Are CVT’s something to stay away from?

[dlundblad]

Or is their bad reputation something just from the web? Just curious as many new vehicles are coming with them.

Disclaimer. Ive never driven one so I have no idea how they even handle. Having not owned one, I am not sure on their service life either.

 

[thunderfog]

I'm in the minority, but I had a Subaru with one and I really liked it. I could hold the rpms in the torque band without the shifts, and found that to be a good thing. I don't need to feel the shifts of the older automatic transmissions like others do.

 

[demarpaint]

I don't like them at all. I'm getting ready to sell my father's 2013 Impreza with a CVT transmission, if it weren't for the transmission I might have considered keeping the car. I drove a Nissan with one and it reinforced me opinion of them even more, no thanks!

Opinions are going to vary.

 

[ctechbob]

Probably depends on the manufacturer. Subaru and Nissan seem to come up all the time with various problems over the years, while Honda seems to have theirs fairly well sorted. Granted, newer models have probably been updated and work better.

Several of the Toyota hybrid CVT's are not what you would consider a 'normal' belt CVT but something very much different and are very stout, same goes with the Ford hybrid versions (Toyota and Ford cross-licensed some tech many years ago). No belts in these and really not much to break.

But.....I'm with most car people that don't like the driving experience. Even my wife, who could not give a flip about driving doesn't like her dad's HRV with the CVT. I would tolerate one in a daily grocery getter I bought for fuel milage though, but I'd have to have something else to drive for fun.

 

[javacontour]

Probably depends on the manufacturer. Subaru and Nissan seem to come up all the time with various problems over the years, while Honda seems to have theirs fairly well sorted. Granted, newer models have probably been updated and work better.

Several of the Toyota hybrid CVT's are not what you would consider a 'normal' belt CVT but something very much different and are very stout, same goes with the Ford hybrid versions (Toyota and Ford cross-licensed some tech many years ago). No belts in these and really not much to break.

But.....I'm with most car people that don't like the driving experience. Even my wife, who could not give a flip about driving doesn't like her dad's HRV with the CVT. I would tolerate one in a daily grocery getter I bought for fuel milage though, but I'd have to have something else to drive for fun.

We have almost 200k miles on the allegedly bad Nissan CVT mated to the 2.5L (tractor) engine. It's had three fluid changes with an NS-2 rated fluid. (Valvoline or Castrol CVT, cannot remember which, but know it was the CVT formulation.)


Frankly, it's been one of the most reliable cars we've owned with only consumables and an A/C compressor.

The interior is not as durable as the Camry it replaced. We kept the Camry until 277k miles. This will probably be sold along when my MIL gets a new car and our son buys her 2015 Altima (3.5L) from her.

I'd buy on if you like the driving experience or not. I wouldn't lose sleep over reliability and durability. Don't abuse it and make sure fluid and filter changes use the right fluid.

Like the old Chrysler 4 speed FWD transmissions that got a bad rep, I wonder how many CVTs had fluid changes using the wrong fluid and then went poopie in their trousers?

 

[BISCUT]

I've had 2 CVT's and oh my a world of difference. When my mother passed I drove her 08 Maxima for a few years with a CVT. I found the Maxima for her with about 12k on it. Remained with her and then me IIRC I sold it around 140k and it was on the original CVT. Never had an issue with it, easy to drain/fill fluid as well.....easier than an oil change actually. BUT I thought the CVT was horrendous to drive. Felt loose all the time, felt sloppy but didn't perform all that bad, if that makes sense. Just never felt solid or inspiring. The Maxima can move out for a family sedan and I always wondered what that car could do with better gearing in a "real" transmission.

The 17 Outback 3.6 in my sig has a CVT. I am the original owner. Just about 105k now. Night and day! The high torque Subaru CVT feels tight and responsive and performs well. No slippage, the response is instant, and the feeling is relatable to a custom tune on a standard transmission. For me, I won't speak to longevity as 105k is not what I consider acceptable. Once I get past 150k (2 more years!) then I would feel CVT longevity comparable to a traditional transmission, at least in my world

As weird as this sounds, the Subaru CVT feels better than most auto transmissions. The Maxina CVT felt like a loose, slipping, auto trans you wondered when would die on you.

I did do a drain/fill at the dealer (Subaru AWD also uses the same sump (if it's even called that) as the CVT) at 60k for $275. I'm running late but will have a full CVT fluid exchange within the next 5k miles. I plan on a UOA for this one. With three kids 10, 14, and soon to be 16, I plan on keeping the Subaru for 200-250k. If all goes well I'll have at least one more CVT fluid sample to compare, possibly two more. I'll post em.

Not related to post: Going to do the plugs today. I'll post them in a separate thread.

 

[simple_gifts]

I've indicated this in the past. There are ideas and then there are ideas implemented badly. Sometimes people confuse the two.

 

[Ronin73]

I have had it in a Civic and in an Altima. Both ran great. I think as long as you change the trans fluid every 25-30K miles, the CVT will be just fine.

