Hey Scotty, I love your videos on YouTube and have learned a lot about working on and preserving my cars as long as possible. I’m writing to you because I have a serious question. I’ve heard you talk a lot about Nissan and their CVTs and how bad of a reputation they have. I recently was faced with a difficult option and I hope I made the right decision. Little bit of backstory, in 2021 I bought a used 2008 Chevy Equinox with a little over 100,000 miles on it. Vehicle was taken to my local mechanic (very reputable) and he said the vehicle looked in very good condition for the year model. I bought it with a loan (since my credit was crap) and over the course of owning it, have maintained everything and performed routine maintenance on the vehicle (oil changes, plugs, wires, coolant, etc.). Unfortunately the vehicles timing belt became stretched and the vehicle got so far out of time that it shut itself down. My idiot self neglected to have one of the most important aspects of a vehicle checked out regularly (I admit it). My mechanic and I discussed it and both agreed that even if we change the timing belt, who knows how much more money I’d end up spending chasing down more problems because who knows how long it had been out of time. My dad and myself went car shopping (he has better credit) and the only place that would even consider us for a loan was the local Nissan dealership. We ended up with a 2024 Nissan Sentra with a CVT. The vehicle came with a 5 year 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. However, the only reason I decided to bite the bullet and get the vehicle is because of the dealer warranty offered with the car. It came with a lifetime (unlimited miles and unlimited years) powertrain warranty. The only caveat for the warranty is that it is only valid IF the manufacturers required maintenance is performed at the required intervals (a link to their webpage overview of the warranty is also provided). Do you think I made an okay decision to purchase this Nissan or did I fall for a dealer scam?
https://www.mygastonianissan.com/nissan-lifetime-warranty/
I hate to say this but those warranties are there to trick people into buying their cars but when time comes to use that warranty they're going to play all kinds of tricks to avoid it. Yes in general warranty is good if something comes up, but with this car major issues will come up for sure exactly as it hits the end of the warranty period. And dealership sold warranties are even worse; they're a scam.
Why didn't you go shopping for a loan through your bank or local credit unions? Those places usually offer better loans. Dealerships are the last place to go for a loan especially with a bad credit score.
Since you've bought it nothing much you can do. Can you pay off the loan and actually own the vehicle then sell it and go for a base Corolla? Or get rid of it and buy a good used car; I personally always tell people to stay away from car loans as much as possible; get something used but in the range you can afford.
