Nissan NV200 Van- trans issues

We have a Nissan NV200 fleet van at work. It was an experiment in seeing if it could handle the abuse that our traveling service techs impart on our normal Express 1500's. It has about 125k on it and the transmission is noticeably slipping. This wouldn't normally be an issue, but our Nissan dealer is not offering any support at all. Per our dealer, apparently this transmission is very hard to source parts for, and that they are no longer supporting any repairs involving it.

It sounds like dealer BS to me, but I admittedly have no idea about this. My limited research hasn't dug anything to support that.

Should I find another dealer willing to work on it, or is this truly one of those unobtanium type parts?

Also, FWIW the experiment has already failed pretty miserably. This think is a hunk of crap, and has costed us much more than the savings that the lower purchase price and gas savings have netted.

Make sure it's got fluid in it! The trans pan is the lowest part of those things, and very easy to damage. Barring that... sr20 swap?

Haha, first thing I checked. Fluid level is good, and looked decent enough for the service period.

Isnt that a cvt trans?

Found the complete transaxle HERE, maybe they don't repair them and simply slap in a new one? It is a CVT, they're generally regarded as dark magic inside.

Try another dealership.
This van is also sold as the Chevy Express City. What can a Chevy dealer source for you?

Is the engine/trans the same 2.0L and CVT found in millions of Sentras?
Could be a good source of JY parts.

That's what I thought as well, but dealer says they're not compatible to the more popular Sentra/passenger car version...? Again, I'm relying on what the dealer is saying, which may or may not be the actual truth.

Sucks that they're basically replacement cartridges. $2500 for the trans + a conservative labor figure is around $3500, which is a tough one to swallow considering that's 20% of what we paid for the van in the first place 3 years ago...

These vans are used as NYC cabs. That would mean many get 100k per year. There must be some support for the trans in metro NYC???

In reply to JohnRW1621:

A Cabbie doesn't bring the thing in for trans work until it's good and dead

Through car-parts.com in New England I found some low mile examples.

$995 for a 2015 w/ 5,900 miles in Mass.

better link

I've heard that Honda doesn't rebuild auto transmissions anymore, they just slap in a re-manufactured one and send you on your way. I read somewhere (likely on here) that this is becoming a more common practice as the transmissions become more complicated and difficult to work on that the dealerships are finding it's not cost effective to work on them. Easier to send the old one out to a dedicated facility to be rebuilt by a specialist.

In reply to dj06482:

Are transmissions the new alternators and calipers? Also rebuilt offsite.

It's been this way awhile for Tauruses, when I was in that community.

On AX4S equipped cars (most '96-'07 Vulcan-powered cars) the Forward Clutch Piston warps and fails between 60k and 100k with almost certainty. It's a tiny $1 part, but it's buried in the transmission and takes hours to get to it.

Reman AX4Ses could be had for $1500 and that's the route that was always recommended because a rebuild would take over a week and cost more. If the shop could source a reman AX4S locally, you could be in and out in less than 2 days.

Of course when the value of most Tauri fell below 2 grand that failure is what also led them to the graveyard en masse.

JohnRW1621 wrote: These vans are used as NYC cabs. That would mean many get 100k per year. There must be some support for the trans in metro NYC???

They were everywhere here for about a minute. Now I see mostly older Camrys and Escapes pulled out of retirement and back into service. The Nissan taxi of the future looks to be a thing of the past.