Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Question: Continuously Variable Transmission ??

wifey has a 2015 Chevy Spark, CVT went to pieces at 58K miles. Chevy actually replaced it free of charge, it was 2 weeks left on 36 mo warranty. 10K on the free one. they do take some getting used to. not a fan.

Next question is, how does the CVT affect towing. The Subaru Outback is rated to be able to tow more'n 2,500lbs. Would that fry the CVT?

I’ve had the Outback and Crosstrek both. Love em’. Love the CVT in em’ too. I wouldn’t tow with em’ though.

I won't even use the cruise control on my wife's Chevy Spark any more, since the CVT totally swarmed at 58,000.

I have a '17 Nissan Murano w/CVT that I bought new and have 103K on. 0 issues so far.

you done some traveling, for sure!

My Wifes Co-Worker just blew up her CVT on her Honda CRV on a long trip. The vehicle has 88K on it and the dealer wants to gouge her on top of it. She is filing a complaint with Honda tomorrow.

She's now looking at the Toyota RAV4 and Hyundai Tuscan as they're available sans the CVT

My uncle was shopping for a Subaru Forester last year until I explained CVTs to him. He ended up buying a Tucson. He’s happy so far.

Wife and I have a 2014 Honda Civic with one in it. Got over 121,000 miles on the car now. Changed the transmission oil every 30,000 miles and have had no problems with it. Gets good gas mileage too, 35 - 40 MPG normal.
After growing up thinking a quart of oil used every 1000 miles for the engine is normal, I still find it hard to believe this car just doesn't use any oil between changes of 5000 miles.

Scratch Subaru off the list unless its a manual transmission.

Its not the transmission body that gets eaten up in a CVT its the rubber donut that passes for a drive belt.


Its pretty normal for an engine to eat a qt or more every 5k. That's why there are dipsticks.

Pretty much all "pavement" miles @ highway speeds (60-80MPH) and no towing.

It is not normal for any engine to eat a quart of oil every 5,000 miles! Unless you are driving a twenty year old vehicle, that has an oil leak!

I have a 2019 Mitsubishi Outlander SE for work. I've been fairly anti-CVT for years because I didn't like the way they drove/felt. To be honest, I really, really like the one in the Mitsu. This one is the newer version with faux 8-speeds and it behaves very well. I do a fair amount of highway driving all over the southwest and southern Rockies and actually prefer the way it behaves compared my last car with a 6-speed auto. This one is rated at 30 MPG highway, and so far my overall average is 30.7 for all driving. They do take a little getting used to at first. I've towed my ~1200lb aluminum boat with it and had zero complaints with the performance. Mine has 21K miles on it so far and no issues to report. I've read that it's a good practice to replace the oil/filter in the CVT every 30K miles and I plan on doing that myself for ~$100.

Based on what?

Worse was a subaru that went 1 quart every 2500 miles. The toyotas I have owned are normally 1/2 quart or less.

I must have talked to 20 mechanics over the last 6 months about which compact suv's were best. Most recommended a Rav-4 or Honda CRV. Every single one said do not buy a Hyundai or Nissan.... Every.....Single.... One.

My 2013 Subaru's been the best car I've ever had. It burns a quart of oil about every 2500 to 3000 miles. Never a drop of oil on the garage floor or on the driveway. Not concerned about it at all. 104,500 miles and going strong. I put A LOT of miles on it in the mountains and on 4 wheel drive only paths. I've bought two more Subaru’s since last May. Love em'.

My Rav 4 with 136K on it uses a half a quart every 12,000 miles.

Wow that's impressive. My 2004 Grand Cherokee has 157K on it and doesn't use any between oil changes.