2019 Nissan Versa SV vs 2017 Nissan Sentra SV?

chronic_pisces

Here is my situation: I financed a 2019 Nissan Versa SV with 43K miles for $16,295 on Saturday at a used car dealership and I'm experiencing buyer's remorse mainly due to the car's lack of horsepower and sturdiness. It was a windy weekend in South Florida and I felt myself being batted around a lot when driving on the highway, which was unnerving. I've had 1994 and 2012 Nissan Sentras before and I was satisfied with them in terms of reliability, sturdiness, safety, horsepower, acceleration, etc. I'm not concerned about tech/gadgets/special features.



The dealership has a 5 day return policy (excluding Sundays) and I saw a 2017 Nissan Sentra SV priced at $16,395 with 75K miles posted on their website that they didn't show me on Saturday. I went back into the dealership today and asked about swapping the vehicles and the guy at the dealership said my idea was "crazy" because I'd be switching to a car that is 2 years older with $30K more miles for what he considered to be negligible differences between the two models, even after I explained my reasoning. He said my APR would likely be higher with the 2017 Sentra because it's older and he can't guarantee that the bank would approve me for the same down payment as I put on the 2019 Versa despite the $100 sale price difference because the cars are in two different classes with different market demands, so I could end up needing a larger down payment. He told me the system won't let him calculate what my potential down payment and APR would be on the Sentra because I have an open loan with the dealership and if I close my current loan I can't reopen it.



Not sure if I should stick it out with the Versa or try for the Sentra. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated, especially from someone who has experience with both models.



2019 Nissan Versa SV

43K miles

$16,295

vs

2017 Nissan Sentra SV

75K miles

$16,395

Michaell

chronic_pisces said:

Here is my situation: I financed a 2019 Nissan Versa SV with 43K miles for $16,295 on Saturday at a used car dealership and I'm experiencing buyer's remorse mainly due to the car's lack of horsepower and sturdiness. It was a windy weekend in South Florida and I felt myself being batted around a lot when driving on the highway, which was unnerving. I've had 1994 and 2012 Nissan Sentras before and I was satisfied with them in terms of reliability, sturdiness, safety, horsepower, acceleration, etc. I'm not concerned about tech/gadgets/special features.



The dealership has a 5 day return policy (excluding Sundays) and I saw a 2017 Nissan Sentra SV priced at $16,395 with 75K miles posted on their website that they didn't show me on Saturday. I went back into the dealership today and asked about swapping the vehicles and the guy at the dealership said my idea was "crazy" because I'd be switching to a car that is 2 years older with $30K more miles for what he considered to be negligible differences between the two models, even after I explained my reasoning. He said my APR would likely be higher with the 2017 Sentra because it's older and he can't guarantee that the bank would approve me for the same down payment as I put on the 2019 Versa despite the $100 sale price difference because the cars are in two different classes with different market demands, so I could end up needing a larger down payment. He told me the system won't let him calculate what my potential down payment and APR would be on the Sentra because I have an open loan with the dealership and if I close my current loan I can't reopen it.



Not sure if I should stick it out with the Versa or try for the Sentra. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated, especially from someone who has experience with both models.



2019 Nissan Versa SV

43K miles

$16,295

vs

2017 Nissan Sentra SV

75K miles

$16,395

Seems to me you need to escalate this to a sales manager. The return policy seems pretty straightforward, and you shouldn't have to justify why you want to swap cars.

Could there be a different APR? I suppose so.

stickguy

is it a straight return policy? If they don't want to swap, can't you just ask for your money back and return it, then go buy elsewhere?

But realistically, they should be able to easily just swap one (I assume they would show it as a trade in against the other car) and just swap over the tags, etc. should be a minor task to deal with the bank. they pay off and issue loans all the time. and a 2017 vs. 2019 does not seem like that big a difference.

Have you driven the Sentra? It is a little bit bigger, but not sure how much different it will be in the same conditions.

qbrozen

What kind of dealership is this?

oldfarmer50

I think the guy at the dealership just doesn’t want to unwind all the paperwork and do it over for no additional commission. That said, how long do you plan on keeping this car? If you change cars every few years you might just want to tough it out but if you’re going to keep the car for years and years I’d stick with the Versa. The Sentra is a bit bigger but the 124hp 1.8L in the Sentra isn’t much better than the 109hp 1.6L in the Versa. Have you considered the reliability of the CVT transmission in those cars? They tend to have problems around 75,000 miles. Get the Sentra checked out before you swap.

Bottom line, you might end up paying some extra fees and interest rates for the swap but there’s no reason why you can’t do it if you want.

andres3

The Versa is the worst car I've driven and I've driven a lot of cheap cars over the years. I can totally understand your position, and would recommend ignoring the Dealerships BS and enforcing the swap via the return rules.