Car Shopping
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@Ominous So basically the idea with a CVT is that they're supposed to be carefully calibrated to maintain optimal efficiency by moving through a continuous range of gear ratios (hence the name CVT - continuously variable transmission). Theoretically, this is great! It's an automatic transmission, but even better! WHEE! Fuel economy goes up because of the lack of fixed gear ratios, everyone is happy.
The trouble is that wear and tear on them tends to happen much more quickly as a direct result of all those repeated movements, reducing their durability and thus the vehicle's reliability. And because they are more complicated machines than traditional six-speed or seven-speed transmissions, their breakdown -- as @Ganymede indicated -- tends to be a very expensive shitshow for the owner.
Unfortunately, it is also harder and hard to buy a new car without one. You can read a good article about them here.
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I have a CVT transmission in my car so understand the worry... but at least in my experience (Nissan) the warranty on the transmission itself was much longer than the warranty on anything else for exactly that reason.
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I, too, drive a Nissan, and the CVT is actually something I like.
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@Macha said in Car Shopping:
I, too, drive a Nissan, and the CVT is actually something I like.
My partner has a 2012 Nissan Rogue equipped with a CVT. I enjoy the smoothness of the ride and the absence of feeling a gear shifting.
But I dread having to pay to fix that motherfucker.
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
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@Ganymede said in Car Shopping:
@Macha said in Car Shopping:
I, too, drive a Nissan, and the CVT is actually something I like.
My partner has a 2012 Nissan Rogue equipped with a CVT. I enjoy the smoothness of the ride and the absence of feeling a gear shifting.
But I dread having to pay to fix that motherfucker.
I'm considering the extended warranty options for much that reason. Supposedly the 10 yr/100k warranty goes for $2200 at Subaru, but I've seen some people saying that they've negotiated it down $1500. That effectively doubles the warranty on the most expensive repairs -- the powertrain -- from where it normally sits at 5yrs/60k, and as evidence by the fact that my two previous cars have been a 2007 Saturn that I'm still driving and a 1988 Cadillac that I drove until I bought the Saturn new off the lot....
I drive my cars into the ground. Usually, any sort of extended warranty or protection coverage is hard pass for me, but if it guarantees me ten years in a car, I think it's worth it.
