2007 Nissan Sentra

If you're an IKEA customer, sooner or later you realize you're buying inexpensive furniture that requires assembly. That's when you aspire to a higher level, say Roche Bobois or perhaps just a roomful of Middle-American Ethan Allen chairs.

Nissan's marketing mavens like to connect their cars to iconic, nonautomotive brands. The new Renault Megane-based Gen VI Sentra, six years in the making in replacing a car that looked old when it arrived, is designed for young people filling their first apartments with stuff from IKEA.

So Nissan says its compact sedan is designed for optimum cargo flexibility, taking advantage of the Renault C-platform's low-profile rear suspension with coil springs separate from the shocks, plus a tall step-in height. The manual or CVT gearshift is up off the dash, as in the last-generation Honda Civic Si, for more space. Scissor-type trunk hinges maximize that compartment's space, and the trunk comes with a handy, hidden-storage divider.

As with IKEA furniture, the new Sentra has been cost-controlled to the millipenny. The 2.0 S is well-equipped for about $15,000, while the bottom-feeder 2.0 has standard air-conditioning and power windows and locks, but eschews power mirror controls and little compartment nets on the front-bucket seatbacks. Myriad airbags including curtains come standard, but ABS is extra cost on all but the SL, and the rear brakes are drums.

Both 2.0 and 2.0 S offer a choice of CVT or six-speed manual (Nissan expects 10 percent of buyers to choose the stick), but the SL has CVT only. If you want a high-zoot SL with a manual, wait for next year's SE-R. The 2.0-liter engine is a larger version of the Versa's 1.8-liter four and has good low-end torque.

It's a comfortable cruiser with decent acceleration and exemplary fuel economy. Electric power steering is quick, with so-so feel. Stiff damping makes for a firm ride over road imperfections, but with moderate body roll in the corners, and the tires squeal for their lives when the car is pushed.

The new Sentra copies some of big-brother Altima's styling, especially its roofline/greenhouse, but by now it also looks like a Saturn Ion or Mazda3.

The 2007 Sentra is truly like an IKEA appliance, attractive, modern, and perhaps just the furniture for your life, even if you're well beyond the target age. But before long, you'll be aspiring to something more.