Would you get a car with a CVT

General Discussion
1

I’m in the market for a small car, preferably a hatchback. Question for the community. Would you buy a car with a CVT transmission?

2

I think most new small cars are coming with CVT. I would stay away from Nissan. they have been having problems with their CVT for years. With CVT change the fluid about every 30k miles and you should not have a problem.

3

Never, not ever, not even on my worst enemy’s life! In a word, “no”.

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4

That narrows my consideration to a VW Golf or a Mazda 3. Both have a turbo version just for a little more go than the basic engine configuration. Anyone have any comments regarding these choices?

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VW has an abysmal reliability record and they are also expensive to repair once the warranty runs out. Id also avoid the turbo on either.

6

My mom’s Civic has a CVT

I service the fluid every 25K, as per the severe service schedule

My philosophy is to service EVERY transmission as per the severe service schedule

A few “extra” services over the years won’t break the bank

But an early transmission replacement might

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7

I might buy a Honda with a CVT.

But I’m also a huge fan of the Mazda 3. We’re on our third one. They’re fantastic cars.

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8

I guess I would because I have one. It has 130k on it and it has not been serviced. I checked it at about 60k and it looked good so I haven’t touched it since. Subaru BTW.

Nissans have a bad history with CVT’s but honestly, I haven’t heard any complaints about them for about 5 years now. Once you get a bad reputation, it takes a LOOONG time to get a good reputation back. Nissan is actually having more issues with it’s 9-speed which is a copy of a Mercedes 9-speed than it is with its CVT’s lately.

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9

Toyota CVT seem pretty good so far…

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10

Personally I prefer the driver’s control and reliability & general robustness of manual transmissions, so no, I wouldn’t buy a CVT equipped car. But if you prefer an automatic transmission, both the Toyota & Honda CVT both seems pretty bullet proof. I think either would serve you well. You can search the prior posts we’ve had here about them using the forum search feature, link upper right this page. For small sedans , besides the manual trans, I prefer in-line 4 cylinder non-turbo engines for similar reasons. I expect you know the engine/transmission configuration I prefer is getting harder and harder to find. At some point in the not too distant future the new car buyer preferring a non-electric or hybrid will either have to accept a V-configured turbo engine w/automatic transmission, or walk or ride a bicycle instead.

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I haven’t driven a CVT yet. Do they drive and feel different than a geared automatic?

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I hear more comments from CVT-owning friends about the sound the car makes rather than how it feels to drive, CVT compared to conventional automatic. The CVT car tends to sound more like a race car. I presume this is b/c the engine revs higher with a CVT for similar driving conditions.

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I for one like the feel of a firm shift when gears are involved, my daughters CVT is doing very good for her, but I still don’t like the way they feel, I enjoy driving it, but had rather feel a bump(?) when shifting instead of a slide like slip, not sure how I would describe it… lol

And no one ever, has said, man that CVT whatever Hot Rod is bad a$$, did you hear that thing bark 2nd gear?? lol

But I think the feel depends on how much you really pay attention to the transmission in the 1st place…

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14

Newer CVTs have been designed to sound a lot like the older style automatic transmissions. I had a 2017 Accord ain’t the 2.5L engine and CVT. Most of the time it seemed like the older style auto but occasionally it would rev high and not shift. Usually it occurred while driving slowly downhill. I didn’t have a problem with it. I would stay away from a Nissan with a CVT.

15

If rebuild parts are not available for the CVT, then no.

The hybrid electric eCVT like the Prius has? That’s more like an electric motor which is a totally different design than the steel belt thing.

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Toyota does offer a CVT on the Corolla and some models of the Camry, belt driven with a launch gear.

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The 2018 - 2024 Corolla and Lexus UX200 have a pulley/belt type CVT.

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Corolla has a CVT starting around 2014 on some models… The 1st few years they had some issues but seems like from about 2016 and up they have been pretty good…

Most trans repair shops don’t even mess with building CVT’s, they just order remans and swap them out… The metal belt is crazy $$$$…

So since most transmission shops/builders stay away from them, I don’t think to many DIYer’s are going to be building them in their back yard, so I don’t think parts availability even begins to come into play here, as long as plenty of transmission remans are out there…
I started pricing one out to rebuild it just for haha’s and the belt and seal kit alone was higher then just buying a reman… Don’t remember what CVT I was looking at, but a common one… The reason places that reman them can get the parts way cheaper is pure volume…

BTW, And I never mentioned anything about a Hybrid… lol

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That’s my point. The pieces of the metal belt are probably really cheap to make. If they won’t sell the parts then they have some plot going to deliberately prevent people from being able to cheaply repair their transmissions and probably to force older cars off the road.

20

Good luck to you

All I can say is I personally would have serviced the fluid a few times over the years