Joined
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23 Posts
First, many thanks for this forum - there are some good posts on here and the majority of posters seem to be really into their subject. Refreshing.
Now, what's an old fart like me doing on a site/forum that should really be aimed at Generation 'Y' and after? I'm so old that they call us 'baby-boomers'. That's about Generation 'B', then.
It's simple, really. The cube is an amazing vehicle, so long as you recognize it for what it is and what it isn't. I think it's for me. I'm presently running a Versa SL - a 2008, purchased in Sept. 2007, CVT, and fully loaded. About 13,000 miles on the clock (bear with me here - I'm an English old fart, living on Vancouver Island, BC, so I have a problem with the foreign language and foreign measurements etc., although why you guys had to mess up the gallon is way above my pension scale).
I love the Versa, but it's flawed. Big time. The seat cushions are too short, the dead pedal is about 2 inches too far away (even for my strapping 5' 8 1/2") and the rear seat/cargo arrangement is an ergonomic disaster area. The latter is the worst aspect. Apart from not having a flat floor from front to back (oh, why didn't they have a folding rear seat?), you can't keep a conventional dog barrier in place, particularly with the back seat folded (and this gives so much extra room that it's amazing) because the roof slopes so much that the barrier just pops forward as soon as one of the Labs leans on it. Despite these flaws, it's a great car. Roomy, comfortable, (mostly), peppy and returns me consumption figures that once were only a dream. So why should I change to a cube? Simple, really. It's got the same engine and drivetrain (SL with CVT) and it's just so easy to drive. Talking of driving, I've only done a 25 mile road test in it. A week ago. A mix of highway, bumpy and rough backwoods road and a route through a large urban sprawl of of stop and start.
So why would I change? Well, I don't actually want anyone standing and staring at me, but I know they're going to! But this is the first time in over 60 years that I'm going to be in on the ground floor of a cult. I missed Haight-Ashbury, but this just could be better. It's the room. More inside than a Tahoe or Mercedes S-Class. The front seats are better than the Versa's and I can reach the dead pedal. The driving position is about perfect and the visiblity is is exceptional. It's got about every bit of safety equpment on it known to the patron saint of petrolheads. But it's that back seat that does it for me. It slides forward and gets fixed at 3.9 or 6 inches from the rearward position, and the seat backs tip to the vertical. With a vertical back door, that rear cargo space has damn nearly as much cube as my not lamented, late Mercury Sable circa 1996. By contrast, the Versa's back seat is fixed at about 15 degrees and the hatch door about the same. Labs sit in a pyramid, but the cube offers them, well, a cube.
But the cargo space is still flawed! I don't need to get an upright fridge/freezer in there. I just want to have my two Labs but, as it is, how are they going to see out of the windows? Where is the flat floor that I could have designed for Nissan if they had just come and asked? Oh, the cargo organizer? Well, the salesman tells me that is only good for the rear seat in its most rearward position (I shall actually see for myself on Tuesday, Sept 8), so what use is that? The floor should be level - whether at the low level and rear seat tipped right over or with a false floor and the seat as is. It would then be perfect. Simple things, but they just irritate.
The rest is perfect. It's not a sports car. It will return an incredible mileage if you drive it and respect it for what it is and it will save your pocket book.. I love it, and I'm going to buy that Bitter Choc (Espresso Bean up here in the Tundra) they have reserved for me in Victoria, Auto Cliimate, Traction Control and sweet sound player. But no funky accessories. An old fart is an old fart, and the only shag carpet I want to know about is on the floor.
The questions? Oh, yes. Where is the blasted passenger seat armrest? I'm already getting grief about the lack of the centre armrest/pocket that her indoors loves about the Versa, but even a nod at a companion rest for the driver's one would not go amiss. Has anyone thought of getting a replacement driver's seat armrest from Japan? Does the passenger seat have the right mounting etc.? That has to work, surely? Colour? The Japanese must love 'black cloth', so it's a no-brainer isn't it?
The other question: Is that 'cargo organizer' made to fit the space behind the rear seat as it is fully rearward, at 3.9 inches forward, or at 6 inches forward? Sure, I'm going to find out on Tuesday, but I would like to know NOW! I suspect I'm going to have to visit a cabinet maker, get him to build me a lockable false floor and then a car upholsterer will have to cover it in charcoal floor covering - it'll probably come out cheaper than the 283 canajun plus tax they want for the plastic box with polystyrene supports they are demanding in the frozen north.
Thanks for letting me rant.
For the sake of clarity, I have no connection with any car dealer in BC. Please make all cheques payable to the English Benevolent Society for Distressed Lawyers.
