Post by
JukieMcJukerson »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/jukiemcjukerson-u173593.html
Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:37 pm
Let me just say that helping to decide on a car with a CVT was a nightmare for me. I was familiar with the technology, but wanted to get an idea of it's reliability vs. traditional automatic before I felt comfortable recommending it to anyone. I spent hours and hours every day for weeks analyzing the potential risk based on all available evidence. It is very difficult because as someone said, people never report success, only failures. Also, when a slushbox fails, it's not as "newsworthy" because it is an old technology. Nobody would ever say "i got one of those vehicles with that new fancy, high-tech hydraulic automatic transmission, and it let me down!". Well, at least nobody has said that for a long time. I bet the father or grandfather of everyone in the Jukes target demographic has discouraged people from buying cars with a slushbox on the grounds they are unreliable. Maybe it was at one point, but today it's rock solid. Anyway.....
Since owner horror stories aren't the most unbiased source of information, I decided to see what the Nissan side of the story was. I discovered that Nissan stepped up to the plate and extended powertrain warrantys to 100k or 10 years on nearly a decades worth of models. They have no plans to abandon CVT development or utilization like many other companies who've merely dabbled in CVT. Also, the Juke has an entirely new CVT that promises to be a big improvement. They have added an auxiliary gearbox with a clutch as well as reduced internal friction by 30%. From what I have read the programming that controls it is much better as well. Hopefully these new changes that are currently only available in the Juke CVT will spell better reliability...because...as much as I hate to say it, Mroxbury has a point in that CVT has been problematic. If it wasn't then Nissan wouldn't be compensating owners. The important part is how Nissan reacted. They stepped up and made good. Do you think Toyota would be as generous as Nissan? Their prevailing attitude has been "If nobody's been killed, what do you want from us?" Look into the Toyota oil gelling problem, it's in it's second class-action lawsuit and effects a large swath of their product line. Are they stepping up and making good? No, they're fighting tooth and nail to cover up the fact that a problem even exists so they don't have to honor their warranty obligations. They have whole engines filling up with sludge and throwing rods at 12k and then telling the owners "to bad, you gotta pay for it"... if you want to go by owner forum horror stories, and they are abundant.
Sorry to go on and on, but I'll wrap it up by saying that even if the CVT has a shorter lifespan, I trust Nissan to do right by me. Also, I'm so impressed with how the CVT performs, it kind of doesn't matter it may be a little less reliable. It's a pleasure to drive compared to a slushbox and it might be worth it to trade a little bit of durability for added comfort and performance. I'd say if they can guarantee 100k, that's good enough for me.
If you're unfamiliar with turbo lag, the term represents the time between throttle input and full boost. On my 240 I don't see full boost till 3700 rpm. The Juke will have almost instant boost, probably close to a roots type blower.
Hopefully Nissan has beefed up the CVT, because the aftermarket is going to be huge for the Juke. 
The CVTs are not performing on the Versas and the Altimas. Check the Forums for Versa and Altima on Edmonds.com
. I worked for a dealer and I only ever heard of 1 cvt being replaced in a murano because the guy 4x4 it and smashed the transmission. 