Nissan Versa Oil Change: What the 1.6L Needs

The Versa is Nissan's entry-level sedan, and in Reno it is a student car, a first car and a rental-fleet car. It is simple and light, and the main thing it asks for is clean oil at the right time. We could not reach a Versa owner's manual on Nissan's site for this page, so we are clear below about which figures come from where.

At a glance

• 2020-on Versa sedan: 1.6L HR16DE four with a CVT or, on some base cars, a 5-speed manual
• Same engine in the 2018-2024 Kicks: 0W-20 SP, 4-3/8 qt with filter
• Nissan's schedule for that engine: 7,500 miles or 6 months, 5,000 for severe use
• Older Versa and Versa Note cars: we read the cap and the manual

Where the numbers come from

Nissan publishes every Versa owner's manual on its manuals and guides page by model year. For this page we used the 2023 Kicks Owner's Manual, which covers the HR16DE 1.6L engine the current Versa also uses, as a cross-check: it lists Genuine NISSAN Motor Oil 0W-20 SP or an equivalent 0W-20 GF-6 SP oil, 4-3/8 quarts with the filter and about 4 quarts without.

Body, oil pan and model-year changes can move a capacity a little, so we do not treat the Kicks figure as the Versa's. In the lane we read the Versa's oil fill cap, fill to the dipstick, and confirm the full mark before the car leaves.

The short-trip problem near campus

A Versa that lives near the university in 89512 may never go more than three miles at a time: class, work, the grocery store, home. Nissan's maintenance chapters list repeated short trips under 5 miles, and short trips under 10 miles in freezing weather, as severe operating conditions. Reno has about 122 nights a year at or below freezing on the NOAA 1991 to 2020 normals, so a winter of short trips is a severe winter for a small engine.

Engines that never warm up collect moisture and fuel in the oil. If that is how your Versa is driven, the severe column in your manual is the honest one to follow, and a longer drive out to the lake once in a while does the car good.

CVT, manual gearbox and coolant

Most Versas use a continuously variable transmission, and Nissan's manuals for its CVT cars schedule a fluid inspection and a replacement interval for harder use. Some base Versa S models have a 5-speed manual instead. The two take different fluids, so a transmission fluid service starts by confirming which one you have.

Nissan uses its blue Long Life Antifreeze/Coolant across this generation. We check the level in the reservoir, the condition of the hoses and the radiator cap seal on every visit.

Older Versas and the Versa Note

Earlier Versa sedans and hatchbacks, and the Versa Note hatchback that Nissan sold through 2019, used different engine generations. We have not verified a published grade and capacity for each of those for this page. On those cars we go by the cap, the owner's manual in the glovebox and the dipstick, and we tell you what we used.

Every Versa gets

• The grade on the cap, a new filter, the fill checked on the dipstick
• The maintenance reminder reset
• Engine air filter and cabin filter shown
• Battery test at participating locations, belts and coolant level
• Tire pressure, lights, wipers and washer fluid