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

My ex has a 2012 Maxima which we bought new. No issues with the transmission and the car wasn't babied when I drove it as a daily.

 

Anecdotal information, but I read a possible catch-22 with the subaru CVTs. They are meant to be sealed for life, so not allowed to change the fluid without voiding the warranty. But if you don't change the fluid, consensus was the 120k-150k lifespan. If you do change the fluid, it typically lasts longer, but again, possible warranty void. If I have to buy a CVT I would definitely look into what the true story is there.

 

Damn, I thought we were the only ones with one of those unicorns... wife has a 2013 and loves it. It is the ONLY cvt equipped car I've driven that I like. Unless you're trying to drive it line something it's not you'd be hard pressed to tell it's a cvt.

 

It's all Polaris knows. As are the millions of broken belts.

 

Ah yes, BMW started that shit in the 90s with their “lifetime” fluid. What they didn’t tell you is that when the fluid goes bad it kills the tranny, voila, lifetime of tranny is right!

 

My anecdote is that my wife's 2016 Honda Fit with 88,000 miles has not been troublesome so far. She babies it for the gas mileage benefits (40 mpg around town calculated by hand) but it has been perfectly adequate.

 

The reason you don't hear about the problems, is that since you live in a company town, those cars are sold off before they go bad. There is a constant stream of new vehicles replacing the 2-4 year old used ones. And those used ones leave your locale.

 

Negative - My 85 vette had lifetime fluid in the diff. Didn't even have a drain or fill plug.

 

my audi a4 has a cvt. honestly the car drives smooth! only downside is pulling away from a stop, its almost like the trans needs to catch up slack when i push the throttle. i have to ease into the throttle , otherwise it will rev up and the trans will jolt and spin the tires. aside from adapting my driving a bit (it will also roll on hills in gear for the same reason), the car drives well, lots of power etc. its got 120k on it so far.

 

All my years as a Honda tech I haven't seen any real issues.

 

Ford has had an electric rack & pinion steering box, since 2011, that has a cvt belt. Fords recommended fix is a new $1900 part plus labor. Or buy a $45 belt and disassemble the rack to replace the belt in under 90 mins.

 

I just lost the transmission in my 2017 Legacy at 167,000. The car has always been serviced as recommended by Subaru. I am fairly disappointed. All my other non-CVT Subaras have exceeded 200k with no issues and have been sold to others with confidence. Now, I am stuck looking for something new 6-12 months before I was ready/planned.

As mentioned, they are good until they aren't. There is no warning of impending failure; it just sh!t the bed driving down the road one afternoon.

 

Currently 170,xxx miles on my wife's '17 Forester.

CVT fluid has been changed at least once.

It's been exhibiting a shudder under moderate to heavy throttle for quite a while now but no major issues to speak of so far.

Can't speak on the warranty thing but that sounds crazy

 

I'd change it again, if it was mine. Usually can only drain a fraction of the capacity on most vehicles these days. Honda and Toyota have a technical service bulletins for high-mileage vehicles. Suggests draining and refilling their normal auto trans. like 3-4 times, driving it (my Honda Tech friend runs it on his lift,) between each change. This eliminated the shuttering between shifts on my '10 Camry 4 cyl. w/ 220k mi.

 

Toyota had a TSB on my 2012 Camry when my mother was the owner, but never received word of it (she would have directed it to my attention). I bought the car from her in 2018 or '19 with 60K miles. It started having issues in 2021. I read about the TSB a few months after the opportunity to get it fixed by Toyo ... I complained, but they didn't budge. Quotes on a repair ranged from 3500-5000 bucks.

Luckily, a friend told me of a place in Marietta (metro Atlanta) called Palmer Transmission. Reviews were good, so I brought my car to them for the fix. Well, instead of taking advantage of me, they said the shuttering was resolved with a bit of additive. Charge? Oh, no charge! WHAT??? I had $40 cash on me, and I insisted they take it.

Needless to say, I now get the trans fluid changed every 50K miles, and have additive included. By Palmer Transmission, of course. They also have completed other work I needed (oil/filter change, radiator flush, struts, fresh plugs and coil packs, brake pads and rotors, etc.), as I trust them 100%. I could get that type of work done by a local friend that is a mechanic, but I feel like I need to have them do the work as payback for their initial generosity.

Their info:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/UzMdSeYa9ugxCbvh6

The car is now near 300K miles; about 50K since the last fluid change. So I will schedule another fluid and filter change very soon. I have the use OEM Toyota fluid and filter.

Speaking of which ... now that I am nearing 300K, is there anything in the transmission that "wears out" other than the fluid? With proper fluid and filter changes, can I expect this to last another 300K miles? Luckily, my days of hauling fat chicks around are long over, so the demand on the transmission is never near GVWR.

 

TSB's are usually only sent to the dealership service departments to assist tech's with what they consider reasonable maintenance issues the mfg's vehicles encounter, after being alerted by dealer's queries. This may not be entirely the case, but this is my understanding.

Great success story with this shop, @YamahaRick . I'd show my appreciation the same way.
You are rolling up the miles on that thing! Soon you'll be one of those 500k mi. guys.