CVT Transmission, worth paying for?

[ilusha55]

Hi, i am new to these Versa forums and i am a little bit lost with the transmission deals Nissan is offering on higher SL model.

I reserved a black automatic 1.8S Versa, and now thinking about upgrading to SL with CVT. But as many others i don’t know if the CVT is worth the extra 1k, we pay for it.

Honestly, the first time i heard about cvt is when i went to the dealer to reserve my versa.

In other words: is it reliable??

BTW this forum is a great place to find whatewer a person needs to feed his hunger while waiting for his car to arrive. I found a lot of useful information!!

Thanks in advance!

[voltronguy]

Not sure if you meant you were thinking of uprading to an SL and can't decide on getting CVT, or if you meant thinking of upgrading to an SL specifically to get CVT. If it is the latter, keep in mind that if you are just doing it to get the CVT it is really costing you $16,055 (SL+CVT) - $13,855(S + auto) =$2,200

Of course you do get a really nice upgraded sound system and power package. I guess it depends on if you are trying to shoot for a particular budget. You do get better mileage with the CVT. Someone with more mechanical experience would have to comment on the reliability of the CVT, but I think Nissan has been using it for years.

We love our SL w/ CVT. If you do go that route, spend the extra $700 and get the convenience package, it is well worth it.

Good luck!

[Sahandman]

CVT has been developed and used by nissan for years and is not new technology in which one must think about its reliability. Nissan is actually more famously known for its transmissions than anything else, for example the tiptronic on the ininity line of vehicles and the race-bred cvt;s on the murano and maxima. Cvt actually has alot less parts than regular transmission which is why it is so reliable. Have u seen the new nissan maxima commercials with CVT transmission? its pretty impressive even though its a nissan commercial. Basically when driving there are no gear changes and therefore u dont hear or feel the lag when gears change. ultimately while driving you keep your foot on the pedal until the rev line reaches red, which takes a while rather than reaching red and dropping each time gears change on normal transmissions.

[ilusha55]

I am getting SL for sure, and thinking between manual and CVT, but as many families’ situations i have to consider others preferences for automatic, in versa's case - there is CVT.

Thanks a lot for answering my question so fast. I will get back to you with the choice i made.

[Ever Victorious]

I have to be the dissenting voice here, at least to a degree. My official stance is...

"I would not buy one unless I had seen the specific transmission application at work for several years". And by that I don't mean the Murano transmission, I mean an actual Versa version. Though they may work similarly, the are not the exact same transmission.

While the CVT is a cool concept, I do remember a little car called the Subaru Justy eCVT. It had an electronic CVT transmission, and it was supposedly "tried and true" technology bought from a forklift company that had put said transmission technology in their forklifts for *DECADES* before...

Sadly, the eCVT transmissions in the Justy had an approximate life of 70,000 miles and cost upwards of $2000 to fix. Justy owners actually found it cheaper to pay a mechanic to convert their cars to a Manual when they failed.

On the bright side, I haven't heard anything horrible YET about modern Saturn CVT's... but they're still too new to pass judgement.

Ergo, those of you with CVTs are playing guinea pig IMO.

[Kegard]

Not sure if you meant you were thinking of uprading to an SL and can't decide on getting CVT, or if you meant thinking of upgrading to an SL specifically to get CVT. If it is the latter, keep in mind that if you are just doing it to get the CVT it is really costing you $16,055 (SL+CVT) - $13,855(S + auto) =$2,200

Of course you do get a really nice upgraded sound system and power package. I guess it depends on if you are trying to shoot for a particular budget. You do get better mileage with the CVT. Someone with more mechanical experience would have to comment on the reliability of the CVT, but I think Nissan has been using it for years.

We love our SL w/ CVT. If you do go that route, spend the extra $700 and get the convenience package, it is well worth it.

Good luck!

I agree on all counts. The CVT is the smoothest transmission I have ever felt, and it's tough going back and driving my other car with a standard 4 speed auto!

Also the convenience package is indeed worth every penny, IMHO. It changes the complete feel of the car for me. Having unique features like the Intellikey and Bluetooth makes it feel as though I'm driving in a much more upscale vehicle.

[ilusha55]

Seems to me that if Nissan puts the same warranty on all its transmissions and the cvt is the hazardous one, nissan loses money...no?

I mean if you say that CVT may be less reliable, shouldn't nissan know it at first place and lower the warranty?
Modified by ilusha55 at 3:51 PM 8/11/2006

[Ever Victorious]

Seems to me that if Nissan puts the same warranty on all its transmissions and the cvt is the hazardous one, nissan loses money...no?

I mean if you say that CVT may be less reliable, shouldn't nissan know it at first place and lower the warranty?

Modified by ilusha55 at 3:51 PM 8/11/2006

Not if their standard warranty is shorter than the expected life of the transmission.

[ilusha55]

Not if their standard warranty is shorter than the expected life of the transmission.

well i meant loses money on selling their vehicules, not on warranty repairs.

but i guess if you are saying that no major CVT problem has been reported, i presume it must be ok to go for CVT.

thanks a lot for answers guys,i ll go for that choice

[gottafly]

I am a big fan of CVTs, as they keep you closer to the horsepower curve of your engine, without the drop offs that you get from fixed ratio transmissions. This means better engine efficiency and better mileage, but the improvement wasn't much for the Versa. That being said, when I figured the cost of getting a CVT in our Versa over sticking with the traditional auto trans, the meagre improvement in mileage meant that it would take 3-4 years of driving to break even on that option. As with hybrid cars, if your main concern is the environmental effect of using less gas, then it may be worth it, but if your concern is primarily cost, then it's not really cost effective in most cases, if the manufacturers and dealers are trying to make money off it.

[versainchicago]

I have a SL Versa with CVT and quite frankly I do not think it is worth the extra money. I enjoy the standard features on the SL--but I would consider getting the 6MT or the S with the automatic transmission. Fuel economy has not been as good as I thought to justify the additional costs.

[Slither]

I agree price-wise CVT is not worth the extra cost. Gas mileage has been disappointing on my V so far. I do like the smoothness of the CVT operation and it's mechanical simplicity compared to a regular front-drive automatic. I did ask about CVT reliability at my delearship. The technician (not a Salesperson) told me they have seen a much lower failure rate on CVT's than conventional automatics. Apparently they tend to replace the entire CVT if there is a problem. Keep in mind Versa comes with a 60 month powertrain warranty. So your Versa CVT is covered for 5 years or for the allowed mileage - whichever comes first.

I first heard of CVT use in cars back in the 70's by a Dutch based company called DAF. At that time it was only suitable for use on small engines.

[BenDupre]

After putting 7500 miles on my SL w CVT, I still think it's the better choice. HOwever, had NIssan geared the 6MT with the same top ratio and not made the throttle hang between shifts, I would choose the manual.

The CVT is smooth... it's a great transmission, but the execution vis-a-vis fuel economy is unsatisfactory. With a different program, this transmission could be smooth and fuel efficient. But it's tuned more for responsiveness and fuel economy suffers because of that. Rotten thing is... this car could have a switch on the dash to allow the driver to choose economy or performance and get both in one package. Engineers are not thinking forward enough for that. They are still guessing they know everything about what the customer wants.

Oh Well.

Ben

[cireecnop1]

I agree, the hanging throttle is whats making me want a different Nissan (w/CVT) takes some getting use to, But its not worth the effort.