I'm starting to think the lore of the dreaded Nissan/Infiniti CVT woes are a bit exaggerated

[2019CRVlx]

I've made it a point to ask Nissan and Infiniti owners if they experienced any transmission problems. None replied affirmatvely. As a matter of fact many have brand loyalty.

I'm not suggesting if you buy a Nissan product there's no chance, you'll experience CVT problems, but it's far from a foregone conclusion.

 

[cptbarkey]

Ok, well, the internet is never wrong.

 

[TheOilWizard]

I've made it a point to ask Nissan and Infiniti owners if they experienced any transmission problems. None replied affirmatvely. As a matter of fact many have brand loyalty.

I'm not suggesting if you buy a Nissan product there's no chance, you'll experience CVT problems, but it's far from a foregone conclusion.

I purchased a new 2013 Nissan Rogue w/ CVT and drove it for 5 yrs / 60k miles of mostly city driving without ever visiting the shop other than recalls. Sold it to someone I know and it now has well over 150K miles with the original CVT.

After selling the Rogue, picked up a Pathfinder w/ CVT and had it for a couple years before it was in totaled an accident. No issues with it either, and overall very happy with my Nissan experiences.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Years back I bought a well used, high mileage (3 years and 90K maybe?) Hertz 2015 Altima strippie for a friend who is murder on cars. The 1st thing I did was a CVT spill and fill with Valvoline fluid. Stuff was nasty. I did another in maybe 200 miles; it looked better. Did another with the 5k oil change. I continued every 25K or so. Dang think has almost 200K on it; the CVT has been fine. Knock on wood, as they say.

 

[CKN]

I've made it a point to ask Nissan and Infiniti owners if they experienced any transmission problems. None replied affirmatvely. As a matter of fact many have brand loyalty.

I'm not suggesting if you buy a Nissan product there's no chance, you'll experience CVT problems, but it's far from a foregone conclusion.

Sometimes there is the "herd mentality".........I will just leave that right there.....

 

[Nick1994]

My grandparents bought a 2012 Jeep Patriot new, had a Jatco (Nissan) CVT. CVT fluid changed at 60k and I sold the car to a friend at 70k. CVT failed at 120k or so and it was sent to the junkyard.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Dashboard light - which is very objective - confirms. Transmission failures are slightly higher than the average but not by a huge deal.

I had a coworker got 200K on his Rogue, gave it to his daughter who got at least another 50K and the trans failed. So 250K, not bad. I seriously doubt they ever did any maintenance.

I have a niece that has over 150K on her Murano - no issues. It has been somewhat maintained I believe.

Another friend has a Pathfinder that is on its third transmission, not sure how many miles. There very heavy cars and I know he has a lead foot.

So definitely hit or miss, but not as prominent as the internet would have you believe I think.

They did a major redesign for the 2020 model year that is also supposed to be much better as well. I might be more willing to try one of those.

 

[JustN89]

The CVT behind the 4 cylinder was a well-documented disaster. It was not over-exaggerated.

The CVT behind the 6 cylinder was much, much more reliable and longer lasting. It was weighed down by the well-earned reputation of the 4 cylinder variant, but it was actually a smooth and efficient pairing. I kinda miss my old Maxima, actually. Fast, smooth, and could return close to 30 MPG on the highway without the need for any sort of cylinder management.

 

[Cheetah-kins]

I have just read WAY too many stories of low mileage Nissan's ending up in the junkyard because of the CVT failing or astronomical repair charges. Go ahead and look this up on Reddit or any other Nissan forum and you'll read story after story. I try to take things like that with a grain of salt but there are just too many horror stories. so.. I personally would not buy a used Nissan with a CVT in the years they're thought to be risky in. Maybe I'd be willing to try the redesigned ones someone mentioned, but no way any of the earlier cars. It's too bad too, I like a lot of their offerings. I think the Altima from the 2nd generation on are really nice cars, but not risking a CVT.

