Day 16: A Different Note

After the origami morning errands in the Focus (which included its refusal to play mp4 (AAC) files from a disc, I got a call from Enterprise to come swap out the Focus for a Nissan Versa Note. Funnily enough, the Versa Note is very close to the Fit's color, and I already knew that its size was totally comparable, mostly.

I picked up the Versa Note and did a couple more errands which included putting a 10 ft. long plastic drain pipe into the car, again, mostly. The tailgate wouldn't close with the pipe heading down into the front passenger footwell, so out the passenger side window it went. This went better than if I had the Focus, but not as well as the Fit--I seem to recall that I could have gotten this piece entirely in the car. I folding down the seats I was very aware that this was no magic seat--the seat backs fold onto the stationary seat bottoms creating a heightened load floor in the middle. I hear there's a way to reposition the floorboard in the rear cargo area to match the load floor height, but I'm not sure I see the point.

I stopped by the Honda dealer to visit my Fit and collect some shopping bags from the cargo area and sunglasses. The dealer had the car in a secure area protected by chainlink fence and barbed wire. Likely thieves would go for the pricier stock in that cage. The service guy said that the car would probably be moved offsite because they are running out of storage space. He also heard the April rumor, and also is in the 'believe it when he sees it" camp.

Credit to the Honda Social media team (Mike) and the Honda Airbag Recall team (Tanisha) for arranging the car swap. I would have done it on my own eventually, but it was one of those things that while annoying I wasn't going to deal with til I had to. The Versa Note fits perfectly in the garage, as it has the same footprint as the Fit. Nothing unusual there.

So now the long term Nissan test drive begins. My initial impressions are that the Versa Note is an economy car (not unlike my Fit) but with somewhat less road feel and polish. The acceleration (with the CVT) is adequate and not surge-y like the Ford Focus. The braking is a little mushy, but the Focus was grabby so I prefer the mushiness. The cargo will be adequate. Rear passengers (2) will be thrilled. It's like a limo in the back of the Note. There is enough leg room for a 7 footer--don't know about the headroom though for that 7 footer. The cargo area (seats up) is smaller than the Fit, but again, adequate for my needs.