Help Me Give Some Advice

[nissangirl74]

I have a good friend who is getting ready to buy her daughter a car for college graduation. She has $20,000 cash to spend. She is not willing to spend ANY more. That is her limit. Her daughter isn't picky. Her only requirements are 4 doors, a manual trans, A/C, decent mileage, and an AUX port. My friend is exploring all brands and asking for advice because she is most definitely NOT a car person.

Nissan has 4 cars that fit that bill: both Versas, the Cube, and the Sentra. Which one of these would you choose if these were your choices?

(quick rundown)

Versa Note - $13,990 - 109hp - 31/40 mpg - 1.6L

Versa Sedan - $11,990 - 109 hp - 31/40 mpg - 1.6L

Cube - $16,760 - 122 hp - 27/31 mpg - 1.8L

Sentra - $15,990 - 130 hp - 30/39 mpg - 1.8L

Personally, and I have driven them all, I would choose the Sentra. It's the best of all the options, IMO. The most hp and mpg for your money.

Your thoughts?

[Bubba1]

From that group of new small Nissans? I Agree with you on the Sentra. My thought is why does it need to be a new car? Why not a CPO (certified pre owned)? She can get a much nicer car for the same money, it'll last many years, has no soul-sapping CVT and has a warranty.

[float_6969]

Sentra was the first car that popped in my head before I even read the list.

[Kompresshun]

Sentra hands down and i'd definitely buy new considering the pricing right now. I just went through the same thing and CPO just doesn't make sense on something like that.

Why buy something that someone has already put a couple of years of miles on when you can buy new for a $2,000-3,000 more and get a full warranty?

[Bubba1]

Sentra hands down and i'd definitely buy new considering the pricing right now. I just went through the same thing and CPO just doesn't make sense on something like that.

Why buy something that someone has already put a couple of years of miles on when you can buy new for a $2,000-3,000 more and get a full warranty?

Clearly you put having a maximum warranty above the money you'll lose to depreciation.

I bought a then low mileage 3 yr old CPO TSX with low miles for my wife, almost new tires, new brakes, new battery and warranty and saved $10K+ over a new one. It's been extremely reliable.

You're also discounting the cost to insure. As the parent of an adult kid under 25, the odds something bad will happen are strong, so a first college/post college car should probably be something used that's cheap to fix until the kid turn 25 when many policies get cheaper. That's why I bought him a used Corolla. Reliable, safe, roomy and cheap to operate, and insure. It'll work fine as a post college car for him for many years..

Food for thought.

[darylzero]

Best Cars under $20,000

Mazda 3

[Kompresshun]

Well it sounds like the mom is wanting to buy her college graduate a vehicle that will last. If depreciation is really is a worry in this situation, then sure, maybe a CPO is worth a look. Although in my searches though and especially with the type of vehicle we're considering here, there is not going to be $10k worth of depreciation between a new Sentra and a 2-3 year old one. In fact, just a quick search shows a CPO 2010 Nissan Sentra going for $13,000-$14,000. That's a $3,000 savings roughly, for something with 30,000-40,000 miles on it. Now I don't have time to run the numbers on insurance, but I would rather pay $3,000 more to get something that will have 3 years more warranty and life in it.

I'm not putting warranty over depreciation and I didn't when we bought the Sorento. Personally I just looked at the obvious numbers and decided that a CPO was not a sensible purchase. It obviously made sense when you purchased your wife's TSX, but even when we were shopping I looked at CPO's in all models and it was the same thing as above. A $3,000-4,000 difference with 30,000-40,000 miles. The depreciation may have been there a few years ago, but i'm just not seeing it now in used vehicles unless you go with high mileage.

Now if we're considering cost to insure, then sure it may make a little more sense to look at something older. That's research they need to do on their end though. For us our rates actually went down with the Sorento compared to our previous vehicle because of safety ratings and features on the vehicle. The Sorento is 8 years newer than our previous SUV. Now, we're 28 years old though and it could be completely different for a college student.

[elwesso]

Does it have to be Nissan? What about a Subaru of some sort? Or a Mazda 3?

Out of the Nissan lineup, I prefer the cube the most out of all those. The Cube is unique and none of those cars are really "performance" oriented, so you might as well go with the one that has the most utility...

Chevy Cruze it comes in a 6MT option and MSRP starts at 17k... 47MPG highway.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Wouldn't go near any of them. Sentra definitely offers the best Car:Money ratio of the four, though.

Get a Fiesta. Or a Forte. MAYBE a Cruze, but it just seems silly when Fiesta and Focus do everything better.
Fiesta sedan starts at $14k. Hatch a few hundred more. Small, economical, manual trans, dependable, nice-looking... The best part? You can get a fully-loaded model with the 5MT. No being forced to go auto just because you want some options. Even a LOADED one comes in at under $20k.

Her only requirements are 4 doors, a manual trans, A/C, decent mileage, and an AUX port.

Wait...She REQUIRES a manual, yet your list of four consists of Nissans with CVTs?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Used Fusion Hybrid. Wicked good MPG, space, comfort, reliability.

[nissangirl74]

Wait...She REQUIRES a manual, yet your list of four consists of Nissans with CVTs?

They're all available with a manual too. Under $20K. That's why I listed them.

Does it have to be Nissan?

She's on other forums asking about other brands. She was wanting strictly Nissan feedback from here.

[Looneybomber]

Ford Focus.

As for Nissans, I'd go for the Sentra. My R1 put more HP down than the sentra makes at the crank, so I couldn't imagine having to drive a 109hp Versa around. Sure the Versa has more room for the back passengers, but they're young adults, not babies in car seats. If she had a baby or two, I'd say Versa.

[WDRacing]

Tell her Nissan stopped making good cars in 98...move on.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I drove a Sentra today. Aside from the god-awful slowness, engine noise, the cvt being its own annoying cvt self, the fear of death going over any sort of largish bump at anything over 3mph (sent the shocks into full rebound. Super loud), and muddy sounding stereo (although I didn't try to adjust it) it wasn't bad. Roomy interior, SUPER nice padded arm rest for long trips, comfy seats, good visibility.

[frapjap]

I drove a Sentra today. Aside from the god-awful slowness, engine noise, the cvt being its own annoying cvt self, the fear of death going over any sort of largish bump at anything over 3mph (sent the shocks into full rebound. Super loud), and muddy sounding stereo (although I didn't try to adjust it) it wasn't bad. Roomy interior, SUPER nice padded arm rest for long trips, comfy seats, good visibility.

BUT DID IT HAVE THE ZERO GRAVITY SEATS?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I don't know how many gravities they had

[nissangirl74]

The manual trans Sentra is much more fun to drive. I'm finished with the article, just have to get it posted up onto the home page. I'd drive one. The CVT model I would set on fire. Twice.

[MinisterofDOOM]

You need to test drive the Fiesta. I've heard nothing but good about them. I can't imagine it being a poorer car than the Sentra. For less money. Yes, it's smaller. But that doesn't mean it isn't more car.

[nissangirl74]

I'll go drive one if I can find a different Ford dealer or if I can find one somewhere else. The dealership closest to me is full of a$$ who won't leave you the hell alone.