JD Power survey 2012 - Superminis part 1 - What Car?

 

Oftentimes I wonder how the Fit stacks up to a much larger pool of competition in Europe. Was surprised it won, and even more pleased to own one now.

 

.....X2.....

 

There was a quite bit of "European" cars on that list, Skoda, Peugeot, the Alfa, VW Polo (we don't get that here yet do we?). Glad to see the Fit won yet another one.

Not surprised there were no crappy Hyundai/Kia's on the list...

 

The Kia Sportage placed first overall as best car... I couldn't agree les.

 

Least they weren't in the pt 1.

 

The Japanese still have the small car mojo. Jazz (Fit) in the Supermini B-segment and Toyota (Scion) iQ in the City A-segment.

The bottom-of-the-list Renault Clio was sold as the Nissan Versa over here. Im surprised it rated so low. Maybe French assembly quality is lower than Mexico, or its the dealer experience.

 

Nissan Versa

Glad I got rid of it last year

A good description:

"Fire up the little nipper and you soon discover that the throttle response is programmed to delude you into thinking you that there’s more than a 1.8 liter mill up front. Hell, I even chirped the tires when I started out. Once underway, the Versa's erstwhile powerplant sounds as wheezy as 65-year-old pack-a-day man. Needless to say, the 122hp Versa is only quick for the first 25 feet. After that, the four-banger runs out of desire faster than a Viagra-deprived Hefner. I understand why we need to suffer the slings and rubber bands of CVT transmissions in hybrid cars, but I’m not sure why Nissan chose one for this application. The Xtronic slushbox gives slush a bad name, while the over-sized stalk controlling its activation is a particularly unattractive interior accoutrement.

The Versa’s uncomfortable seating makes a bad situation worse. The front chairs sit too high. With no compensatory telescoping steering wheel, I felt like a herniated bus driver. The deeply unsporting seating position is mirrored by the sub-compact's ride quality, which makes a down pillow seem like a block of concrete. In fact, the Versa’s feather-filled feel made me scared to corner. When I could no longer avoid the need for lateral progress, body roll was less than expected– considering the Versa’s tall, boxy architecture, tiny-tot tires and over-supple suspension. Unfortunately, despite the Figgie pudding ride, the Versa reacts to rough roads with sharp reports, translated without delay or filtration to the car’s occupants. Torsion bar? Torture bar is more like it."

was never so happy to jump into my new FIT!!!!