Nissan CVTs?

Has Nissan fixed(permanently) their E36 M3ty & failure-prone CVT transmission yet?

We’ll likely be new vehicle shopping for my wife soon, and there are a couple different models that fit our needs & budget, but they all have CVTs. I’m not interested if there’s still a high likelihood of transmission failure though. 

I can't comment about Nissan specifically, or any manufacturer, but the sense I get is that most people here, and car people I talk to in real life, are negative about CVTs in terms of durability or performance.

I'm sure you know that though, being a member here, so I guess I'm just parroting that sentiment.

In reply to CyberEric :

We test drove a Rogue Sport about 2 years ago & the function of the CVT wasn’t any worse than a typical slushbox. Pretty much anything we’d be interested in has a CVT though, regardless of manufacturer. 

The two vehicles at the top of the list currently are the Honda Fit & Toyota Yaris hatch. The Fit hasn’t had any proliferate CVT issues, but I’m not very familiar with the Yaris. 

My buddy that spins wrenches at a high volume Nissan dealer says he's been getting less problems with the CVT lately, but the shop is still doing a couple a week. Says he has the swap down under an hour from so much practice though. 

I work at a Nissan dealer and I don't think they were as bad as the height a few years back. 

In reply to Pete Gossett :

The 2020 Yaris hatch that’s based on/is the Mazda2?

No CVT there, and a good car by all accounts.

In reply to CyberEric :

You’re correct! I just checked & shows a 6-speed automatic. 

In reply to dxman92 & RevRico:

Thanks, that’s certainly good news, but I’m not sure it makes me feel warm & fuzzy enough to commit to owning one long-term. 

The best cvt is no cvt. I can't think of a single one I would own voluntarily. 

The Nissan CVTs I've used drive like traditional automatics... 100% better than the Toyota CVTs I've experienced, for example.

Can't speak about reliability.

I rented a Nissan Versa last year while on a trip.  The CVT was a deal breaker. Couldn't wait to turn it back in. Now granted, is was a rental so all the miles on it were probably hard but it bordered on dangerous when pulling out in traffic. I have never driven a CVT that I like but I did drive one that was worse then the Nissan.............a rental Ford Fiesta. Soured me on Ford. To the original poster. Check out the Hyundai/Kia line. I don't think they use any CVTs, choosing DCTs instead.

The Fiesta didn't have a CVT, just the DC.

We have a '16 Maxima and had an '09 Rogue,  both CVTs. Not my favorite transmission but fairly reliable if you don't beat on them. One of my kids is a Nissan tech and he sees a fair amount of failed units. A few years ago most of the problem was a coolant tube that allowed coolant and trans fluid to mix with each other. They seemed to have fixed that but still have some issues. Altima and Rogues seem to have more problems. They don't like to get hot apparently so wailing on them probably doesn't help. 

The Nissans are so much worse than the competition regardless of the CVT that you shouldn't even bother.  There's no reason to get the Nissan over the comparable Mazda or Honda or Toyota once you drive them.  There's a reason that Nissan is now bleeding money from lack of sales, despite the fact that Nissan financial will approve anyone who can fog a mirror. 

In reply to Sonic :

But they’re also cheap, and if this happens it’ll come down to finding the best deal under $18k all-in. However if the CVT was still a common failure point it would cut Nissan out right from the start. 

In 2014ish I had a Maxima as a rental. 

I thought the cvt was an excellent driving auto trans, and paired with the vq it made for a monster on ramp car. Compared to contemporary BMWs, the Maxima was a better auto trans.

I wished the low end of the box was just a little lower as you didn't get to redline until about 40 mph but then the rpms would sit and hover around redline until you didn't want to be slammed into the seat anymore. Very effective.

I've often thought with a lower final drive (or whatever) that the vq plus cvt would be a killer challenge drivetrain in the back of a fiero/x19/mr2/etc.

No feedback on longevity, but I was a fan of the way it drove. It did have paddle shifters and would "pretend" to have gears if you made it, but I found that really dumb. Maybe find a way to control it so it keeps the revs up on overrun.

Sonic said:

There's no reason to get the Nissan over the comparable Mazda or Honda or Toyota once you drive them.

Maybe my experience is atypical, but it's the opposite. I drove a Corolla rental and a Versa rental within a few days of each other. The Corolla felt like a car with a failing automatic, always revving up to 4,000 with little resulting acceleration. The Versa just felt like a normal car with an automatic transmission.

I didn't hate either car. The driver assistance stuff in the Corolla was actually pretty nice.

IIRC the Toyota CVT is the best of the bunch because it uses a planetary gear setup with a real 1st gear for launch smoothness.

