Life changes and I find myself in a position where I need to sell my HAH to my older son. I guess I don't really need to, but he is two years into a mortgage on his house, has just given us our second grandson (February) and is working full time at decent wages and also going to nursing school, which he will complete in October.
The 2012 Accord I passed on to him has died a sad death.
He needs a ride, so being a kind and helpful father (sucker?) my thinking is to sell him the HAH at a friendly price and buy a new car for myself.
I don't really need a hybrid these days, having given up a fifty mile round trip commute since I retired.
An Altima SV is compellingly cheap, like five or six grand less than a new Camry or HAH. It does look pretty nice inside and out and should deliver good, if not hybrid fuel economy.
What do all of you think?
I'd say go take a look at it and see if you like it.
My experience with the Altima is limited to a rental, years ago.
The same year that I bought my '12 Accord (and you did too,) Mrs. Tdbo and I vacationed out west.
In Vegas, I rented a '12 Altima, and drove it up to Yosemite, and down the coast to LA.
We put over 1200 miles on that car in 10 days.
I really liked the car and the way it drove.
However, the car is really a value proposition. It just didn't have the solid feel that an Accord or Camry did at the time.
The real issue for me was the CVT. I didn't like the feel. While we were in the park, something happened while we were going up an incline. The CVT started making some strange noises and there was a noticeable difference in the way the CVT behaved the rest of the trip. It behaved okay, but was somewhat abrupt at times, and when pushed hard made that same noise again. It did not do that prior to the incident.
However, we are discussing a rental with over 40K that had been ridden hard.
Regardless, IMO, the CVT really is the weakness in the vehicle.
When we got back and were looking for a car that year, I did like it enough to end up at a Nissan dealer and negotiate a deal on one that was over 3K less that I paid for the '12 Accord. I remembered that trip through Yosemite, remembered the way the vehicle responded, and ended bailing on the deal.
The good news is that from the written accounts that I have read, the CVT's Nissan uses are vastly improved. If you go that direction, I would certainly treat the CVT as a potential trouble spot, and adjust your maintenance regimen accordingly to account for that.
If the numbers work for you, go for it. However, understand the trade-offs involved.
