New Versa Owner with Maintenance Questions

The Nissan Versa Tech Discussion forum is the place to discuss Versa performance modifications and maintenance.
2009VersaHatch
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 9:28 pm
Car: 2009 Versa S Hatchback

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Just became the owner of a 2009 Versa S Hatchback (6 spd MT) with 68K. Maintenance records from the dealer are sparse but I know the oil has been changed recently. Suggested 60K maintenance also states air filter replacement, engine coolant replacement and in cabin air filter replacement - there are no records of these items being done. I am also aware that the vehicle needs its front coil springs replaced per the safety bulletin for vehicles ever titled in certain states (this car was in Minnesota at one point in its life). No recall seems to be present for the airbags.

If I take the vehicle to a dealer to have the front coil springs done, will they be able to check any past service records that might exist to see if the air filters and coolant have been replaced? Or should I just plan to have those things done as well?

Also, the vehicle has replacement floor mats so I am wanting to get genuine mats for it. I was looking at Nissan Autosports, which seems to have the best deal on both all weather and carpeted mats. Any thoughts on which is a better version? Or if there are better places to obtain the mats?

Thanks for helping this new owner!


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centralcoaster33
Posts: 2769
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:41 am
Car: 240SX #5-1997
Location: Central Coast, CA

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Hi, welcome to NICO Club, and congratulations on your new car! :bigthumb:

It sounds like you found a good one. I hope so. I didn't know these cars had a 6 speed option, ours is an automatic (not CVT).

The dealership should have records based upon your VIN and they can likely tell you what was done at dealerships (excluding things like Jiffy Lube or whatever). They may not release paperwork, as that could have private information from previous owners on it, but they might be able to tell you what services were performed at what mileage and date and you could take notes.

For what you have listed:
Air filters - you can pull these out and look at them and decide if you want to replace them or not if they look dirty. Or, you can just replace them, they are pretty affordable imho.
Coolant - you can pop your radiator cap and take a look at the color or the coolant. If it's a pretty green and looks clean, you could leave it. Or, you can just have it flushed out. We have not had ours flushed and are near 100,000 miles. Hmm, maybe we should do that sometime soon. Anyway, we've had no problems at all yet.

Airbag recall, if yours isn't listed, then you have nothing to worry about. Actually, even if yours was listed, I suspect you have nothing to worry about. There is no record of a single Versa airbag harming a passenger during a wreck, yet. They are just replacing bags in a form of CYA to appease the masses I believe.

For the springs, take it to the dealership, drop your VIN, let them know where the car was... I think they'll perform the TSB/ recall. Let us know how this goes please. We'd be interested in your experience.

The springs reminds me of an issue with the exhaust muffler separating from the pipe due to rust from salted roads. I don't think a TSB/ recall went into effect for that and you may have a repair to do at an exhaust shop in the future.

I don't know about best deals on mats. We have the stock ones and they're okay, no premature wear or anything that I can tell. I'd be fine if they were from Walmart, but that's me. Shop around I guess.

I recommend a Rudolph Reindeer car kit. They look great on the Versa during Christmas! ;)

2009VersaHatch
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 9:28 pm
Car: 2009 Versa S Hatchback

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centralcoaster33 wrote:Hi, welcome to NICO Club, and congratulations on your new car! :bigthumb:
Thank you. I'm hoping it will be with me for a while to come.
centralcoaster33 wrote:It sounds like you found a good one. I hope so. I didn't know these cars had a 6 speed option, ours is an automatic (not CVT).
I've only driven 4 and 5 speeds before so the 6 is taking some getting used to. It seems to be fairly low geared, which is eliminating the need for first a lot of the time.
centralcoaster33 wrote:The dealership should have records based upon your VIN and they can likely tell you what was done at dealerships (excluding things like Jiffy Lube or whatever). They may not release paperwork, as that could have private information from previous owners on it, but they might be able to tell you what services were performed at what mileage and date and you could take notes.
This is good to know. I suspected this might be the case, but I was not sure. Thanks for confirming.
centralcoaster33 wrote:For what you have listed:
Air filters - you can pull these out and look at them and decide if you want to replace them or not if they look dirty. Or, you can just replace them, they are pretty affordable imho.
Coolant - you can pop your radiator cap and take a look at the color or the coolant. If it's a pretty green and looks clean, you could leave it. Or, you can just have it flushed out. We have not had ours flushed and are near 100,000 miles. Hmm, maybe we should do that sometime soon. Anyway, we've had no problems at all yet.

Airbag recall, if yours isn't listed, then you have nothing to worry about. Actually, even if yours was listed, I suspect you have nothing to worry about. There is no record of a single Versa airbag harming a passenger during a wreck, yet. They are just replacing bags in a form of CYA to appease the masses I believe.