 

[Andrew1972]

People had lots of complaints without any data. Sort of things like fuel injection, turbo engines, ABS, and OBDII. Do we hear of any issues with those??? Recent topic with little data is Direct Injection….,

 

[CharBaby]

Us too! Civic and Altima.

We own 2 CVT and knew it going in. Under normal driving, IDK it's even there and either does my wife. It just drives like a normal car.
I think that too many people feel that they need to put their foot to the floor and have the RPM shoot up to redline and just hang there.
Well yeah, it can be like an outboard motor in that regard. My largest complaint is the possiblity of failure. However, I've owned a few conventional automatic trannys that have failed and they've all had superb maintenance and weren't know for having issues.

 

[fisher83]

I'm not particularly opposed to them. I've driven three cars with a CVT. One was a rental Toyota Corolla, one was my wife's previous Subaru Impreza, and one was her current Kia Forte. Out of all of them the Kia's actually feels the closest to a regular automatic transmission. All three of these are slow, boring economy cars so I don't think the CVT is really killing performance and they're all pretty low power engines that I think are suitable to that type of transmission. In terms of durability I'm not all that convinced that CVT's as a whole are much better or worse than a standard automatic transmission.

 

[gregk24]

Honda and Toyota have a good track record with them, others not so much. Honda also has excellent programming in my experience compared to other makes.

If I had to purchase a vehicle with a CVT it would be Honda. JMO.

If you end up in one, just change the fluid every 25-30k and don’t drive it like a manic and hope for the best.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I'm in the minority, but I had a Subaru with one and I really liked it. I could hold the rpms in the torque band without the shifts, and found that to be a good thing. I don't need to feel the shifts of the older automatic transmissions like others do.

I too love the way they feel. I had an Altima SR as a rental and a Nissan Rogue as a rental with a cvt and I loved the way they felt. Driving them felt like constant smooth torque, and I honestly never had to go beyond barely touching the accelerator pedal.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I used to really hate them. Especially the perceived reliability of them. The Nissan units seem to fail a lot more than other brands.

When we decided that we were going to buy our 2019 Sentra off lease , I started to do a lot of research into the Nissan CVT failures. It seems that there is one pretty simple way to prevent failure: Change the fluid/filter! Because the fluid is $35/qt from the dealer, Nissan recommends never changing the fluid or filters. That leads to the fluid breaking down and killing the pump (the death whine for which they are known) and ruining the bearings that hold the two cones in place. Once the bearings get bad on the cones, then it's lights out.

I have a coworker with a 13 Sentra who experienced transmission failure. He wrecked the car, the shop never hooked up the radiator fan after the car was repaired and he drove it for 2 summers with it overheating. Makes sense that it killed the transmission.

Change the fluid, change the filters - both the pan filter and external cartridge and they will last.

I've grown to really like the CVT in our 19 Sentra. If I were to buy a newer gas DD, I'd probably try to find another one of these Sentras or similar. I am able to get low 40s, hand calculated, driving it to my parents and back! Once I figured out how to drive it, it returned with great fuel economy for me!

 

[Pablo]

Oddly BOTH of our Honda's with CVT's are great. No issues at all. Both with Amsoil CVT.

 

[Spector]

My last hybrid was a CVT and I loved it. Current vehicle a hybrid with a 6 speed, the CVT is the hands down winner. The 6 speed will hunt for the correct gear on a steep hill, the CVT was just smooth all the time and reliable.

 

[CharBaby]

Miller88: Change the fluid, change the filters - both the pan filter and external cartridge and they will last.

Also, I understand that the tranny cooler is small in size. I don't know what do you think, maybe put in a larger cooler? Or NISSAN should???

 

[Wrenchturner44]

Not a fan of CVTs.
> Less direct feel than that of conventional automatic, or DCT.
> Typically requires more maintenance with fluid and filter changes (as several have already mentioned here). Also there is a reason the better quality ones have external filters. CVT's produce more wear on metal components and the metal filings, need to be removed from the circulating fluid or else bearing and other high load surface failures will occur prematurely.
> Lower end auto manufacturers sought the path to using them for primarily two reasons; lower cost, and more control over torque banding for increasing gas mileage with limited low torque capable engines.
> Last but not least, CVTs are not known to be used in drive trains that need sustainable high torque loading. If you are looking for a performance vehicle with a performance capable engine, it is probably not going to be coupled to a CVT.

 

[jeepman3071]

They are more reliable now, initially some manufacturers had issues (especially Nissan), but for me I just hate the way they drive, especially when merging onto the highway. Nothing says econobox like a 4 cylinder screaming along at constant redline while you get up to speed, all to save 1 mpg.

Don't even get me started on the fake shifts.

 

[rob1715]

Never had a car, or even driven one, with a CVT. That being said, we still have our 03 Matrix and just bought a 2021 Kia Niro with a DCT. I might consider a CVT, but only for reliability. Driver experience and fun are at the bottom of the totem pole for me. The next stop light is 10.3 seconds away. How fun is that?