Well-maintained cars tend to be cheaper to own and much more reliable in the long run. That said, maintenance costs vary from model to model, with some significantly cheaper to maintain than others. Toyota models rank at the top of that list, with notable mentions like the Yaris, Prius, and Camry. In the case of Nissan, only one of its models makes it to the top 10 least expensive models to maintain after five years.

How Nissan fares as a brand regarding 5-year maintenance costs

Nissan is among the top five brands with the lowest five-year maintenance costs at $2,118, according to CarEdge. It comes behind Toyota in first, Mitsubishi in second, Honda in third, and Volkswagen in fourth.

For context, the fice-year maintenance costs for these four brands are $1,605, $2,019, $2,090, and $2,107. Behind Nissan are Mazda, Kia, Mini, GMC, and Hyundai, to complete the top 10.

Nissan’s only entry into the top 10 least expensive models to maintain

Only the Nissan Versa makes it into the top 10 in tenth place. Owners should expect to spend roughly $1,376 to keep their Versa in good working order during this period.

Naturally, the maintenance expenses will be cheapest during the first year of ownership, with buyers typically spending $173. In the second year, this increases to $205, and by the fifth year, you’ll need to spend $405.

These costs put the Versa behind the Mitsubishi Mirage G4 in ninth place, which costs $1,371 for the same period. The Honda Fit sits in eighth place with $1,305 as the average five-year maintenance cost. The Mitsubishi Mirage comes in seventh and at the top of the list is the Toyota Yaris, which costs just $1,080 to maintain.

By the tenth year, the Versa has dropped off from the top 10 to thirteenth place, with the Honda Civic, Honda Insight, and Toyota Supra among those that move above it. That said, its $5,331 total maintenance spend for this period is still about $1,726 cheaper than the average for other popular sedans.

2023 Nissan Versa specs and features

According to Nissan, the starting price for the Versa is $15,730, with things like destination fees adding a roughly $1,000 surcharge to the initial cost. There are three available trims, i.e., the base S trim, the SV trim, and the top-of-the-line SR trim.

They all come with a 1.6L four-cylinder engine putting out 122 hp and 114 lb-ft of torque and a FWD drivetrain.

As for the transmission, you can pick between a five-speed manual and the Xtronic CVT with the base model. However, the other two come with the CVT as standard.

Fuel economy is 32 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway driving for options with the CVT transmission. While these figures are impressive, it’s bested by some of its competitors in the compact car segment, like the Kia Rio and Hyundai Elantra.

Also, fuel economy for the manual transmission variant is significantly less impressive at 30 mpg. This averages 27 mpg in the city and 35 mpg on highway driving.

Standard safety features include rear automatic braking, cruise control, automatic emergency braking, and high beam assist. Alternatively, rear cross-traffic alert and blind spot warning are available with higher trims.

You also get different infotainment systems depending on the trim. With the base trim, you get a seven-inch screen. The SV and SR trims come with a larger eight-inch screen with both Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto included.