For the springs, take it to the dealership, drop your VIN, let them know where the car was... I think they'll perform the TSB/ recall. Let us know how this goes please. We'd be interested in your experience.
Is there somewhere online I can see an exploded view of the vehicle so I know where both filters are located? Or can you tell me where to find them. It was not immediately obvious to me where they were. I feel confident I could replace them myself if I knew where they were. Is there a recommended brand, or a brand to stay away from? I buy a lot of my parts online from Rockauto. Shouldn't the coolant be blue, not green? I thought the Nissan brand coolant was blue. From what I had read on here it did not seem the airbag issue was, in fact, an issue, but thank you for confirming that as well. I will follow up about the springs when I get the chance to do that, probably not until the new year.
centralcoaster33 wrote:The springs reminds me of an issue with the exhaust muffler separating from the pipe due to rust from salted roads. I don't think a TSB/ recall went into effect for that and you may have a repair to do at an exhaust shop in the future.
I had them put the car on a lift so I could walk under it before I purchased it. At least half (the rearmost half) of the exhaust was new, which was confirmed by the sparse records the dealer gave me. The mechanic who put it on a lift for me told me that Nissans tend to eat exhausts, but hopefully starting out with a new one I won't see a problem for some time.
centralcoaster33 wrote:I don't know about best deals on mats. We have the stock ones and they're okay, no premature wear or anything that I can tell. I'd be fine if they were from Walmart, but that's me. Shop around I guess.
My issue, especially with a MT, is that non stock mats do not fit exactly and thus tend to slide around. They easily work their way up underneath the pedals, which is a safety hazard. I noted that there are grommets for the mats to fit onto in order to keep them in place, and I would like to take advantage of that system.

Thank you for your helpful insights.

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centralcoaster33
Posts: 2769
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:41 am
Car: 240SX #5-1997
Location: Central Coast, CA

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I see what you're talking about with the mats using the anchors. Maybe an aftermarket version has holes that line up. I once drove stick with some slippers on. Terrible idea as my slipper came half way off at the green light and I stalled while my feet fumbled. For OEM, consider Courtesy Parts Nissan, I find they have good prices compared to other dealerships. :)

For filters, sure, Rock auto is pretty good but I like the box store for things I want quickly and to be the right size. You can return the wrong size easier in a store is my experience. Anyway, the instructions I like best are in the Factory Service Manual. Here is a link to that:
http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/Versa/2009_Versa/

Also, youtube and Google are your friends.
Here's a nice video on the engine air filter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhaGYM_BvRU

Here's a nice video on the cabin air filter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnxCXAmxpSg

You can definitely do your own filters.

2009VersaHatch
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 9:28 pm
Car: 2009 Versa S Hatchback

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centralcoaster33 wrote:I see what you're talking about with the mats using the anchors. Maybe an aftermarket version has holes that line up. I once drove stick with some slippers on. Terrible idea as my slipper came half way off at the green light and I stalled while my feet fumbled. For OEM, consider Courtesy Parts Nissan, I find they have good prices compared to other dealerships. :)
Ya slippers and MT are never a good combination! Thanks for the source recommendation.
centralcoaster33 wrote:For filters, sure, Rock auto is pretty good but I like the box store for things I want quickly and to be the right size. You can return the wrong size easier in a store is my experience. Anyway, the instructions I like best are in the Factory Service Manual. Here is a link to that:
nicoclub.com/FSM/Versa/2009_Versa/
Thanks for this but, um, it's a list of links....not sure what is what....but after following your links below I think I'm good!
centralcoaster33 wrote:Also, youtube and Google are your friends.
Here's a nice video on the engine air filter:
youtube.com/watch?v=FhaGYM_BvRU

Here's a nice video on the cabin air filter:
youtube.com/watch?v=LnxCXAmxpSg

You can definitely do your own filters.
Great links, thanks! Turns out the engine air filter link is part of a long series of really interesting and useful things (including the cabin air filter). Definitely a DIY for sure!

(it kept throwing an error saying links could not be used so I edited them...)

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centralcoaster33
Posts: 2769
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:41 am
Car: 240SX #5-1997
Location: Central Coast, CA

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Hey, those links are each chapter of the FSM. It's an invaluable resource. You can click the links and they should open in a PDF viewer, or you can right click the link and save target to get the .PDF files downloaded to your device. I'd download them all and save them to a place that's easy to get to. I do this for each of my cars. :)

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Basin Motorsports
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2017 9:25 am
Car: 2011 Nissan Versa S Hatchback
Location: Sprague River, Oregon
Contact:

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I have replacement videos for filters and fluids (Oil and auto-trans, but no coolant yet) if you need something beyond the service manual. The NICOclub videos are my creations from a few years ago. I don't remember how much I put up for NICOclub though. I know I have more on my personal site. Let me know if you need something more. I don't get on the forums a lot.

Francesco
Posts: 120
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 12:27 pm

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I have a 2009 Versa S sedan MT-6 with almost 82K miles and here are my 2 cents;

1) Front coil springs should be replaced in northern states with heavy snow and salt
2) 99% of time I shift 1=>2=>4=>6 with 3 & 5 hardly ever used. I wish 6 was more of an overdrive to reduce RPM at 70 MPH
3) Rear window defroster button and AC button do not like cold weather and require many hard presses to operate
4) As mentioned, the muffler exhaust flange fails and can be fixed for about $20 if you do it yourself.
5) I find it annoying that after using the front defroster and going back to normal the AC stays on and must be turned off

These are small annoying problems but what impresses me is the ease of entry/exit since the seats are high for a small car and the generous legroom in the rear seats.

Frank 2009 Versa S Sedan MT-6 with almost 82K miles.


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