Bought out our Nissan Lease - VERY difficult!

[CKN]

1) Pre Arrange financing at bank/credit union of your choice
2) Contact the lease company directly
3) Buy the lease out
4) NO DEALER REQUIRED.

No disrespect to the OP-but this is an example of not knowing the "total mechanics" of how a lease works.

 

[CKN]

I'd still contact Nissan to give them the names of all (3) dealers and the shenanigans they tried on you.

I suspect there's no shortcut or better way to process a lease buyout with a Nissan other than going directly to the "finance" person, making sure to bypass the sales folks. You'll still probably be at the bottom of their to-do list though, just like I felt when I used my credit union's financing direct vs having the dealer finance it. Seems like I had to wait longer than I should have for them to process my paperwork.

If it makes the OP feel better. But the NET RESULT will be absolutely ZERO. The dealers will spin it so it will be the OP not being "clear" on what he wanted.

 

[ecotourist]

You did the right thing by buying it, but I'm not so sure about keeping it.

There are just too many stories of Nissan CVTs crapping out, and at high cost to the owner. That's what happened to my SIL's 2016 Rogue with only 125,000 Km (78,000 miles).

Here is one commentary from a source that I trust - [watch from 3:28 - 6:45]

It might work out fine if you change the transmission fluid religiously but why take the chance? I wouldn't have a Nissan with a CVT. I'd dump it and get a Toyota or a Honda.

 

[The Critic]

1) Pre Arrange financing at bank/credit union of your choice
2) Contact the lease company directly
3) Buy the lease out
4) NO DEALER REQUIRED.

No disrespect to the OP-but this is an example of not knowing the "total mechanics" of how a lease works.

Not true for Nissan and some other brands. Any lease-end purchase must be completed at one of their franchised dealerships. My friend went thru this last year for their Leaf.

 

[michaelluscher]

Straight from Nissan Finance (aka NMAC)

https://www.nissanfinance.com/nmachelp/s/article/Can-I-Purchase-My-Leased-Vehicle?language=en_US

 

[Hall]

No disrespect to the OP-but this is an example of not knowing the "total mechanics" of how a lease works.

No disrespect, but this is an example of not reading all of the information presented.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

1) Pre Arrange financing at bank/credit union of your choice
2) Contact the lease company directly
3) Buy the lease out
4) NO DEALER REQUIRED.

No disrespect to the OP-but this is an example of not knowing the "total mechanics" of how a lease works.

Unfortunately, Nissan requires you to do the final "check out" through a dealer. Other brand do not, but Nissan does. My suspicion is this is a way to get people back into the dealer one last time to trade or lease something else

 

[SwampSurvivor]

You did the right thing by buying it, but I'm not so sure about keeping it.

There are just too many stories of Nissan CVTs crapping out, and at high cost to the owner. That's what happened to my SIL's 2016 Rogue with only 125,000 Km (78,000 miles).

Here is one commentary from a source that I trust - [watch from 3:28 - 6:45]

It might work out fine if you change the transmission fluid religiously but why take the chance? I wouldn't have a Nissan with a CVT. I'd dump it and get a Toyota or a Honda.

$9800 doesn't get much Toyota or Honda these days . But we don't put a lot of miles on it. 8000 a year or so. I may buy a cheaper-ish CVT off of car-part and stash it in the shed just in case we need it. I'm not too afraid of them any more.

I did a lot of analytics on various message boards and watched a lot of failure teardowns. There are quite a few higher mileage ones out there on facebook groups, message boards - but they all have the same thing in common - frequent fluid changes.

I always thought it was the metal pusher belt that failed and ruined the transmission. Surprisingly, it's not. In a lot of cases, people have DIY rebuilt their higher mileage CVT and continued using the original belt. There's two popular failure modes. The fluid is definitely NOT up to the task and kills the transmission. 3rd one is just from abuse.

First failure mode is the death whine. That's from the pup failing. As soon as the pump fails, it's game over for the transmission. The fluid just can't handle the breakin material - filters going to bypass, etc, and the breakin debris kills the pump. The second is the "big" bearings fail on which the pulleys ride and then the belt slips.