 

[Exhaustgases]

The main problem with CVT's, is just try to get parts for them, especially for something like a 2004 Murano.
Sure they will sell you a reman transmission, for 4 or 5K, like thats worth it for an old car. So they can't say we can't get the parts, they mean we don't want to sell them to you.
This is the main problem with all the CVT's, they want to just sell a complete unit, no parts allowed.
Reminds me of some engines they work this way as well, so they can not be rebuilt by anyone, unless you can manufacture the parts.

 

[CKN]

The main problem with CVT's, is just try to get parts for them, especially for something like a 2004 Murano.
Sure they will sell you a reman transmission, for 4 or 5K, like thats worth it for an old car. So they can't say we can't get the parts, they mean we don't want to sell them to you.
This is the main problem with all the CVT's, they want to just sell a complete unit, no parts allowed.
Reminds me of some engines they work this way as well, so they can not be rebuilt by anyone, unless you can manufacture the parts.

You are trying to get parts for a car 20 years old. Granted some high production cars are easier to get parts for. But-if you buy a car that wasn't a runaway best seller what can you expect?

 

[Fahrvergnügen]

The key to make a Nissan CVT last is to drain and fill fluid every 15,000 - 30,000 miles religiously.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I don’t think any OEM has sold any internal assembly parts for a long time. Engines, transmissions, diffs - all sold as assemblies.

Sometimes the aftermarket offers parts.

 

[TheOilWizard]

You are trying to get parts for a car 20 years old. Granted some high production cars are easier to get parts for. But-if you buy a car that wasn't a runaway best seller what can you expect?

I think there's truth to @Exhaustgases post regardless of the vehicle's age or popularity. I've also heard that even modern cars have limited parts availability for transmissions (not just CVTs). Maybe you can get a new pan, pan gasket, or filter, but beyond that you're just ordering an entirely new trans unit.

 

[hemioiler]

I have a niece who has a $4000 sentra parked in the driveway with a dead CVT, can't find a used one anywhere and/or the value of replacing it far exceeds the value of the car.

All these anecdotes are anecdotes, but at a certain point it becomes data and then a trend; I'd never own a nissan/honda CVT.

 

[Cheetah-kins]

The key to make a Nissan CVT last is to drain and fill fluid every 15,000 - 30,000 miles religiously.

^I've read this and believe it's true. The two things wrong with that though are 1) having to do/pay for so many drain and fills and 2) when buying used you have no way to know how often (if ever) it was done. And knowing how most owners maintain their vehicles it's sure not likely to have been done as often as stated. You could argue the same thing about any used car of course - that you don't know what maintenance was done. But the thing is a fill and drain isn't nearly as crucial to say a Camry. The high likelihood that a Nissan CVT's fluid was either never or only very rarely changed makes buying one a huge risk, imo.

 

[ecotourist]

It's only an anecdote until it happens to you. My SIL had the CVT fail on her out of warranty (but low miles) Rogue.

She's near retirement and couldn't afford to spend that kind of money on it but had no choice. I don't believe that would have happened with a regular automatic transmission.

 

[GSCJR]

The CVT behind the 4 cylinder was a well-documented disaster. It was not over-exaggerated.

The CVT behind the 6 cylinder was much, much more reliable and longer lasting. It was weighed down by the well-earned reputation of the 4 cylinder variant, but it was actually a smooth and efficient pairing. I kinda miss my old Maxima, actually. Fast, smooth, and could return close to 30 MPG on the highway without the need for any sort of cylinder management.

+1

...and I definitely miss my Maxima.

 

[dishdude]

My parents bought a brand new 2005 Maxima with the 5 speed auto, it failed before 80k. The CVTs can't be much worse...

What a heap that car was, they put over $6k in repairs into it and my mother totaled it right after and they got like $11k for it.

 

[CKN]

I think there's truth to @Exhaustgases post regardless of the vehicle's age or popularity. I've also heard that even modern cars have limited parts availability for transmissions (not just CVTs). Maybe you can get a new pan, pan gasket, or filter, but beyond that you're just ordering an entirely new trans unit.

That's true. But that's a post "C" thing. Parts availability still isn't what is was prior to the "C"thing.