2013 Nissan NV200

Moving is not fun. On the scale of adult activities, it ranks somewhere between taxes and jury duty. Boxes need to be loaded, furniture needs to be lifted and the entire affair is typically fueled by a combination of pizza, beer and pain killers (a combo my friends affectionately refer to as "moving fuel"). It's not fun, and it's rarely easy. While it doesn't make the activity any more enjoyable, having the right vehicle for the job is the difference between loading and unloading half a dozen times and doing it once or twice. When taken as a whole, a proper moving van can shave hours off a day of labor, not to mention untold years of physical and mental stress for those who must take to their wheels every day. That truism was borne out once again when I borrowed a loaded Nissan NV200 SV to help my girlfriend move into her new house. The little Nissan was a comfortable and able companion throughout the day, managing everything from a mattress and box springs to countless boxes of clothes, dishes and other necessities. Throughout the day, the NV impressed not just with the amount of stuff it could fit in its cavernous back end, but with the features it had to make moving anything easier. The front fascia clearly fits in with Nissan's familial look, giving it the appearance of a gluttonous Versa Note. I'll say this up front: Even in a class of unfortunate-looking conveyances, the NV200 is not the most handsome of vehicles. The exterior isn't spartan – for a van, there's actual style and substance – but it isn't particularly attractive. Its short hood combines with its upright fascia to lend it a bit of a hook-nosed look. The front fascia clearly fits in with Nissan's familial look, giving it the appearance of a gluttonous Versa Note. As you'd expect, it's a slab-sided rig, aside from stylish cutouts for the front windows that form funky rhomboid shapes. Taken together with a nice character line in the sliding rear door, there's more attempt at actual design here than one might expect from a cargo van. The back, with its split barn doors, features a low rear bumper but annoyingly small rear windows. Unlike Ford's first US-spec Transit Connect, the NV200 has a pretty nice interior. The materials are hard and utilitarian, giving a sense of durability without feeling too cheap (unlike the Transit). It feels like this cabin is a frill-free workplace, until you pay attention to the features. The steering wheel is plastic, but it's been plucked from the Nissan Cube and features audio controls and cruise control. Meanwhile, a 5.8-inch touchscreen display sits front and center on the top-level SV model (lesser models make do with a standard interface), and features a number of items that solidly blow the analog Transit Connect out of the water. Like the affordable Versa Note we tested a few months ago, there's Bluetooth, Pandora connectivity, Google Send-To-Car, navigation …
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