Question about owning 2 vehicles

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@Beast26 wrote:

What about if my beater car is a 2012 Nissan versa that needed a new cvt transmission at 80,000 miles should I keep this car even though I got the transmission replaced or should I drive it until the transmission possibly goes out again?

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I had a 2007 Toyota Highlander hybrid with a CVT. Keep it 17 years. Never had a transmission issue. Sold it for parts at around 150k miles because the hybrid battery died and those cost over $7k to replace.

Many CVTs can last a long time and sustain high mileage if not abused. However, a throttle jockey may not be as fortunate.

[Beast26]

2012 Nissan versa is one of the worst years for the cvt.  That's why I asked.

[Thomas_Thumb]

Yes, some CVTs are better than others. A few types don't handle torque too well. I am not familiar with your Nissan model.

I do know Subaru incorporated a specially modified torque converter along with a reinforced CVT belt to address reliability concerns.

The Nissan CVT you have may be susceptible to damage from stress. The performance to the torque converter is critical for reliability. Fluid management is very important. Oftentimes the manufacturer updated software particularly with earlier CVTs.

Side note: From what I have read a CVT should "typically" run reliably for 100k miles before needing significant service work. That being said, many pre 2015 CVTs suffer from a variety of reliability issues.

Continue driving the vehicle but don't count on more than another 70-80k before a 2nd failure. Usually there will be obvious symptoms so you can procure alternate transportation before failure.

[dfwxjer]

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@Beast26 wrote:

2012 Nissan versa is one of the worst years for the cvt.  That's why I asked.

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Is the replacement transmission supposed to be more reliable than the factory CVT? Normally I'm all for a beater daily driver, but this era of Nissan is riddled with problems that will end up costing you more money in the long run than they're worth. 

Is your other vehicle reliable and does it fit your needs as a daily driver? Can you sell the Nissan for a reasonable amount that will make it worthwhile to you? 

Like others above, I have several vehicles that fit my needs, but they all have a specific purpose. My "fun" vehicles are all passion projects, but I wouldn't want to manage issues on a daily driver. Nor would I want to pay insurance, and normal maintenance on a redundant daily driver. You can add rental coverage to your insurance policy for pretty cheap, and I'm sure it'd be far less than you're currently paying for 2 vehicles. Some policies also have mechanical breakdown coverage so you may want to look in to that for your primary. At the very least keeping the Nissan proceeds in a HYSA will be nice insurance should you have any repairs needed for your main vehicle. 

[Beast26]

I'm not sure how reliable the replacement cvt was.  I wouldn't mind just having one vehicle it just seems like rentals don't get covered all the way sometimes when people need them.  Sometimes shops keep people's vehicles longer than what you can have the rental for.  I have a 2015 Nissan frontier that has only had one minor problem that is now fixed since I bought it over 5 yrs ago so that is pretty reliable.  The versa however I got the transmission replaced in 2023 and didn't want to sell it after replacing the transmission because I felt like I fixed it up for someone else without getting any use out of it.  It's really good on gas though I just get nervous if I were to only have one vehicle and something were to need repairs on the truck.

[JVO]

Either use your current cash to pay your balance off, or sell one of your cars. Or, combine both in a trade in and get a new vehicle under warranty.