2
SEPTEMBER7, 2019

as you hit the top of therange. We spent

our timewith the mid-rangeSVand

found the manually adjustable seats

comfortable to sit in while also being ap-

pealingtot he eye.

There’s roomfor five passengers with

60/40 split-folding rear seats on all but

the base trim. While there’s seating for

three in the back, it’s bestreserved for

onl ytwo adultsonall butshortdrives.

Headroom and legroom in back aregood

overall, but pushing the front seats back

for tallerfront passengerscuts heavily

into rear legroom.

Power for theVersa comes froma

1.6-literfour-cylinderenginewith 122

horsepower and 114pound-feetof

torque.Those aren’t bignumbers, but

the surprise is how responsivethe Versa

is anyway. Press on the gas and it has

no trouble merging into highwaytraffic

and even delivers anextraburst of speed

when you need itforpassing.

There’s afive-speed manualavail-

able on the base trim, butour SV came

standard withacontinuouslyvariable

automatic transmission.These can be

noisy things, especially in an economy

car whereless is spent on sound dead-

ening materials between the passengers

and engine. Again, theVersaisasur-

prise with verylittlenoise bleeding over

from thattransmission even under hard

acceleration.

In fact, the cabinisnotably quiet,

making itatrulypleasantride forevery-

one.Not only is enginenoisemuted, but

road and windnoise arealso kept at bay.

This makes it easy to carryonaconver-

sation andkeeps alongtrip from becom-

ing wearisomeafter several hours.

Infotainmentincludes a7.0-inch

touchscreen asastandard feature, so

there’s no fiddling withadistracting

small screen.There’s also aUSB port,

streaming Bluetooth audio, and on all

but the base trim both AppleCarPlay

and Android Auto arestandard features.

It’s not fancy, butitincludesthe smart-

phone connectivitythattoday’sbuyers

expectint heir vehicles.

TheVersamakes automatic emergen-

cy brakingstandard acrossthe lineup

along with lane-departure warning and

rear automatic braking.Additional fea-

turesincluding intell igentdriver alert,

rear dooralert, blind spot warning,and

rearcrosstrafficalert,whichmakean

appearance on top trims.Although not

alarge suite of safety features, theavail-

abilityofautomatic emergencybraking

on acar in this pricerangeisc ommend-

able.

Asignificant partoft he affordability

equationisfuel economy, and theVera

deliverswith an EPA-estimated 32 miles

per gallon in the city, 40 milesper gallon

on the highway, and 35 milesper gal-

lon combined when equippedwith the

manual transmission. Numbers drop

to 27 miles per galloninthe city, 35 on

the highway, and 30combinedwith the

manual, but thatstillmakes theVersa

agreat choice asacommuter carorfor

those with lots of roadtripsintheir fu-

tures.

But whatmakes theVersa mostap-

pealingisits price.Thebase Scomes in

at $14,730 withamanual or $16,400

with an automatic. Pricing rises to

$17,640 for the SV and tops outat

$18,240 for the SR making it affordable

acrossthe li neup.

Theall-new2020 NissanVersa is a

compellingvalue.Key infotainment and

safety features, affordablepricing,and

decent fueleconomycombine withat-

tractivestyling to makethisvehicle a

grea tchoicefor first-time buyersona

budget.

HowcanIimprove my older

SUV’s gasmileage?

NISSAN

From D1

ASKTHECARDOCTOR

JOHNPAUL

MAKING UP MILEAGE

Q.Idrive anolder Ford Excursion that

Ilove foravariety of reasons, including its

third row, sizable rearstorage, four-wheel

drive, and towing capacity. This huge

truck solves manyofmyfamily’s current

needs; however,one drawback is its hor-

rible fuel economy. With plenty of fa mily

pick-upsand drop-offs, some days it seems

likeIcan watch the gas gaugemove. Even

though gas pricesare pretty low,isthere

anythingIcan do to improve mileage?

OnlineIhaveseendiscussion aboutfuel

additives thatcan increase mileageby30

to 50 percent,but I’ve heard how these ad-

ditives can destroy an engine.Whatisy our

takeonthese,and do youhaveany recom-

mendations beyond propertire inflation

and driving the speed limit to improvemy

gas mileage?

A.Over theyears, Ihavetested all sorts

of fuel-saving devices and additives—and

foun dnonethatworked as advertised.In-

stead, you should have the vehicle checked

out justtomakesure there isn’tabrake

dragging or some other mechanical issue.

My advice isto maintain your car,drive

thespeed limit,and planyour drivingas

economically as possible.Goeasyonthe

gas and the brakes. With mostdrivers, if

theylook carefullyat their driving habits,

theycan easily eliminate10to20miles

offweeklymileag etotals. Althoughnot a

huge savings, over th ecourse ofayear the

savings could runaround $150 to $200.

SECOND OPINION

Q. Irecently brought in my 2016

Toyota Camryfor its30,000-mile service.

Thecostappeared reasonable, and the

dealership even gave me a10-percent

first-responder discount,but it isnever

as easyasitseems.Theservice assistant

came back with several issuesthatthe me-

chanic thought shouldbeaddressed.The

recommendations didn’t seem unreason-

able, but theystill were pricey. Itold the

service personIwould thinkitover.The

car is only three years old.Idrive sensibly.

Is thisextrawork necessary?

A.If th e30,000-mileservice included

arecommendationof replacing theen-

gine and cabin air filters,thatisperfectly

acceptable. If the dealership is recom-

mending fluid flushesat that mileage,

Iwouldask why. All of the fluidsshould

be checked, but unlesstheyshow signs of

contamination,Idon’t see anyreason to

have them changed.

ROOF REPLACEMENT

Q.Irecently inheritedmy grandpa’s

1993 Mercur ywith ahalf vinyl roof.The

car has low mileage, and it’s in greatshape

—except the roof.The carspent its life in

Phoenix, and the roof is all cracked and

ugly.Ilooked online, butIhaven’t found a

replacement.Any thoughts?

A.If this weremy car, Iwould have the

vinyl roof removed and the roof repainted

to match the body of the car.Vinyl/car-

riageroofs are an acquired taste ,and to

me, theyjustdon’t look good on anycar

made in the past 60 years.

HOTANDCOLD

Q.IhaveaNissanRogue that’sfour

years old and has 61,000 miles on it.The

problemisthe air conditioner. When I

turn it on, sometimes the air coming out

of the vents is cold, and sometimes it’s

warm.Itook it to the dealership, showed

them the problem, and theyset up an ap-

pointment.WhenIcame back in, the air

conditionerwas workingfine. Theservice

manager came out and handedmemy

keys and said they couldn’t fix t he problem

if it wasn’tbroken. Rightnow,Ihavethe

same problem about once per week. What

do Ido?

A.TheNissan Rogue has had its share

of air conditionerissues. Some include

updates to the controllerand thecontrol

unit.Justlikenearly everypartofv ehicles

today, afte rcheckingthe basics, the sys-

tem should be checked for fault codes.It

seems as if the air door actuator or motor

maybefailin g. This wouldcause the air

temperature to be warm sometimesand

cool othertimes. If this is the case,itmay

signalacode to help with diagnosis.

JohnPaul is AAANortheast’sCar Doctor.

Hehas over 40 yearsofexperience in

the automotive businessandis an ASE

certifiedmaster technician.Email your

car questionto [email protected].

NISSAN

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