[djwilder15]

Hey everyone,

Just took my 2017 Sentra to the shop and they say the CVT transmission is toast. The car only has 110,000 miles on it and the local dealership says it’ll cost $5400 to replace it, even though this has been a problem for many Nissan owners? I really like the car, but why would I want to continue owning or buying a new Nissan if they’re always gonna have these transmission problems and still make you pay in full rather than just do a recall? I was just wondering if anybody has had experience with this and has somehow gotten it down to a 50/50 payment for the new CVT transmission

 

[VStar650CL]

Did you do any service on it? If you gave it at least one fluid change and can prove it, you'll have a decent chance of getting Nissan to help out with "goodwill". If you just ran it 110K and never serviced the tranny, you're seeing the usual results. CVT's use a metal belt riding on metal pulleys, so they're entirely dependent on fluid quality. When metal meets metal, it's bye-bye birdy. Fresh fluid at 30K's practically turns them into perpetual motion machines. No fluid means an eventual death sentence. Pretty simple.

 

[djwilder15]

Did you do any service on it? If you gave it at least one fluid change and can prove it, you'll have a decent chance of getting Nissan to help out with "goodwill". If you just ran it 110K and never serviced the tranny, you're seeing the usual results. CVT's use a metal belt riding on metal pulleys, so they're entirely dependent on fluid quality. When metal meets metal, it's bye-bye birdy. Fresh fluid at 30K's practically turns them into perpetual motion machines. No fluid means an eventual death sentence. Pretty simple.

I

Did you do any service on it? If you gave it at least one fluid change and can prove it, you'll have a decent chance of getting Nissan to help out with "goodwill". If you just ran it 110K and never serviced the tranny, you're seeing the usual results. CVT's use a metal belt riding on metal pulleys, so they're entirely dependent on fluid quality. When metal meets metal, it's bye-bye birdy. Fresh fluid at 30K's practically turns them into perpetual motion machines. No fluid means an eventual death sentence. Pretty simple.

I’ve definitely been servicing it. Changed the oil 3-4 times since I’ve had it. That’s why it’s frustrating. Done everything right, and then the transmission gives out.

 

[VStar650CL]

One more question then, is it possible you overfilled it (or whoever did the service did)? That's the other bane of CVT's, they're utterly intolerant of overfilling. They won't even notice half a quart under, but half a quart over is death. On a Sentra with the 2-speed, most of them also don't have heat exchangers (Nissan's fault and not yours) and can succumb to hot climate, constant hills, lead-footing, or anything else that chronically heats them up. I kind of have a knee-jerk about those trannies from the get-go, because the 2-speed clutches are rather like combining the worst aspects of a CVT and A/T.

Anyway, if you can demonstrate that it got proper maintenance then you should be able to get the dealership SM to go to bat for you on some goodwill. You're quite right, 110K is abysmal for a well-maintained unit.

 

[Thommo455]

BEWARE OF NISSANS FAULTY CVT TRANSMISSIONS - The Nissan CVT transmissions were fitted to any number of vehicles from 2012 to 2018. Several models of Nissan vehicles received the transmission, including the Sentra, Versa, Versa Note, Altima, Rogue, and Murano models. I live in Australia and own two Nissans; a 2015 Murano and a 2015 Altima TiS. The transmission in my Altima recently literally fell apart after just 52,000 klms. I later discussed the matter with two independent transmission specialists who both described the CVT as "lemons", The transmission was repaired by one of the specialists at a cost of AU $6,500.00 - what a joke that a car so young would cost this much in repairs. I wrote to the General Manager Australia regarding the extreme costs involved but of course they have rejested any of my claim. To add insult to injury they naturally outsource all their work to NZ - the reply I received might as well have been written by a 2 year old

and a disgrace to the Nissan brand.