The very rare failure is from when someone shock loads the transmission. The pulleys ride on ball bearings to transmit power to / from the shafts that go to the engine and differential. A common upgrade when DIY rebuilding one is to use pins.

 

[SC Maintenance]

No disrespect to the OP-but this is an example of not knowing the "total mechanics" of how a lease works.

Unfortunately your probably right, but you really shouldn't need to become a lease expert to buy out your lease. Unfortunately these days, you pretty much need to be an expert on everything or expect to get screwed over. Welcome to society in 2022.

 

[ecotourist]

$9800 doesn't get much Toyota or Honda these days . But we don't put a lot of miles on it. 8000 a year or so. I may buy a cheaper-ish CVT off of car-part and stash it in the shed just in case we need it. I'm not too afraid of them any more.

I did a lot of analytics on various message boards and watched a lot of failure teardowns. There are quite a few higher mileage ones out there on facebook groups, message boards - but they all have the same thing in common - frequent fluid changes.

I agree. You might not get much for $9800. But you should be able to sell your Nissan for much more - close to $20,000 according to the discussion. That should go a long way towards buying a better car.

Changing the transmission fluid often would be a good idea and might keep you out of trouble. And having a spare transmission might be a good idea too - but I'll bet it won't be cheap. There is a demand for used Nissan CVTs after all. If a rebuilt CVT costs $5,000 I'll bet a used one would cost at least half that, and who can say whether it's been taken care of.

I'd just buy a more reliable car with the +/- $20,000 you should be able to get for your good running, low miles Sentra.

 

[CKN]

Unfortunately, Nissan requires you to do the final "check out" through a dealer. Other brand do not, but Nissan does. My suspicion is this is a way to get people back into the dealer one last time to trade or lease something else

I stand corrected. Yes-the last thing the dealer is going to want you to do is buy out the lease. They make little (if any money) this way. They would MUCH RATHER have you buy another car.
I am wondering what Nissan gives the dealer for merely processing paper work? Probably not much.

 

[DuckRyder]

Unfortunately Nissan leases have to be bought out through a dealer. No choice to go around them.

That is an absurd business model. Reason enough to askew Nissan.

Honda

"Send us a check for the residual, we will send you the title."

 

[pezzy84]

That is an absurd business model. Reason enough to askew Nissan.

Honda

"Send us a check for the residual, we will send you the title."

I concur it is absolutely ridiculous - first I have ever heard of it myself.

 

[KGMtech]

Renault plays a part in Nissan now right ?

I'm not sure how important color is. I want the best performing fluid there is that has the right Color

Idemitsu CVT 3 is the right colour and is a supplier to Nissan. Used it in my 19 QX60.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Idemitsu CVT 3 is the right colour and is a supplier to Nissan. Used it in my 19 QX60.

That sounds like the right fluid then!

Did you change the filters?

 

[michael007]

Going to the dealer was your big mistake. They don't own the car, the finance company does, either Nissan's or yours. No need to deal with anyone else but them.

My Honda dealer tried the same shenanigans when we wanted to buy our leased Civic. The sales rep told us it would cost over $2000 just in inspection and handling fees because they needed to get it back first for some (really no) reason. It was all BS.

After doing some research we went directly to Honda Finance and they just told us we just owed the agreed-upon value of the car when we signed the lease... and that was it. It really felt like we were doing something wrong because it was so easy after the dealer made it seem like it was this long complicated process when all it was was an opportunity to fleece us out of more money.

Not applicable for Canadians.

Couldn't do this with Honda Finance Canada after my HRV lease was completed in 2020.

I tried so hard. After all the attempts, they mailed back my cheque for the final value and said no matter what - you have to buy out the lease from the dealer with dealer fees attached.

 

[KGMtech]

That sounds like the right fluid then!

Did you change the filters?

Did not do the filter last time, but have purchased the pleated paper canister filter (side of transmission case) and the internal pan filter for the next service at 100k kilometres. If you look inside the internal pan filter it's mostly a perforated plastic sheet strainer, not a fibrous media so I think you can easily forget about doing the pan filter until the miles build up or your curiosity gets the better of your patience.