PF_Flyer's 2014 Nissan Versa Note

PF_Flyer

The wife is driving down to Luray, VA, today and "snow showers" are expected for her Sun return drive, so timing was perfect

PF_Flyer

Timing in life is everything. Last Saturday, we changed back to the all-seasons from the snow tires...



Monday morning...



...and we had snow on Wed and Thur night

kyfdx

At least you have all-season tires in the summer.

My summer tires are going on, on Monday. So, there!

xwesx

I know many folks are changing out of winter tires here, too. Mine are staying on until my driveway melts out... which is probably going to be another week or two. Otherwise, I could drive just fine everywhere else (even if it snows again), but I'll surely get stuck in my own driveway.

Oh, the embarrassment!

PF_Flyer

95,000 miles and the center brake light LED unit died. Maybe it's only good for so many hatch closings. Nothing lasts anymore

kyfdx

PF_Flyer said:

95,000 miles and the center brake light LED unit died. Maybe it's only good for so many hatch closings. Nothing lasts anymore

Maybe, you could file some sort of class action lawsuit?

PF_Flyer

Funny

PF_Flyer

The Note made the Indy 500 trip over the weekend. About 1,200 miles total in the HEAT. Got a check engine light Sunday evening. Autozone stop for a code turned up an active grille shutter malfunction, cleared the code, and I felt OK driving 500+ miles back on Monday, although I did keep an eye on the engine temp gauge just in case. After a fuel stop, the light came on again as we started to roll, soI'm guessing that SOMETHING is wedged in there (bugs, brush, bird) that's causing the fault. Due for an oil change so we'll clear the code, try some high pressure air and see what happens.

About 97,000 and counting... oh yea, the Note has now been driven on at least part of the road course at Indy as we had infield parking inside turn 4

My nephew and his friends got a little behind us in the traffic, so I was able to record the arrival of his Sentra...heh

xwesx

Quite an adventurous little Note!

PF_Flyer

The 500+ miles to Indy is about the longest single day trip we make, and I'd say it's a good test of seat/ride comfort. Given the road conditions on some stretches of the PA Turnpike and I-70, we came through relatively unscathed

xwesx

PF_Flyer said:

The 500+ miles to Indy is about the longest single day trip we make, and I'd say it's a good test of seat/ride comfort. Given the road conditions on some stretches of the PA Turnpike and I-70, we came through relatively unscathed

500 miles is a solid day's drive and, TBH, is really about the maximum comfortable (reasonable?) miles for a day.

I did one day of just over 1,200 miles with my son last year when we were bringing our 2013 Forester home, and it was just a long, long drive. I was exhausted when I arrived at our stop that night; I basically just said hello briefly to family, then crashed for a good eight hours!

Michaell

I think my longest drive was 900 miles – Childress, Texas to Phoenix. I think it was more than 15 hours.

PF_Flyer

CEL on the active grille shutter was simple. A stone from a freshly chipped and oiled Indiana road was wedged in the unit preventing the shutters from closing. Pulled it out when it was up on the rack for the oil change this morning.

Onward and upward!

xwesx

It is always nice when that is the case!!!!

PF_Flyer

Wife is away with the Note so I don't have the exact mileage, but it should be pretty darn close to 102,000 and all is well. The CVT still gets my attention every time there's a slip or a sound or a feel that makes me wonder if that was supposed to happen, but using MPG as a barometer, I'd say I have no issues in the engine/tranny combo at all. I think we MIGHT be thinking about getting something new since we're down to a payoff amount that I COULD handle and not have to rollover anything into the next loan. But we shall see.

Wife kinda like the Rogues we have rented, and the new Kicks seems to essentially be a Note that shaped like a smaller Rogue. If she has a day off and we go out (have to drive past the dealer to get to anything from our house) and we stop to look, we'll be buying. We never talk about it or say, Let's just go look...it just happens like that. The only one we "shopped" for was the very first. The next 13 have been "stop and buy"

xwesx

A dangerous thing! What you should consider is going to look at what is out there on a regular basis. That way, when you do want to buy, there is no "wow" factor, only calculated intent....

xwesx

However, I am amazed that you have 102K on that little Note already! Doesn't seem like you have had it long enough for such miles!

PF_Flyer

We never seem to succumb to WOW, but I appreciate your concern for my fiscal well-being...LOL

PF_Flyer

Next life event for the Note. 102K and 4 winters and the exhaust pipe just in front of the muffler has had enough. Just from getting down and looking underneath, I don't THINK I'll need to replace anything forward of the muffler and that pipe, but once it gets up on the rack, who knows?

