Three Friends, Three Used Cars, One Epic Road Trip

From Showrooms to Salt Flats: Nissan Dealers Put Their Money Where Their Mouth Is and Take High-Mileage Cars on a 1,500-Mile Gamble to Test CVT Durability

FREDERICKSBURG, Va., Oct. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- What happens when three car dealers trade their polished showrooms for the raw roads of the American West? The answer is Tour Detour: The Good, The Bad & The CVT, a seven-episode YouTube series launching October 15 that blends automotive challenge, road-trip comedy, and the kind of landscapes that make even the toughest machines sweat.

Tim Pohanka (Pohanka Automotive Group, Virginia), Jason Cole (Cole Automotive Group, West Virginia), and Chris Lenckosz (Empire Lakewood Nissan, Colorado) each bought a used Nissan for under $10,000 — every one of them past 100,000 miles and fitted with the much-talked about CVT transmission. With zero off-road experience, they set out across 1,500 miles of salt flats, sand dunes, canyons, and alpine passes to answer one question: could these underestimated cars survive?

"This wasn't a showroom stunt," said Pohanka. "We bought the cars ourselves and pushed them through the toughest roads in the West. We wanted them to earn our trust — and our customers' — the hard way."

The Real Stars of the Show

The series treats the cars as characters in their own right:

• The Duke — a scrappy 2016 Nissan Juke, underestimated but full of fight.
• Luciano the Murano — Jason's 2014 Murano, the "sensible bet" chosen for comfort.
• Emma — Chris's 2017 Murano, the sleek and supposedly "safe" choice.

Together with their owners the cars face challenges from drag-racing at Bonneville to cliff-side switchbacks in Colorado.

"The cars weren't perfect, and neither were we," said Lenckosz. "But that's what made it fun — three well-loved Nissans and the kind of camaraderie you only find on the road."

More Than a Car Story

Across seven episodes, viewers will see Bonneville "record runs" in full race gear, Little Sahara sand dunes that swallowed the cars in dust, river crossings, canyon storms, and alpine climbs. There were breakdown scares, flying roof racks, and even a final detour that sent the team to Denver instead of Santa Fe.

For years, Nissan's CVT has been the punchline of reliability debates. Tour Detour reframes the conversation by testing high-mileage, everyday cars in extraordinary conditions. If they survive, it's proof of unexpected durability. If they don't, the breakdowns and recoveries might become part of the adventure.

"People doubted these cars would last even a day," said Cole. "The fun was proving everyone wrong…or at least proving we were stubborn enough to keep pushing."

Where to Watch

Subscribe now and buckle up. Tour Detour premieres October 15, 2025, on YouTube. New 10-minute episodes drop weekly through November 26, with daily behind-the-scenes clips posted on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Shorts. .Click here for the official trailer. 

For media interested in covering the series, interviewing the cast, or exploring how three everyday cars took on some of America's toughest terrain, please reach out below.

Official Links
thetourdetour.com
YouTube | TikTok
Instagram | Facebook

About Tour Detour
Tour Detour: The Good, The Bad & The CVT is a dealer-funded automotive adventure created by Pohanka Automotive Group (VA), Cole Automotive Group (WV), and Empire Lakewood Nissan (CO). The 1,500-mile road trip series put three high-mileage Nissans through real-world extremes to prove the durability of the cars these dealers proudly sell and stand behind every day.

SOURCE Tour Detour