My wife's 13 year old Kia Rio blew up on us. Tranny, too much to fix for that old a car. So I went out last night and bought a 2015 Versa S sedan so my Note would have somebody to play with. Found one at the local dealer for $11,595, cheaper than a number of used ones I saw. Couldn't pass it up. She's happy. Made a deal and drove it out for $11,700, and I'm happy too.

Yes, we're cheap, but if any of you are looking for low-cost quality transportation, it's hard to find a better deal than that. You will have to put up with crank windows, manual outboard mirrors, and no keyhole on the passenger side (now THAT's cheap), but you do get blue tooth, steering wheel mounted audio control, one power socket, only two speakers and an aux input. 5 speed manual. Very Basic. We prefer basic at my house. Haven't had power windows or locks since my little Ford Escort. It had one electrical problem after another.

I've seen a lot of reviews saying that the car is ugly. Don't know where that comes from. I think it looks like a miniature Altima. It'll be driven and cared for proudly.

Difficult to see in this light, but my co-worker says that this color, which Nissan calls "Amethyst Gray", is aubergine, which is what the Euro folks call eggplant. I think it is very handsome, but when it comes to cars, I have an unusual sense of esthetics.

Anyway, I bought it for my wife, who decided she'd rather drive the hatchback, cuz it's cuter. Well, okay. I actually like the way the new one drives better, anyway. Important thing is that she is happy.

I still think it looks like a mini-Altima, but the wheels look disproportionately small -- eh, I can live with that.