School me on CVT's...Good, bad and ugly

I did initially search the all knowing beeb but came up dry.

All manufacturers seem to be going to them, last I knew I thought they would be the kiss of death for Ford (Escapes anyhow) and Nissans. Do they hold up? Are they all junk? I was eyeballing a Honda the other day until I saw those 3 letters in the build spec.

 

Shit boxes...Nissan changes them at about the same rate they do oil changes.

 

I thought that was the general consensus until I saw Honda started dumping them into their Civic's ..... I didn't know if they are, by design, disposable crap or if Nissan and the like were just legendarily terrible.

 

Good - None Ive heard of

All Bad and Ugly....

 

They are garbage. Nissan and Ford being the worst.

 

Toyota's might be the closest to being a decent transmission, but still....NO.

 

Reliability on the Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura have been pretty good. With that said, if they ever do break, they are still more expensive than getting a traditional automatic repaired or replaced. Doing a 3-year lease and don't mind the way it fakes shifts? Go for it. Otherwise, would avoid if you can find another vehicle that meets your needs for similar money.

 

Git sum!

 

My Nissan has one and it’s junk. Can’t repair it and can either put a new one in for $5k or put a used one in for half that but still would worry about a used one going bad. Makes zero sense to put a $5k transmission into a car that’s worth $5k! F u Nissan

 

The BBS is full up with opinions on CVTs (search function is wonky on some things) and the general consensus is that they are complete shit. Nissan and (surprisingly) Honda being bitched about most.

what I learned. DO NOT buy a Nissan with a cvt.

 

I have one in my little Lexus hybrid (UX250h). 120k miles and flawless. Changed the fluid at 100k and wasn’t even that dirty.

 

Avoid, at all costs. It’s basically a centrifugal clutch and belt setup, just like a mini bike.

If you want a quality small car with a normal automatic transmission, Mazda is about your only option, these days. You could take a risk and look at VW, with DCT or manual. You have a manual option in certain Subaru WRX trims, as well.

 

I was hedging a bet if Honda was using one it was pretty decent....guess not but looks like I'm looking for something else for a DD.

 

Toyota hybrid CVT has a very good reputation.

Our Lexus 450h with 170k miles still drives just like it did when it was new. My FIL had a Prius with 290k miles and it was still decent to get around.

 

Yeah it's to bad, hard to find a small car without a cv transmission.

 

Bought my wife a 23 CRV with a variable transmission… I was very hesitant but honestly it’s been rock solid and good..

 

I had no complaints about the CVT in my Civic.

 

Our experience was that they're the Bic lighter of transmissions. Works great until it quits working right, then you throw it away and get another. We had two Subarus with them.

 

Rent one like I did from the Denver Airport and drive it up and down Pikes Peak for 4 days. You'll curse and hate it as much as I did. Just say no

 

As a guy who has worked in the Subaru factory here in Lafayette, IN for 17 years, I can honestly say that I don't hear about a lot of transmission issues out of our vehicles. Everything we make has one. We obviously have a much higher percentage of Subarus in this town (half the population drives one it seems like and a lot of those people work here), and no one I know has had major issues. I've owned 3 myself and after getting used to them I've never had a problem. I even tow my bikes around with an Ascent.