Nissan Versa

Pros

• Honestly, you are a prime candidate for a Nissan Versa or Sentra...make sure the seats fold down so you can lay/sleep in the trunk/back seat.
• manual Versa... theyre all pretty decent cars that are dependable and fairly straightforward to own/work on.
• Manual Versas are cool but very rare since they get snapped up quickly for 18k.
• A brand new Nissan Versa is 17k. ... It might not have the reliability of a Toyota but you can get a lot of good years out of it plus you'll have the warranty and all the latest features.
• Buy a Nissan Versa and invest the other $30k in index funds. After 10 years, you will have both a paid off car and $78k extra in the bank.

Cons

• look for 2025 Nissan SENTRA (not Versa)
• So, if you're buying used cars, don't buy a Nissan Versa or Sentra from ~2012 to 2019
• I've enjoyed driving rental Versas but would check out the reliability data (if the CVT's still are a problem consider changing the fluid a few times and selling before 100,000mi.)
• I was reviewing the Versa and it seemed like there were issues with its CVT that make me shy away from it.