Overview & Reviews

The 2012 Nissan Versa sedan has been fully redesigned, with major improvements being made to interior roominess and fuel economy. However, the Versa hatchback carries over from last year's model with only minor changes to standard equipment.

• Roomy interior with an adult-friendly backseat
• Large trunk
• Excellent sedan fuel economy.
• Many available convenience features
• Comfortable ride

• Sedan missing a few features found on hatchback
• So-so fuel economy for hatchback.
• Bland driving dynamics

User Reviews:

Showing 1 through 10 of 57.00

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  NOT WORTH IT - 2012 Nissan Versa
  By palebeachbum - March 17 - 5:31 pm

  This was my first brand-new car and my first Nissan vehicle. I expected good overall long-term quality. I was severely let down. Within the first 1,000 miles of ownership, squeaks and rattles all around the interior began. Primarily at the passenger side of the dash, the headliner, and drivers door. Constant squeaks and chirps. Very annoying from a brand-new car! Next, the front suspension began squeaking badly. I had Nissan take a look. They found nothing wrong, so I had to live with it. Then, the paint began peeling in a couple of areas. At the A-pillar and also around the rear tail lights. Nissan repaired the paint under warranty. Then the car required replacement of the catalytic converter heat shield replaced twice within my ownership, under warranty. Its clearly a defective part. The transmission NEVER felt right from day one. It made creaking and whistling noises. It was very jerky in operation. It had a lot of behavioral problems. I hated the transmission. Luckily, I got rid of the car before it had a catastrophic failure. The windshield wiper linkage was loosening badly. The wiper arm movement became very disjointed and sloppy. Although the interior was cavernous for such a little car, the ergonomics were terrible. In 2yrs of ownerships, I never found a comfortable driving position. If I adjusted the seat to be a comfortable distance from the pedals, the steering wheel felt too far away. If I adjusted to be comfortable distance from the wheel, the pedals were too close. A telescopic steering wheel would have solved this. More reach is required. Ingress/egress was excellent! The option packaging on this car was comically bad. I owned the mid-spec SV trim. The car was missing some critical features some comparable cars offer in base trim. No split-folding rear seat? No variable intermittent wipers? Only 4 (crumby sounding) speakers for the stereo? Aside from the transmission issues above, other aspects of the engineering were quite poor as well. The steering was horrible. It was terribly light and offered no road feel at all. Trying to drive in a straight line on the interstate was pretty much impossible. The car liked to dart back and forth. Ride quality was very smooth...until you hit a bump, then it just hammered over it. The brakes were excellent. One bright spot to this cars driving dynamics. Acceleration was adequate, but the transmission made it a clumsy, miserable experience. Handling was pretty decent, but the skinny tires didnt have much grip. If you enjoy driving at all, this is not the car for you. It has no personality at all and drives like an appliance. I absolutely do not recommend this model of car new or used. Exceptionally poor quality overall. I was so disappointed in this car I traded it in after only 2yrs and 56k miles.

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  Dont buy this car - 2012 Nissan Versa
  By nissansucks69 - February 9 - 1:00 pm

  I could review this car if I could actually use it!! I have not been able to use my car since it was broken since the day they gave it to me. Nissan and its laughable excuse for customer service have had my car for over a 3 weeks and I bought it 4 weeks ago. And they still cant fix it. I have asked for a refund or a new car and they just hang up the phone or redirect me to my contract which basically says "hahaha we screw you over". Listen to this precautionary tale - Dont trust Nissan ever.

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  Buyer Beware - 2012 Nissan Versa
  By Renee B - February 8 - 3:33 pm

  I have had nothing but trouble with this car. I took it to the dealership 3 months after purchasing it because there was a squealing noise when it was shifting through the gears. I drove it with the mechanic and he didnt hear anything when I pointed the noise out. They checked it out and told me there was nothing wrong. They also said that I shouldnt worry because Nissan warranties this particular transmission up to 100,000 miles. 6 months later I brought it back in because it was jerking other road, would not accelerate and my check engine light came on. I had just made it to 68,000 miles at this point and figured it would not be a problem. They informed me that the warranty had actually expired at 60,000 miles and any repairs would be at my expense. They couldnt recreate the problem so they reprogramed it thinking the check engine light was a computer glitch. 3 months later the transmission has completely failed on the car. The total cost for the transmission is $3,000 without labor. If you have this car and it is in working condition, please sell it asap.

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  Transmission problem - 2012 Nissan Versa
  By Teriaune - October 5 - 10:12 am

  This car is not worth the money are headache. The transmission is awful. Peace of junk. Please let me no when the class action law suit starts are recall because this is ridiculous.

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  bad experience - 2012 Nissan Versa
  By Mary Tim - January 3 - 11:43 am

  nissan versa is the worst car that i never had, junk, transmission broke after 60.000 miles, of course the warranty is over after 60, so i have to pay for a new one because this stupid car need a special transmission...... it cost me almost 3.000 thousand dollars, after one year the radiator broke and the starter doesnt work, i am sick and tired of this car, i hate it

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  BEWARE OF THE 2012 NISSAN VERSA CVT !!! - 2012 Nissan Versa
  By Jess B - February 18 - 10:10 am

  I have never made an automobile review before but I am so disappointed with this car that I encourage anyone who experienced this to file a class action lawsuit against Nissan. At 64,000 miles the CVT transmission failed. You will be driving on a freeway and the tachometer will start getting wacky. The rpm will jump from 1,000 to 3000 rpm and back. After sometime your transmission will seem to disengage and your rpm will drop to below 1,000 rpm. At that time you are dead! The car will slow down to a halt and even if you press your gas pedal, the engine will not increase rpm. It seems like the cvt transmission is telling the computer to prevent the car from running. I brought this to the dealer and they said they have several problems with Nissan cvt transmission and encouraged us to file our complaints to the Consumer Protection Bureau. I called Nissan and they passed me from one person to another and told me they cant help. They have no solution to the problem other than replace the CVT transmission for $3,000. I told them I never had any car before where I have to replace a transmission at 64,000 miles, 4,000 miles after their warranty expired. It is totally unfair. I reported this to the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA). If our government consumer protection agencies are doing half of their job, no one especially a big manufacturing company should be allowed to get away with this.[non-permissible content removed]

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  CVT is defective, should be recalled.. - 2012 Nissan Versa
  By Andrew - February 10 - 5:10 pm

  Bought the car from a used car dealership and initially had 63k on it in Sept. 2015. Drove great for about 10k miles and then started doing weird things on me which almost felt like the car was choking out from a stop or a rolling acceleration at lower speeds. Got it looked at by goodyear down the road from me and the recommended that i get a fuel injection cleaning, which did seem to help for a little while until it started doing it again a couple thousand miles later. A few thousand miles later my engine light comes on and come to find out it was my cvt transmission all along. Worst purchase of my life hands down, had the car 8 months and put about 15k on it and now it needs a $3500+ dollar repair (as well as many others) to keep it on the road. Nissan to this point has not been helpful in any way even though they know that this is a very common problem on a very poorly manufactured design, would tell anyone and everyone to steer clear of this vehicle with the cvt transmission.

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  Nisan Versa 2012 Sucks - 2012 Nissan Versa
  By Rose - January 6 - 8:20 am

  It is worse car ever. Too much of maintenance required.