A car salesman says the Nissan continuously variable transmission (CVT) of the past isn’t what you'll find on showroom floors today. His explanation may have you thinking twice about Nissan.
TiKTok creator Jonathan (@drivingwithjonathan) posted a video about what he calls the “elephant in the room with Nissan: The CVT.”
Jonathan knows this is a touchy subject. “If you've ever mentioned Nissan online, somebody's probably jumped in the comments [with] 'CVTs are junk,'” he says. “I'm like, 'Bro, it's an Armada. It doesn't even have a CVT transmission. Calm down.' But seriously. Nissan had some legitimate CVT problems in the past. But here's what gets missed.”
What Different About Nissan's CVT?
Jonathan says that the CVT most people still complain about are circa 10-15 years ago. “Nissan has been developing the Xtronic CVT for more than 20 years,” he says. “And by 2019 Nissan had already produced nearly 30 million vehicles equipped with Xtronic CVTs.”
Not only that, Jonathan says, but “Nissan says its latest generation CVTs have also gone through 4 million miles of public road durability testing.”
Jonathan also says Nissan is expected to make more improvements to the CVT going forward. “And they continue to make changes to the belt and pulley system, the lubrication, the oil pump efficiency, friction reduction, torque converter operations,” Jonathan says. “So yes, the CVT is still a CVT, but the technology has continued to evolve.”
Gallery: 2026 Nissan Pathfinder
The CVT Still Provokes Strong Opinions
The key to a long CVT life is to keep up with the maintenance, Jonathan says. That way the vehicle stays under warranty and any issues that do pop up can be handled by the dealership. Some in the comments agreed with that guidance. Others did not.
“Facts,” wrote one person. “That’s what I do. Keep up with maintenance then you’ll be good.”
A second person said, “My 2014 Nissan Pathfinder [has] 332K with CVT? But then again I change the transmission fluid every 35K miles.”
“The people who complain about the transmission are the same ones who don’t change the fluid,” a third person said.
However, others could just not be convinced. “Junk,” one person said.
Did Nissan ‘Fix’ the CVT with the Xtronic?
Nissan has indeed been working on the CVT for more than two decades. According to this Nissan USA article, the CVTs in current Nissan models have fewer moving parts than a traditional automatic transmission. That reduces wear and tear and improves longevity.
As Jonathan noted, Nissan emphasises the importance of using the correct transmission fluid in the CVT and changing it regularly.
The old CVTs, according to Nissan of Orange, had issues with acceleration and components wearing out prematurely. The new design apparently uses reinforced steel belts that are much more durable than the old rubber ones. Engineers also improved the cooling system and the technology that simulates gear shifting.
In this Reddit thread posted to r/whatcarshouldibuy, several commenters said that it’s simply a matter of reputation, cost, and the competition. “It takes a while to break a reputation," wrote one person. "I'd look at them, but 2020+ is a bit rich for my blood.”
"It's because, for the price, there are better options," a second person said. "If they were more competitively priced, I'd look at them."
Another person argued, "By 'people not buying' I guess you mean that this sub doesn't recommend them. Because I see Altimas, Rogues, and Muranos everywhere in my daily commute. Average driver doesn't care or isn't aware of the CVT fiasco from what I can see.”
There might be something to this. In a recent press release, Nissan Group celebrated six months of consecutive retail growth. That makes it the fastest-growing mainstream brand in the country. Its most successful models are the Frontier, Pathfinder, Armada, Kicks, and Rogue.
Motor1 contacted Jonathan via TikTok comment and direct message for comment.
