Are CVT Transmissions Reliable? The Truth About CVTs (Good And Bad)

CVT is not for anyone that needs to stomp on gas from a dead stop. Gradual acceleration is key to CVT from stop. Heat is generated, which is enemy for any transmission when you stomp on it. Once you are moving, 30ish mph then you can get on it more. Sometimes mechanical problems comes from the way a person drives.

Just sold our 2011 Subaru Outback that had a CVT. 11 years, 257,000 kmand zero problems with the CVT. Regular maintenance and fluid changes is the key. When it comes to transmissions there is no such thing as a lifetime fluid.

Proud Nissan Xtrail 2003 owner here! CVT chain type - transmission has never been opened uptodate for 20 years! I think it has something to do with driver it self on how he/she take good care of the unit :) just my two cents. Cheers!!!

My 2012 Mitsubishi CVT has over 220,000 km on the clock. Excellent economy, quiet and totally reliable. Most major transmission issues are now fixed by replacing the transmission. Mechanics who know how to repair things are rare. Car service people now call their so called mechanics, Technicians. They identify where the problem is and replace the whole component.

Could also mention: most cvt's are push belt style, Subaru is pull chain which seems to be more reliable. Toyota's now have direct-cvt too, with a normal 1st gear and a clutch to engage the cvt which then takes over for higher speeds. Advantage being the cvt does not take the initial starting torque and covers a narrower ratio spread. More reliable.

A couple of things to consider. 1. Yes, Nissan had reliability issues with some of their their CVTs. (Some really bad issues) Mitsubishi used the same CVTs and didn’t have reliability issues. Mitsubishi used transmission coolers. This is a known root cause for Nissan’s problems. Nissan has since started using transmission coolers as well as a more robustly designed CVT. It isn’t entirely fair to say “stay away from Nissan” because they had issues in the past. With this logic, we couldn’t drive any car today. 2. In one part of the video, it is suggested that parts aren’t even available for eCVTs “because they are so reliable”, yet in an earlier statement in the same video, regular CVTs are a bad idea because parts aren’t available. This is a fallacy that suggests parts shortages are related to something other than transmission reliability. In my view, and based partly on information from this video, a CVT transmission is much more reliable today than when they were first introduced. This is true for every system in a car.

My wife's 2020 Toyota CHR, Made in Japan.. bought new, babied and dealer serviced. At 67K miles started making a slight noise.. Toyota dealer diagnosed it needed a new CVT Transmission, cost $10,500.... Sold it the next day at CarMax for an excellent price. About to buy a Mazda CX30 with No CVT. I will never own another CVT vehicle.

They tried to replace the timing chain with a timing belt. That did not work out too well and they are going back to chains. So now, in their infinite wisdom, they have decided to put a belt to drive the whole vehicle and bury it where it is totally inaccessible without taking half the engine apart. Genius!

My 2017 corolla CVT began to break down at 300,000km, I replaced with a used CVT with only 30,000km. My 2005 corolla had a traditional automatic transmission and went 600,000km with never a single problem.

I have a 2015 Forester with CVT with 125,000 miles on it. I drive it hard and fast, and have had zero problems with he transmission.

This was very helpful. In 2014 my 2002 For Focus was in need of replacement. I test drove various makes and models but didn't like the automatic transmissions. So I purchased a manual Subaru Forester. I have been very happy with the car but, now my left knee and right shoulder have suffered some issues due to repetitive motion of driving a manual in stop and go traffic. Today when test driving both the Subaru Ascent and Outback; and the Toyota Highlander the subject of CVT came up again. This helped me trust my experience; avoiding the CVT might be worth it!

I’ve had 3 Nissan vehicles with CVT and I’ve had no problems

Speaking as a retired auto mechanic (admittedly not a transmission specialist) my maintenance schedule always far exceeded the manufacturer recommendations. Mainly because now that I’m retired I drive for a living (Airport transportation) Example : My 2013 Hyundai Sonata has 215,000+ miles on the original engine and transmission. Synthetic oil changes every 3000 miles. Synthetic transmission fluid changes every 15,000 miles. Spark plugs and serpentine belt changed every 50,000 miles. etc. It should be noted I performed most of the maintenance myself. when I needed a somewhat bigger vehicle I opted for a new (Leftover)2020 Mitsubishi Outlander purchased in March 2021. It was a leftover because it didn’t have all of the “Wizbang” electronics everyone wants nowadays. I am not a fan of the CVT design just like I’m not a fan of timing belts (my wife’s 2010 Accent has one of those). However, that’s the way the industry is going and it is what it is. With almost 70,000 mostly highway miles on my Mitsubishi Outlander I have to admit I am getting phenomenal (average 34 mpg) gas mileage! However,the “mushy” feeling of the Mitsubishi CVT took some getting used to. If you have a car with a CVT don’t expect to be doing any “burnouts“ with it. I’ve learned you have to drive it like a 90-year-old grandmother. Again, being a maintenance fanatic I am changing the CVT fluid every 15,000 miles (Mitsubishi recommends every 30,000 miles). Since the CVT was introduced in 2003 by JATCO (Japanese Automatic Transmission Corporation) hopefully in 17 years they’ve worked out the “kinks.“ We’ll see.

Excellent video. Thanks for explaining this to your viewers

I bought a Honda HRV model 2015, a crossover SUV with CVT transmission last 2015, and now it's year 2023, I used my vehicle for 8 years with the mileage of almost 90,000 km and I have not yet encountered any problems with my vehicle's CVT transmission. For me, it's reliable.

I have a 2007 Honda Jazz Sport and have done 230K Kilometers. This one has a Clutch rather than a Torque Converter connecting the CVT to the Diff. I really like the CVT idea. As for Power Loss that is not a problem for me I just put my foot to the floor and it goes really well. However I have had the Clutch Shudder Problem. New oil fixed it for a while, but now I just live with it. Not really a problem for me. I have had no other problems with the car. At the time I bought the car it had to be a CVT or I was not interested. That is still the case. I have also driven the 2021 Honda Jazz Hybrid and I really that that CVT concept. It went very well. Could well be my next car. Good Video on the subject.

I hoped you would get into the question of why Jatco CVT transmissions fail in Nissans but not in Mitsubishis. The main difference is that Mitsubishi mounts an transmission fluid cooler on all their CVT equipped cars. Nissan does not. The second, less important difference is that Mitsubishi limits the torque put into the transmission by giving their cars less torque and power. I have now 70.000 miles on the clock in a Mitsubishi Mirage CVT. No complaints, zero defects. Just drive normally and change the fluid according to the book.

In 2013 I bought a new Nissan Altima. The CVT broke down at 57k miles. I’ll never give Nissan another dime.

I prefer a manual transmission. I have not owned an automatic of any type in 30 years.

Thank you younman for your keen advice, luckily guys like you helped me a lot to understand nissan cvt & I had sold my altima2013 1 year ago due to cvt reliability issue