Looking at that issue, its not that black and white between the specific
Honda and Nissan being considered. The Nissan is certainly not "much
worse". The Versa SL with a CVT is rated in the average range with an
overall score of 65/100, definitely above the line.

The Civic coupe is rated above average with a score of 78/100, but not
distinguished the way you make it sound.

I have owned 4 different Hondas & Acuras and 5 different Nissans &
Infinitis. My personal opinion is that the Nissans are more fun to drive.

Based on experience, defining reliability as the amount of my money spent on
repairs, there has been no major differences among them. The Nissans (a
240sx, 2 i30s, a Maxima and a Pathfinder) and the Hondas (an Accord, a CR-V,
a TL and an Odyssey) have all been the same - no issues at all, just routine
maintenance. The TL did have a couple of scary transmission recalls though
& a front upper ball joint failed while it was under warranty.

My advice is to spend some more time with each car and get the one that
feels right to you, not necessarily the one that looks the best on paper.
Reliability is not likely to be a significant issue either way.

On 3/26/08 11:05 AM, in article cuuGj.12206$6J3.8977@newsfe13.phx, "Elle"
<honda.lioness@spamnocox.net> wrote:

> The mechanical etc. reliability of Nissans is much worse
> than that of Hondas. See this year's and past years' April
> issue of Consumer Reports.
>
> "dubbya" <dubb@ccc.ca> wrote
>> We've been shopping for a new car for 6 months and have
>> narrowed it down to either the Civic coupe or Versa SL
>> with the cvt. Now, we're stuck 50 50. Any advice or
>> comments would be GREATLY appreciated.
>
>