Nissan Versa

Which Nissan Versa years should you avoid?

Going by 3,327 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the Nissan Versa years to avoid are 2009, 2012 and 2008.

• 2009504 complaints, 2.7× a typical Versa year, most often about the airbags.
• 2012486 complaints, 2.6× a typical Versa year, most often about the airbags.
• 2008381 complaints, 2.0× a typical Versa year, most often about the airbags.

Better bets: among years old enough for a low count to mean something, the 2017 and 2020 drew the fewest complaints without an unusual share of serious ones.

Too new to judge: 2025. Complaints take a few years to arrive, so a new model year looks better than it is.

How this is worked out: each year is compared with a typical year of the same model, which takes most of the difference in sales out of it, and its share of serious failures is compared with every other car of the same model year, because older cars were complained about differently. A year needs 25 complaints to be judged at all. Complaints are unverified owner reports. Full method →