The transmission on our 2005 Nissan Pathfinder started having issues and we had it towed to Modern Nissan of Lake Norman. There was also a check engine light on prior to the transmission issue. They called us about 3 days later and told us the transmission, catalytic converter (cause of check engine light) and timing chain needed to be replaced - total estimated cost: about $8,000 ($5500 just for the transmission). They also tried to steer me toward trading it in. I told Nissan to stuff it and decided to get a second opinion . After doing some research on the internet, I discovered this was a known issue where coolant leaks into the transmission and causes the transmission failure. Nissan had a class action lawsuit filed against them, but it would not help me because of the mileage on my Pathfinder. After doing a search on Angie's List, I found Twin Automotive and based on the positive reviews, decided to give them a call. I talked to Paul (the owner), who was very much aware of the Nissan Pathfinder transmission issue. He gave me an immediate quote of $3295 and explained in great detail what caused the issue and what was necessary to fix it. I mentioned the catalytic converter and timing chain diagnosis as well. I decided to give him my business based on his knowledge of my specific issue. Twin Automotive handled the towing from Modern Nissan, and Paul called me the following week with the diagnosis. He confirmed the transmission failure, the need for a catalytic converter replacement, but said that my timing chain did not need to be serviced at all! Total estimate was around $3700. Quite an improvement over the 8K estimate by Modern Nissan. Also, this fell on the low end of what I had read other people had paid for Nissan Pathfinder transmission replacement on the internet. I agreed to do the needed services and also asked him to do an oil change. The service was completed as expected and they allowed us to apply a $200 coupon off of transmission repair - total cost about $3500. I couldn't be happier with the results. I would recommend Twin Automotive for automotive services. If you have a Nissan with the coolant leak transmission issue - Paul is the guy to see!
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