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Dave, my apologies for implying that the Maxima I now drive would be the best choice. Biggest problem with that 4th gen Maxima now is they are all 13 years old, or within months of 13.
I thought you were looking at new cars, and the new Versa would be a good choice. The CVT versions do good in mileage in urban areas and Nissan warranties their CVTs for 120 k miles.
If I was looking for a used car, right now I would seriously consider a Toyota Echo, or the Tercel after 1996 when they went to the twin cam engines which are the same as the Echo. No timing belts to break and very low maintenance and very reliable.
The later Versas used would be another option, but I was focusing on new cars following the gist of your initial post. It may be a gamble on the Korean made cars, but my gut feeling is the Koreans are just about where Japan was about 30 years ago when they were totally dominating the car market and their (Japanese) quality was superb.
I think it is possible that the Kia and Hyundai offerings may be closing the quality gap right now. The Sorento my wife just bought has one of the best factory paint jobs I have ever seen, equal in final finish to anything on the market. At 32 MPG highway in a 3800 pound CUV with large frontal area it is at the top of the charts for highway mileage with few competitors. The direct injected 6 speed automated manual transmissions are leading edge technology, with a 100k warranty to back up their build quality, as well as a 5-60 roadside assistance that means my wife has assurance she will be OK on the road travelling alone, which to her is priceless.
The base models of the Korean cars are slightly more expensive that a stripped Versa and the difference in mileage is negligible. Either would be a good choice in my opinion.
regards
Mech
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