchbacks made they made 2 sedans.

now if say 4 out of 10 H/B had issues, that would be 40% failure rate and say 1 of the sedans made had a failure it would mean that 50% are bad.

Now multiply that thousands they sold and you get the bigger picture.

There is more Hatchback versions on the road then there is sedans, I believe Nissan built 70% Hatchbacks and the rest sedans, I read that in an article a while back.

That makes sense to me but you also have to keep in mind the series of each car. The sedan is the BASE model while the hatchback isn't offered in the base model but in the S and SL. I have a sedan SL and I love it. It's a CVT but so far so good. The cars are generally the same broken down. I can't see how much is different other than the body. They aren't going to build basically 2 different cars just for a hatchback and sedan model.

SEDAN FTW!

[NODES]

That makes sense to me but you also have to keep in mind the series of each car. The sedan is the BASE model while the hatchback isn't offered in the base model but in the S and SL. I have a sedan SL and I love it. It's a CVT but so far so good. The cars are generally the same broken down. I can't see how much is different other than the body. They aren't going to build basically 2 different cars just for a hatchback and sedan model.

SEDAN FTW!

yeah same car, one has a trunk and the other a hatch. They both share the same components that tend to break down on us.

[msb0b]

Here's my guess:

The hatchback is not a new car. It existed for several years overseas before it came to North America, and it has been here for several years since.

The sedan was a variant of the hatch, only built after the car was exported to NA, and made to cater to North Americans, who generally speaking prefer sedans over hatchbacks.

So maybe they haven't had time to iron out wrinkles that are particular to the sedan. I can imagine what those particular wrinkles are, but I'm sure there must be some fairly prominent differences between the two.

Not exactly. The Tiida sedan was unveiled on 2004-10-29, less than 30 days behind the Tiida hatch. The two models must have been developed in parallel.

Another point to consider is the sampling methodology used by CR. They used to, and probably still do, solely rely on subscribers' voluntary feedback of the vehicles they own. This results in a smaller sampling size, and easier to skew the results one way or another.

[srellim234]

Among other things, Americans expect more luxury and comfort out of sedans but more utility out of hatchbacks. Sedan drivers are going to be much more critical of their cars.

You people are right, though. It's a matter of numbers and the luck of the draw when it comes to who reports what problems with their cars.

That's also just Consumer Reports. I wonder if Michael at True Delta can break his figures down by hatch or sedan. I also wonder how the two models compare at Edmunds, Car & Driver, Motor Trend, etc. The reliability numbers could very easily be reversed elswhere if they're all using relatively small sample sizes.

[casionerd]

I wonder how big the sampling actually was. I bet if you sampled large numbers of both hatches and sedans the numbers would be consistent.

I bet the sampling of sedan owners was small.

I wonder how much the 1.6L sedan owners played a part in the bad sedan ratings. They probably had buyers remorse or didn't feel the car had enough power or something.

Who knows. I like my sedan even if it did have the fabric on the door armrest seperating from the door panel and even if the rear brakes squeak occassionally.

[graymalkin2]

A lot of the problem is that this is a survey done by Consumer Reports, as others have mentioned, primarily for the reasons mentioned above.

I suspect the main reason is that the sedans are available in more configurations, and with two different engines and at least 3 different transmissions. This adds complexity during assembly and opens up more opportunities for mistakes during the process.

[blockmachining]

Speaking from automotive assembly line experience.....A sedan is more difficult to manufacture than a hatchback. There are twice as many doors, window regulators, door latches and so forth. In addition, as mentioned above, the sedan has more variables/choices regarding different engines and transmissions. More mistakes can occur during assembly due to the option variables. You just would not believe how difficult it is to change from assembling an automatic transmission car over to a manual transmission car. On an automatic transmission car....as it is coming down the assembly line....requires the technician to grab a brake pedal and two bolts while on a manual transmission car, you have to grab 4 bolts, a clutch pedal and a brake pedal. And....keep in mind you have to do the added work while the line is still moving at the same pace as it was when the automatic transmission car was moving through your work station.

[PulSamsara]

Your probably right. Your car is fine. Nissan had problems on the Mexican Assembly line for the Versa Sedan. Those problems were hit and miss and very intermittent - So if you don't have issues... you probably wont. The hatchback line was spared these problems.

[srellim234]

block- I understand that but a some of what you're pointing out doesn't apply to the Versa. The hatchback is a four-door with the same number of moving windows and doors.

I'm not sure what the numbers are on the automatics vs. the manul transmission and how they apply to each version but you may have hit on a very valid point there..

[Andrews Chalmers]

Sampling bias.

First Consumer Reports relies on non-randomized surveys, and the respondents are essentially self-selected.

Then you factor in the type of demographic that would gravitate towards a sedan vs. a hatchback like the Versa.

Connect the dots

[blockmachining]

srellim234,You are dead on regarding the number of doors on a sedan vs. a hatch. Daaa on me!

You know.....I have these two brain cells that occassionally wave at one another. My previous statement regarding the doors must have been when they were not waving.