DEXCOOL in a Nissan Maxima?

I had my cooling system flushed and they charged me an additional $40 for DEXCOOL. I did not ask for DEXCOOL and they took it off my bill. Later, a friend told me DEXCOOL is for GM products. Will DEXCOOL cause any issues for my Nissan Maxima?

Dexcool is an acceptable coolant in many cars. The biggest problems I have seen or heard of are shortened head gasket life and sludgeing on exposure to air due to system leaks. I have to assume your mechanic did this for a reason. $40 additional seems pricey, could you ask them why and post the response?

It was not my regular mechanic, it was a Lee Myles Transmission place. I think they did it as a $40 profit item.

Did they flush all the old coolant out first? Did they flush all the Dexcool out when they replaced it with regular coolant? I think you should find this out. Mixing Dexcool with other coolants can cause problems.

“it was a Lee Myles Transmission place”

As you are probably beginning to figure out, going there was a big mistake.

AAMCO, Lee Myles, Cottman, and Mr. Transmission have earned fairly bad reputations over the years for “overselling” transmission repair work, charging high prices, delivering poor workmanship, and failing to honor their warranties. Now, they are trying to branch out to other forms of auto repair, apparently with the same standards as their transmission work.

If they did not flush this stuff out of your cooling system, I suggest that you take the car to a reputable independent mechanic for a flush and refill with a Nissan-approved coolant. And then, resolve to never return to one of these charlatan-operated chain operations again.

Consider this to be a lesson learned in what not to do when maintaining or repairing your car.