I have no hands on experience with the Nissan CVT but have two coworkers who have had very negative experiences. One bought a new Versa Note in 2016 and had it lemon lawed in 2017 because of CVT issues. Another bought a new Maxima in 2013 and the CVT failed last year just as it was about 15k out of warranty. She was furious.

CVTs in general are meh as far as drivability but I would stay away from Nissan specifically. Even if the internet blows it out of proportion you just don't hear about issues with the Toyota, Honda, Subaru, et al units. Just Nissan.

They're garbage.

I work at a massive used car dealer for all makes and models. Have had 5 in the last 2 weeks needing complete trans replacement.

3 were 2014-2017 models throwing a code (forget off the top of my head). But there is a TSB that lists two codes. One of them means you pull the valve body and inspect the chain.. if stretched (and they always are) then you replace the trans... if not then you replace the valve body. The other means you just go straight to replacing the trans. Two of the cars had shuddering at certain loads/speeds. All had 30-70k on them.

2 were 2008-2009ish models, both just outside of the 10yr/120k extended warranty period. Note that this only applies to up through 2012 model years IIRC.

I attended a seminar about rebuilding the Nissan units. I will say that for a trans rebuilder they are basically one special tool away from being gravy. There are way less parts in them than typical units. Only a few tricks to reassembly. Main thing is don't let the ~400 links fall out of the belt. Forget about dropping ball bearings or roller bearings on the floor. FOUR HUNDRED.

I just drove a Cube with 160k on it today. The cvt was actually about the best acting I have ever driven. I wasn't crazy about nissan CVT ownership  before, but now that i've watched someone rebuild one in front of me I'm a lot less intimidated by their possible issues. I do think they are fairly unreliable compared to modern automatic transmissions in general. 

My main problem with CVTs is mostly what's already been stated, that they usually don't have a low enough low ratio to feel like they aren't handicapping the car on the low end. I also don't like start clutches on principle, so the fact that there now exist CVTs with torque converters and CVTs hooked in series with multispeed gearboxes to increase their ratio spread means they are actually moving in the right direction. If both were combined in one otherwise compelling car I don't think i would mind the CVTness of it at all. 

My '15 Sentra puked its CVT out at 27k miles, so take that for what you will.

I was a Nissan Service Advisor for a few years, left in '14 (don't miss it).  It may be a case of "seeing how the sausage is made," but I wouldn't voluntarily own a Nissan CVT, or anything they make that's AWD, especially the Murano, might make an exception for a GTR.

Some of my old coworkers did tell me that Nissan finally extended the warranty on the CVTs, so I guess they finally admitted they have a problem.

We replaced A LOT of Rouge, Sentra, & Maxima CVTs, more than the other models, but every model had issues.  We replaced A LOT of Murano transfer cases too.

When the current gen, unibody Pathfinder came out, we had a poor customer go through 3, yes three, CVTs in the first year.

A few years back, my sister's boyfriend, was shopping for a commuter, looking at a ~100K mile '08 Maxima.  He sent me a text asking me what I knew about them.  I sent him a few paragraphs of why he should NOT buy it, ending with, if the transmission hasn't already been replaced, it will need to be shortly.  The poor baster had already bought it.  You know what happened a month or two after he bought it?  The CVT died...

Hard pass!

Mndsm said:

The best cvt is a Prius transmission

Fixed. 

ProDarwin said:

Mndsm said:

The best cvt is a Prius transmission

Fixed. 

Alright, maybe this is the time to interject....

Since this thread came up, I have been wanting to say, "if your considering a new-ish Versa or Yaris then upgrade your choice to a used and older Prius."   That really wasn't the question at hand but I sure feel it is the right answer. 

The Gen2 Prius ('04-'09) have been a great value to me.  The Gen3's cost more but also return mpg in the 50's vs the 40's of the Gen2.  Hard to go wrong with either.  For me, $5k for a Gen2 Prius w/ near 100k miles is a bargain.  

If I had a little more budget to work with on the purchase price I would also consider Hyundai Elantras of '11 and newer.  

Toyota's hybrid cvt (PSD, e-cvt, whatever you wanna call it) is honestly THE modern revolution in transmission design. It's ridiculously simple and reliable. 

I've owned 3 versions. Gen2 Prius, Gen1 Highlander Hybrid, Gen1 Gs450h. One thing that I dont like about the Toyota PSD is that it does have 'rev hang' where after flooring it it takes a good while to 'upshift' the rpms back down to a normal level.  On the GS there was a 'manual mode' that i could manually 'upshift' with to sort of deal with that problem, but it is one thing I have disliked about all of them. 

I am also excited for potential toroidal cvts if they can be made practical.