Hey all, I was wondering about the CVT transmissions that Nissan puts in some of their cars. If any of you have any experience with them what is your opinion on them? If any of you are auto mechanics by trade what is your opinion of them re: maintenance and longevity? I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around a lack of shift points while driving one of these. TIA

I had a '08 Sentra before my X. My gf has a '08 Sentra, my dad has a 2010 Rogue Krom edition but before that he had a '07 Altima, and my Mom has a 07 Murano. All these vehicles have CVTs and not one of them have had a single issue. They are kinda weird to drive at first, you do get use to it pretty quick. Maintance is super easy. Every 36k, drain and fill. Can't get any simplier than that. No pan to drop and filter to change. They get better gas mileage than a "geared" transmission too. I like them on eco cars. You probably can't run to much power through them but they were designed to improve gas mileage. Nissan give everyone with a CVT a 10 year/100,000 mile warranty on the CVT tranny.

My wife has an 08 altima... and all my family also drives nissans with cvt's..... there great transmissions that get good mileage... they all now have 120,000 mile warrantys on them as well... they have been used by renault for over 25 years and are by no means a new technology... more like old new made new.... I have heard of few issues with them but always covered by warranty..... I like it in the altima I think its fun to drive

They are rather simple and don't have traditional shift points but that doesn't mean you can't shift them. Basically how it works is like this. There are normally two "cones" that face each other and the drive band (I think it is a rubber metal mix) goes in between. Now when the "cones" move loser they create a larger diameter in between them and when the spread apart the diameter shrinks. With the new juke, it has preset points where the cones will move to so as to simulate shifting a 6 speed.

go here for an animation http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cvt2.htm

They have been using them in 4 wheelers, scooters, etc forever so I would say reliable for sure.

page 3 shows an actual Nissan CVT diagram: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cvt3.htm

The fluid maintenance is actually calculated onboard the TCM.
You need to scan it using a diagnostic tool, but it will keep track based on driving patterns, load (trailer, heavy foot, etc..) and once you reach a certain point, that's when you need to change the fluid.

For most people, under normal driving conditions the fluid will be good for the life of the transmission, but it won't hurt it to change it more often. The only downside, is the fluid is like $30 a bottle.

The fluid maintenance is actually calculated onboard the TCM.
You need to scan it using a diagnostic tool, but it will keep track based on driving patterns, load (trailer, heavy foot, etc..) and once you reach a certain point, that's when you need to change the fluid.

For most people, under normal driving conditions the fluid will be good for the life of the transmission, but it won't hurt it to change it more often. The only downside, is the fluid is like $30 a bottle.

Interesting, this is good to know we just hit 40,000 miles on our altima and i was curious if i would have to change the tranny fluid, my dad said he fluid was going to cost him $180 so the stuff is spendy

I was always a manual shift guy, but after having my ATV with a CVT, I would never have it any other way. It always uses the perfect gear ratio at the perfect RPM whenever you hit the gas. I wish the X had a CVT.

Actually I would recommend against them. I can't tell you HOW OFTEN they were getting changed. The Rogue has a TCM reprogram on it and after the reprogram, that is when all of the problems happen. There have been over 100 replaced within the year and a half working at Nissan. Rogues are the worst, Muranos coming in second. Not all of them are bad, but those models are suspect.