This year, the Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, and Mitsubishi Mirage were all pushed to the back of the line. The only new car that costs less than $20,000 is the Nissan Versa. The Versa Note, which was this subcompact sedan’s hatchback sister, stopped being made in 2019. The new 2024 Nissan Note looks like it walked off the floor of an auto show in the early 2000s. It’s too bad it’s not still around. The 2020–2024 Nissan Note, which came out looking more like the Leaf than the car in front of you, will get a new look in January 2024. The Note’s angular grille looks like it was inspired by 2000s fashion, with elements of both the 2024 Hyundai Tucson and the 2002 Chrysler 300M. It doesn’t try to look more futuristic like many other cars do. The 16-inch wheels, body-color accents, and colors are also throwbacks, though they look a bit more 1990s. Several two-tone paint jobs are already well-known, and I’m sure I saw a Chrysler or two with a turquoise and violet color scheme. At some point, all of this was going to come up again—people have been begging for ’80s and ’90s comebacks for years, so 2000s nostalgia would have its time. Still, it’s not often that a cheap subcompact has such daring styling, and that’s not the only strange thing about this Nissan. The Note has a 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine that is a series hybrid, which means it doesn’t need a transmission to work. This small car has all-wheel drive because the engine powers a generator that, in turn, powers an electric motor on either the front or rear axle. The passenger seat can turn around and has a footrest, so people with weak legs or who are wearing skirts or dresses can get out without looking like Marilyn Monroe. Best of all, it’s incredibly cheap for a new car. The base model with front-wheel drive costs $15,715; the all-wheel-drive model with a seat that can turn costs $18,395. It would do well in the US, even though Nissan doesn’t plan to bring it there. But I can’t blame them since our older people like to buy Subarus.
