Tabitha had this 17 year old Sentra for 13 years now. She and it went through everything together, she named it Brad. Then she totaled him.



I managed to straighten it out and let her drive it almost three more years. Now she has to go to Mississippi every few months and take care of her mother and Brad has over 200k on it along with severe unibody damage. There are cracks starting to develop in the shock towers.



The BMW is almost paid off, so I set out to find something I could take to work as my old Frontier is getting tired at 300k on it and the BMW is just a mid life crisis weekend toy.

She likes the Juke for its size and body style.

I OK'd it because it's selective AWD. I can use it in the bad weather to get to work, turn it off for better mileage.

I am not a fan of the CVT, but Tabitha can't use the standard transmission. The 1.6 turbo engine is peppy with plenty of power, more than her SE/R had.

Well, here it is.

The Red Toad.

They are toadlike in their appearance. Hope it serves y'all faithfully.

That's awful nice of you, pretty nice ride.

One of my neighbors has one and loves it. Hope you have many trouble free miles with it.

We call them junebugs! Should be a nice ride for her.

I had a 2012 Juke . Nice little car. Putting the CVT in Sport mode makes a world of difference.

Brad looks like a pug.

Drop in a GTR V6 and transmission. No more CVT.

You did some nice repair work on Brad and the red toad doesn't look all that bad.

Eeewwww, don't touch it!
Here, poke at it with this stick.



[/QUOTE]

I thought my daughter was the only one who saw a toad in that car.

The CVT... You get used to it, I call it a snowmobile trans. Ignore the noises just mash the long pedal till it arrives at the speed you desire. Oh, change the fluid with Nissan sourced fluid, it's supposed to matter.

I like the styling but I'm too damned fat, too fat for stuff.

As for Nissan CVTs: I have one in my '12 Maxima (with the VQ35DE engine...big difference from an I-4 in terms of rev range, etc). If you have the flappy paddles to mimic manual shifting...it makes a big difference and makes the CVT palatable. I use them about 90% of the time I'm driving.
As for fluid: Lubegard makes great transmission/CVT fluids that transmission shops swear by. I changed the CVT fluid in the Maxima and used their CVT fluid. World of difference.
I also use their trans fluid additive in my '04 BMW's GM-made 5 speed automatic. It stopped the torque converter stuttering that is common, and really smoothed things out.
Enjoy the Red Toad!

At what mileage do you change it?

What trans fluid additive brand did you use?

My BMW does the torque converter shudder at around 6000rpm. It has the GM 5 speed.

Toad. Hah! I think my Edge looks like a turtle.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
At what mileage do you change it?

What trans fluid additive brand did you use?

My BMW does the torque converter shudder at around 6000rpm. It has the GM 5 speed.

Marzy--
For the BMW's torque converter shudder (GM-France 5 speed automatic), I used Lubegard's Shudder Fix additive, found here: http://www.lubegard.com/~/C-230/Instant+Shudder+Fixx
It took a while for it to begin really working, as most of my driving is around town at lower speeds/durations. Once I started taking it on 50+ mile trips...you could really feel it start to work. Getting the trans and fluid up to temp for longer durations really helps.
Add a container of this, "while you're in there": http://www.lubegard.com/~/C-11...mance+ATF+Protectant

As for the CVT in your Nissan: I bought the Maxima used, with 67k miles on it. I did the CVT fluid swap at about 74k miles. It's really easy (no filter), you just drain out the old and replace with the new.

MAKE SURE you measure the amount that comes out, and replace with the same amount of new fluid. Do this once, then drive for, say, 6 months, and do it again. Eventually...you will replace almost all the fluid. Makes a world of difference. Your CVT may have a capacity of 7 quarts (I'm guessing at that number), but you will only get about 1/2 (or less) when you drain.
This fluid from Lubegard is rated for Nissan and Honda CVTs, and actually does some things better than the factory fluid: http://www.lubegard.com/~/C-10...D+COMPLETE+CVT+Fluid

You can buy almost all Lubegard products direct on Amazon.com, or you may get lucky and find some at O'Reilly's (where I found the Shudder Fix) or NAPA.

Looks pretty zippy.

The boys on The Grand Tour always mention them.

I drove it Saturday and it's plenty peppy
I believe I'll replace the CRV with an AWD Juke

SC ~ I hope it treats Tabitha and you to many miles of faithful service!

In all honesty, I just couldn't get past the look of the vehicle myself, but then I'm an old fart, and it's not my money, eh?
Don

I always felt better when my better half drove a dependable vehicle.

I like red, and the wheels.

Make that a red ROAD toad!