[PetitFrereArmada]

Sad for me to finally be parting ways with my 2008 Nissan Maxima. Bought it brand new with 15 miles on odometer. Today, it has 268,759 miles as I let it go. All those miles have been some really fun miles. Top speed I have hit on this car is 130. Car has always done me right.

I gave it to my brother who used it for 10 months. Then I went to Dallas to pick it up 3 weeks ago. On my way back to Houston, it died just at 85 miles from home and 93 miles from my mechanic.

I called AAA and I was lucky my free tow covers up to 100 miles. The tow truck driver told me if I did not have 3A, the tow would be about $475.

Well, towed my car to my mechanic. He said new transmission. I towed it to dealership using free AAA again. Dealership said needs new transmission. Cost $6,200 for everything with warranty on new transmission. I said I will not fix it.

Towed it to another local shop. Said $3,800. They said they will buy a new transmission from the dealership and have to have dealership program it to the car when done. I just gave up then and put it up for sale on Craigslist for $1,000 firm.

Got a total of 9 calls with 3 serious buyers. First serious buyer made excuses not to meet when I was off, so I asked second person to come look at the car. They came and saw the car and really loved it. Like they said the condition is pretty remarkable.

To my surprise, they said they are going to tow the car immediately to go and cross the border into Mexico. I was shocked. But they paid me, I signed everything over to them and took last pictures of my beloved 2008 Nissan Maxima. I really loved this car. And car still looks and handled great! Too bad the CVT lasted only 268,759 miles. They were miles well spent.

Now I am left with only my 2012 Infiniti QX. I hope my Maxima has a great life over in Mexico when it is back on the road.

And some last shots of it after it died on the freeway and getting towed. I will miss this Maxima. After 12 years and 3 months of ownership and use. Still looking clean! Last dometer reading: 268,759.

It died and the car was on but stepping on the gas would only rev the engine. I just coasted until I stopped here. 85 miles from home. Car starts, but put it in any gear and nothing happens.

95 miles ride on tow truck to my mechanic.

Next ride to the dealership for real diagnosis. Failed transmission. Needs new one. $6,500 for new one with warranty. I refused to pay. Towed it to another repair shop where I left it for 5 days until it sold yesterday.

They paid me $1,000 for my car and immediately started taking the bumper off to hook it up to this Ford Explorer to tow it straight to McAllen and then cross over the border to Reynosa, Mexico.

Farewell, Maxima. Enjoy living in Mexico and keep up going as fast as I know you are. On your last trip, you proved to me that you still got it!

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Sad to see my Maxima go. But I wanted a replacement car for it. In my search, I really wanted a gas saving car and suddenly got an interest for a hybrid. After a long search, I bought a 2020 Honda Accord Hybrid to replace my 2008 Nissan Maxima.

I joined the Honda Accord forum also. Here is a link to my thread...

My 2020 Honda Accord Hybrid Maintenance thread...

My Armada has not been seeing much use lately as I have been busy driving my Accord Hybrid a lot more. On a trip now with the Hybrid and decided to share pics.

Took a 6 hours road trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and Valentine Day's weekend. The 6 hours drive was very spirited and the Accord Hybrid did not disappoint. It is a performance car in disguise.

Just as I was about to get to Baton Rouge, there was a lot of traffic. Took me about 15 minutes of driving 1 to 5 mph until I got to the accident and Sawa car flipped over. No fatalities. So, that was good.

After that was a straight shot to New Orleans. Went for some beignets, dinner and drove around to see houses decorated for Margi Gras.

After that was time to call it a night.
Next morning, which was today, it was time to go visit Whitney Plantation for my first time. To get some history about slavery and how the plantations were back in the days. It did not disappoint. Very touching stories.

Looking through to share some of my pictures of the Plantation that I liked.

And this completed my tour of the Plantation. Very touching stories. Well, it was time to head to the French Quarter for some crawfish and then more beignets.

Walking by Cafe Du Monday, a few street performances on the street and quite some people going around.

Then walking up and down Bourbon street.

Then it was time to drive aepund again to look at some more decorated houses before calling it a day.

That was it for the day. Drove around and saw quite a few houses. Then it was time to retire to the hotel for the night. Tomorrow is my 6 hours drive back to Houston. It will be another spirited drive back home. Looking forward to more performance from my Hybrid tomorrow. The Hybrid has been quite impressive on my road trips. Well, I don't particularly baby it, so I demand performance from it and it returns the favor.