CVT Transmission What's the word

Our son is looking to get a newer car and it just happens to come with a CVT Transmission.

According to the research that has been done, some are having problems some are not. With a repair bill coming in at above $2k should a fix need to be done.

Our son is going away to school in the fall and we want to make sure he has a good and safe reliable ride.

So what think ye oh great and wise car owners is this worth getting. His "new car" to him budget is in the $ 8 - 10 range.

Does he need to worry about a bad CVT Tranny ?

Thanks for your advise: speedman

Get a manual transmission. Thats my only suggestion.

Don't do it.

What kind of car is it?

We have on in the Freestyle. I like it, it's neat and keeps the RPM waaaaay low for good mileage. Rumor was that they were slightly more reliable than a regular transmission from the same era, but more expensive to replace. Now that it's a 2006 I am not worried.

I would get him a manual too... but then, that is always the consensous on GRM

I like CVTs in theory, but they tend to be hit-and-miss in execution. We really need to know what kind of car it is to give you an answer.

My sister was looking at a 2004(?) Saturn Ion a while ago. After doing a bit of research on them the only conclusion I came to regarding the CVT in those cars was "run away." Fortunately it was a standard.

If it is any Saturn with a CVT, run away.

The word for CVT starts with s and ends w/ hit.

EvanB wrote: If it is any Saturn with a CVT, run away.

In a hurry. Any time we part a car with a good one, we sell it for $2k, and it's sold within a week. They are GIANT piles of very expensive E36 M3.

Even communism works in theory

Overall they seem to have a short life span, fluid and parts cost big money. Not with my money unless the car was almost free, and$2K is on the low side of the curve to fix a CVT. Paul B

Which cvt vehicle are you looking at?

My wife had an early Nissan Versa SL with cvt. Bought new and sold with 65k miles. Had no specific issues with the cvt, but...
It was not my daily driver though I never really liked the way it worked. Nissan moved the warranties up to 100k miles from 60k miles due to either complaints or concerns of customers. I was happy to see the car go but my wife liked it and really, it never cost me any money or real downtime.
All I put into it was tires. It was due for brake work, struts and a cvt fluid service

I have heard folks say that the CVTs in Hondas are good/okay, and that some of their CVTs are "POS"....so like everyone has said so far, it depends on the car company/car model.

Reading on Edmunds. com, I get the impression that the CVT Ford used in Freestyles and AWD 500s was a decent/okay CVT. Be advised that the automatics in some Hondas (CONVENTIONAL automatics) from 1998-2002 are also POS, so again, you aren't entirely safe unless you go with a manual.

The only experience I have had with a CVT is on a modified polaris quad, and I had nothing but praise for how well it worked. Kept the engine right in its power band. It does sounds funny to the ears, but if thats where I have the most ponies it should get me down the road pretty good.

It seems that when applied to automobiles, the torque output is too high for what current designs and materials can handle.

Despite all the nay-sayers let's look at this from a logical standpoint.

CVTs being essentially a form of friction drive (no physical metal being interlaced as in a manual gearbox, for example) has certain limitations on applications. They can give you great performance and fuel economy. Here is the catch. As power increases so does the firing pulses. That is the death of a friction drive (much much worse in diesels, hence no CVT's with a diesel in an automotive application. The John Deere Gator can be had diesel and CVT but the belt is a service item and has limited velocities.) CVT in the reliability department has come miles from the old Subaru Justy version. The new Nissan CVTs (who has put a considerable amount of research and development in their product) has become very reliable (despite many people on this forum.) I have seen CVT Maxima's with over 200K on them with no issues. I have seen them crap at 50K.

It is a new technology and currently more fragile that a traditional transmission but as we push for better fuel economy they will develop more and more.

Or we will all be driving 71212913108501485015 speed DSGs

If you want a commuter I say try it, a heavy laden vehicle or performance car, I would look else where.

My Mom has one in her Ford Freestyle. She loves it. It's pushing 70K with no problems.

The times I have driven it, it drove me batty. I kept waiting for the damn thing to shift. After four hours of driving on a trip, I was just getting used to it.

It was nice to have the transmission keep the engine in the power band when you stomped on it.

I don't have any firsthand knowledge on the reliability front, but I will say that I have never driven one that was enjoyable to drive. We even test drove a MINI with the CVT and it just sucked the life right out of that poor little car.

Well.. my snowmobile "CVT" transmission needed a new belt every other season.

and I might have put 200 miles a year on it. Granted, I beat on it

FlightService wrote: CVT in the reliability department has come miles from the old Subaru Justy version.

I sure hope so. The Wife had a CVT when I met her that her parents had bought new. The extended warranty was worth every penny they paid for it - the transmissions only lasted about 30-35k miles max.

pigeon wrote:

FlightService wrote: CVT in the reliability department has come miles from the old Subaru Justy version.

I sure hope so. The Wife had a CVT when I met her that her parents had bought new. The extended warranty was worth every penny they paid for it - the transmissions only lasted about 30-35k miles max.

The transmission in my Freestyle was replaced by the PO at 125,000. I like it, a lot.

Thanks one and all for your comments. I have since learned that it was a Nissan he was looking at. Which one I don't know and he did not say.

As for driving a stick he is interested so we will keep looking. So for now time will tell.