Cubism works! Just ask an old square.
Now, what's an old fart like me doing on a site/forum that should really be aimed at Generation 'Y' and after? I'm so old that they call us 'baby-boomers'. That's about Generation 'B', then.
It's simple, really. The cube is an amazing vehicle, so long as you recognize it for what it is and what it isn't. I think it's for me. I'm presently running a Versa SL - a 2008, purchased in Sept. 2007, CVT, and fully loaded. About 13,000 miles on the clock (bear with me here - I'm an English old fart, living on Vancouver Island, BC, so I have a problem with the foreign language and foreign measurements etc., although why you guys had to mess up the gallon is way above my pension scale).
I love the Versa, but it's flawed. Big time. The seat cushions are too short, the dead pedal is about 2 inches too far away (even for my strapping 5' 8 1/2") and the rear seat/cargo arrangement is an ergonomic disaster area. The latter is the worst aspect. Apart from not having a flat floor from front to back (oh, why didn't they have a folding rear seat?), you can't keep a conventional dog barrier in place, particularly with the back seat folded (and this gives so much extra room that it's amazing) because the roof slopes so much that the barrier just pops forward as soon as one of the Labs leans on it. Despite these flaws, it's a great car. Roomy, comfortable, (mostly), peppy and returns me consumption figures that once were only a dream. So why should I change to a cube? Simple, really. It's got the same engine and drivetrain (SL with CVT) and it's just so easy to drive. Talking of driving, I've only done a 25 mile road test in it. A week ago. A mix of highway, bumpy and rough backwoods road and a route through a large urban sprawl of of stop and start.
So why would I change? Well, I don't actually want anyone standing and staring at me, but I know they're going to! But this is the first time in over 60 years that I'm going to be in on the ground floor of a cult. I missed Haight-Ashbury, but this just could be better. It's the room. More inside than a Tahoe or Mercedes S-Class. The front seats are better than the Versa's and I can reach the dead pedal. The driving position is about perfect and the visiblity is is exceptional. It's got about every bit of safety equpment on it known to the patron saint of petrolheads. But it's that back seat that does it for me. It slides forward and gets fixed at 3.9 or 6 inches from the rearward position, and the seat backs tip to the vertical. With a vertical back door, that rear cargo space has damn nearly as much cube as my not lamented, late Mercury Sable circa 1996. By contrast, the Versa's back seat is fixed at about 15 degrees and the hatch door about the same. Labs sit in a pyramid, but the cube offers them, well, a cube.
But the cargo space is still flawed! I don't need to get an upright fridge/freezer in there. I just want to have my two Labs but, as it is, how are they going to see out of the windows? Where is the flat floor that I could have designed for Nissan if they had just come and asked? Oh, the cargo organizer? Well, the salesman tells me that is only good for the rear seat in its most rearward position (I shall actually see for myself on Tuesday, Sept 8), so what use is that? The floor should be level - whether at the low level and rear seat tipped right over or with a false floor and the seat as is. It would then be perfect. Simple things, but they just irritate.
The rest is perfect. It's not a sports car. It will return an incredible mileage if you drive it and respect it for what it is and it will save your pocket book.. I love it, and I'm going to buy that Bitter Choc (Espresso Bean up here in the Tundra) they have reserved for me in Victoria, Auto Cliimate, Traction Control and sweet sound player. But no funky accessories. An old fart is an old fart, and the only shag carpet I want to know about is on the floor.
The questions? Oh, yes. Where is the blasted passenger seat armrest? I'm already getting grief about the lack of the centre armrest/pocket that her indoors loves about the Versa, but even a nod at a companion rest for the driver's one would not go amiss. Has anyone thought of getting a replacement driver's seat armrest from Japan? Does the passenger seat have the right mounting etc.? That has to work, surely? Colour? The Japanese must love 'black cloth', so it's a no-brainer isn't it?
The other question: Is that 'cargo organizer' made to fit the space behind the rear seat as it is fully rearward, at 3.9 inches forward, or at 6 inches forward? Sure, I'm going to find out on Tuesday, but I would like to know NOW! I suspect I'm going to have to visit a cabinet maker, get him to build me a lockable false floor and then a car upholsterer will have to cover it in charcoal floor covering - it'll probably come out cheaper than the 283 canajun plus tax they want for the plastic box with polystyrene supports they are demanding in the frozen north.
Thanks for letting me rant.
For the sake of clarity, I have no connection with any car dealer in BC. Please make all cheques payable to the English Benevolent Society for Distressed Lawyers.
Cubism works! Just ask an old square.
