Longevity of the Versa.... when it brakes down after warranty, what now?

[Driving Instructor]

I have the extended warranty up 160 000 kms. I have to start planning what to do after this? This car is used to teach driving and I put lots of hard KM's on it.

So, my question is what am I going to do when I hit 160 kms? It seems all the parts as of now comes from the dealer. It's great when it's under warranty but expensive if you have to pay out of pocket.

I am leaning towards selling the car but I would like to get more use out of the car.

Opinions please.

Thanks a bunch............ I will buy you lunch!

[alonsorules8]

can you extend the extended warranty? I know in the US you can get extended warranties just before you hit 100k to extend to 200 to 250k miles depending on what you want to spend to keep your car under some kind of warranty.

[frankoV]

Either sell at 150k or stay for the long haul -- at 160k you have to replace the timing belt and they usually suggest water pump as well (I'm told by a non-Nissan mechanic friend that it's a good idea) . . . and after that (no matter what car) things start wearing out.

good luck on the decision!

[Bubs daddy]

What did you do with the car before this one? Or is this the first car you have taught driver's ed with?

I guess like taxi drivers, delivery vehicles and other high mileage fleets, you have to do a lot of preventive maintenance and either turn the vehicls over within a few years or replace the parts as necessary.

There's no getting around the fact that there will be no more new warranty coverage. I would look into another extended warranty or something like ndw offers. Or, get another car.

http://ndwwarranty.com/warranty.html

Paying more for the upkeep of your car is the cost of doing business in what you do.

[sooner4x4]

Since the V is being used for business, is it possible to depreciate it out over a few years? If so, you may be money ahead replacing the car every two or three years for tax purposes. Not sure how things work in Canada.

Maybe parts will become more available from other sources as more Versa's hit the road and begin to age.

I can't recall if your Driver's ed car has the CVT or not. There have not been many high mileage Versa's with the CVT. Longivity of the CVT in the V is not well known at this point. Given the hard miles, this may be a consideration. It is probably safe to assume this would be expensive to fix/replace outside of warranty.

Either sell at 150k or stay for the long haul -- at 160k you have to replace the timing belt and they usually suggest water pump as well (I'm told by a non-Nissan mechanic friend that it's a good idea) . . . and after that (no matter what car) things start wearing out.

good luck on the decision!

I am pretty sure the Versa does not have a timing belt.

[Scuba Steve]

Either sell at 150k or stay for the long haul -- at 160k you have to replace the timing belt and they usually suggest water pump as well (I'm told by a non-Nissan mechanic friend that it's a good idea) . . . and after that (no matter what car) things start wearing out.

good luck on the decision!

The Versa has a timing chain, not a timing belt.

[Driving Instructor]

What did you do with the car before this one? Or is this the first car you have taught driver's ed with?

I guess like taxi drivers, delivery vehicles and other high mileage fleets, you have to do a lot of preventive maintenance and either turn the vehicls over within a few years or replace the parts as necessary.

There's no getting around the fact that there will be no more new warranty coverage. I would look into another extended warranty or something like ndw offers. Or, get another car.

http://ndwwarranty.com/warranty.html

Paying more for the upkeep of your car is the cost of doing business in what you do.

I agree that the up keep of my car is the cost of doing businees but having the car so new concerns me as where will I get parts when things go wrong? I need to change my serpentine belt. I have not looked into it but I bet it's dealer item only.

Just to make sure I am clear, My concern is considering how new the car is in the market, I feel the dealer will have a monopoly when it comes to replacement parts.

[feloniousmonk]

Seems obvious what your options are...

1. Sell the car and get something else (you get to write off the purchase as a business expense in your taxes, don't you?2. Keep the car and just maintain it; regular fluid changes, fix whatever breaks as they quit. You can learn to fix it yourself to keep cost down. And, believe it or not, you don't have to buy your parts from the Nissan dealer. There are several merchants online who sell OEM parts at discount... ok, some of them are dealers, but the point is you don't have to pay full MSRP at your local dealer. Generally, a 4 cylinder car shouldn't cost a lot to keep for the long haul. Fewer parts, fewer things to go wrong... and parts will only get cheaper as the car gets older. Whatever the factory stops making, the after market takes over.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Either sell at 150k or stay for the long haul -- at 160k you have to replace the timing belt and they usually suggest water pump as well

MR has timing chain, not belt. Nothing to replace.

[frankoV]

Shoulda checked the belt/chain thing -- thought it was a belt; confused it with my last Nissan. Just saved money!

[randyshemin@comcast.]

Start putting aside money every month as if you were making a car payment and use that fund to pay for repairs/maintenance down the road. If the car is mechanically sound and has been well maintained, the repairs and parts should be far less than the true costs of trading or buying new just to avoid those repairs.

As for parts... they will become available in the aftermarket, but IMO things like alternators, A/C compressors and other major "hard" parts are best when they are OEM parts, because even though an Autozone alternator might be cheap, the labor to "enjoy" the lifetime warranty will not save you $ in the long run if they have to be replaced at shorter intervals than OEM. Belts, hoses and things of that nature are fairly inexpensive and those parts are generally "rebranded" anyway by the major manufacturers (Gates, etc) for the car manufacturers.
Modified by randyshemin@comcast. at 4:48 PM 8/19/2008

[kc5f]

I agree with Randy - treat it as if you were still paying on it. I figure even if I have to put several thousand dollars into my cars to keep them going to 200,000+ miles it's cheaper than getting a new car. And I've been lucky - with the last few I haven't even had to do that, and have been able to pay cash for the next car. So far, so good with this one, too!