The CVT has been working on me ever since we got the car. Nothing wrong with it, but at times the feel of it is mildly annoying compared to my 6 speed. Well, now I've found something REALLY annoying... a car with a CVT that has a big hole in the exhaust

There is no BRAAAP..... BRAAP.......BRAAAP.... as you go up through the gears. Just BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP Reminds me of Autopia at Disneyland

I shoulda expected that!

PF_Flyer

So the Note was supposed to get some new pipes this morning. Needs everything behind the catalytic converter. But we ran into parts availability. Closest parts are in 510 miles away in Lexington, KY.

And it's still raining...

xwesx

PF_Flyer said:

So the Note was supposed to get some new pipes this morning. Needs everything behind the catalytic converter. But we ran into parts availability. Closest parts are in 510 miles away in Lexington, KY.

And it's still raining...

Well, maybe the good news is that everything behind the cats will just rust away in the meantime, and you can save the labor cost of the disassembly!

I have to go 350 miles just to take my Q7 to the nearest dealership, so I guess 510 miles for parts is not so bad.

PF_Flyer

May be at the end of the line. Wife hit a deer last night. Still drivable, but the front end is basically toast. Both quarter panels, the hood, radiator mounts, AC compressor killed. Body shop thinks there's a chance the insurance will total it given the 108K miles

xwesx

Bummer! I would guess a VERY good chance of total on it, even though the damage is primarily cosmetic. I am going to estimate about $5,500 on repair, and I doubt that it is going to have a retail much superior to that.

Edit: Yeah, market value looks to be around $6,500, so good chance of total on this one.

thebean

Wow, sorry to hear that.  Good news is that your wife is OK.  Hope everything on the Versa turns out good.

Mr_Shiftright

xwesx said:

Bummer! I would guess a VERY good chance of total on it, even though the damage is primarily cosmetic. I am going to estimate about $5,500 on repair, and I doubt that it is going to have a retail much superior to that.

Edit: Yeah, market value looks to be around $6,500, so good chance of total on this one.

Looks like a candidate for Acme Wrecking, sad to say.

PF_Flyer

They are going to repair it. Guess the Note is a little more resilient than I thought. Only non-sheet metal items are AC compressor and radiator.

kyfdx

Bummer

PF_Flyer

I guess it will be shiny looking when we get something new in the spring like we were planning

PF_Flyer

Being that it's PA, and winter, and the rats with antlers are everywhere, the body shops are pretty booked up. We have a "no later than" start date on the repairs of March 4 and an estimate of 5 business days to complete the work (barring surprises). Jan 30 - Mar 11 with one vehicle is passing pretty slowly

xwesx

PF_Flyer said:

Being that it's PA, and winter, and the rats with antlers are everywhere, the body shops are pretty booked up. We have a "no later than" start date on the repairs of March 4 and an estimate of 5 business days to complete the work (barring surprises). Jan 30 - Mar 11 with one vehicle is passing pretty slowly

Ugh. I know how that goes! Hopefully, the repair process itself goes both smoothly and quickly.

We had about the same wait on our "canoe incident" repair last summer, and that was after completing the rest of our trip (~3500 miles) with the side of the car patched up with acrylic and duct tape. However, it took three+ weeks for them to get the car back to us and a couple of additional visits before it was back to right.

PF_Flyer

The shop we're using does great work. Used them before and I expect no less this time. Far as we can tell, nothing important is bent. Lots of sheet metal and plastic. Wife drove it home, and we drove it to the body shop. Ugly looking, but nothing apparently affecting alignment/steering.

PF_Flyer

Alas, this story has reached its end. The insurance company finally decided to total the Note. On the bright side, the settlement was over 4 times what I likely would have gotten trading it, so that might be my new plan. get the car paid off and find a BIG deer

xwesx

Oh, well, it happens. Be sure to point us to your new blog when the replacement vehicle is in hand!

PF_Flyer

We got a Rogue. I may start another one of these long term blogs, but I'll also be sharing in our new Owners Clubs

xwesx

PF_Flyer said:

We got a Rogue. I may start another one of these long term blogs, but I'll also be sharing in our new Owners Clubs

Wow! Quite a change! Just another SUV owner, eh?

PF_Flyer

Heh... the wife is adjusting to parking the beast