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There’s more to buying a car than just paying the MSRP. You also need to consider the cost of insurance, taxes, and maintenance. As cars age, the maintenance costs are going to rise. However, Nissan has an excellent reputation and expects a lower cost of maintenance as it gets older.

Maintenance is crucial

A Nissan dealership where people go to get a Nissan tune-up on their cars.
Nissan dealership | Toru Hanai via Getty Images

It’s easy to remember going to the doctor and taking your pet to the vet, but vehicles tend to be forgotten until the warning signs are too loud to ignore. However, it’s essential to keep up with at least the basic maintenance, even if you don’t do all that automakers recommend.

Some of the things you need to do for the vehicle to continue running is to change out the fluids. This is especially true for the oil.

Other types of maintenance might cost you briefly but will save you money in the long run, like rotating the tires. Things we don’t tend to think of unless a mechanic recommends it can include replacing the air filters in the cabin, brake system flush, cooling system flush, and spark plugs replacement, to name a few. The manual for your vehicle most likely has a breakdown of when each type of maintenance is recommended.

Nissan had only one vehicle with low maintenance cost

CarEdge has ranked the top 10 least expensive cars to maintain after five years, and the Nissan Versa has made a list. It just barely slid into tenth place.

Even though it may not look great that Nissan has only one vehicle in the top 10, it’s important to note that Toyota took up most of the slots. This left little room for other automakers. 

Toyota actually took the six top spots with the Yaris, Corolla, Prius, Camry, Prius Prime, and Avalon. Mitsubishi came in seventh with the Mirage. The Honda Fit and Mitsubishi Mirage G4 took eighth and ninth places.

Nissan did shine by making it into the brand with the lowest five-year maintenance cost by coming in fifth place. Unsurprisingly, Toyota took first. As for the Nissan Versa, there are some repairs to expect, but the cost isn’t as high as it is for other models. 

Are there any major repairs to expect with a Nissan?

CarEdge considers anything that costs over $500 to be a major repair. With that in mind, the site doesn’t specify what would be a major repair for the Nissan Versa.

During year one, there’s expected a 1.69% chance of having a major repair, which will cost owners around $173. In year two, this increases to 2.81% and $205. Year three increases to 3.15% and $256. By year four, the probability is 5.57% and $337. 

This price jumps quite a bit in year five. The percentage now is 7.98% and $405. Even so, this is very impressive compared to other vehicles in this segment.

According to CarEdge.com, “A Nissan Versa will cost about $5,331 for maintenance and repairs during its first 10 years of service. This beats the industry average for popular sedan models by $1,765. There is also a 16.43% chance that a Versa will require a major repair during that time. This is 5.07% better than similar vehicles in this segment. The chart below illustrates how these costs and repair probabilities will increase over time.”

While the Nissan Versa may not get much attention from critics, it’s definitely a vehicle you should give a chance if you’re interested in a small sedan.