Nissan Qashqai - Nissan CVT - is it any good post 2013?

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Sun 13 Aug 2017 21:39
Nissan Qashqai - Nissan CVT - is it any good post 2013? - VengaPete

Hi Folks
As my previous post a few months back, we are looking to change car to automatic due to heath reasons in the medium term. We'd initially discounted the Qashqai CVT but in this weeks Agony column there is a post that has an answer stating "..The Qashqai has a CVT auto that between 2011 and 2013 wasn't reliable. ..."
Does this mean the CVT's in the Qashqai Gen 1's are actually Ok and everything after 2014 is OK?
I'd really like to understand if there is a way to have a Qashqai CVT as in every other way it suits what we need in a car. I'm not a new car every three years person and any car we get we'd keep pretty much until it drops (unless it became a money pit) as we hate buying cars and all the hassle that goes along with it. So for us, reliability is really important and I'm trying to investigate all options but this answer has me confused as I understood from forums etc Nissans CVT is universally considered unreliable.
There is a Youtube post with strip down which appears to declare the root cause as a simple frail bearing, which sounds feasible and also likely to have been fixed by Nissan justifying the post 2013 claim by the agony column answer.

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Sun 13 Aug 2017 22:59
Nissan Qashqai - Nissan CVT - is it any good post 2013? - SLO76
Never sold or run one but reading through the reviews on this site and it seems CVT issues are very common, often at alarmingly low mileages. Remember, this is not a Nissan, it's essentially a Renault Megane on stilts. It shares engines, electronics, floorpan and numerous other parts. I'm not sure where the gearbox comes from and I don't think it's used in the Renault but it does seem to have plenty to give concern. A quick flick through the net trawls up large scale Nissan CVT box issues over in the US too.

If you are looking for longterm reliability then stick with Japanese designed cars. Honda Civic 1.8, Mazda 2/3, Toyota Auris... The Qashqai is no more robust than an average Renault or Fiat.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/nissan/qashqai-2007/...d

Auto Trader:

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20170730785...5

Edited by SLO76 on 13/08/2017 at 23:03

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Tue 15 Aug 2017 21:02
Nissan Qashqai - Nissan CVT - is it any good post 2013? - VengaPete

Thanks SLO76, my query is really around the fact that Honest John is suggesting that the fault was limited to the two year period.
Like you I've read many many reviews and seen quite a few Nissan CVT's advertised with mileages over 120K. Of course on the high milers you don't know how many repalcement boxes they have had (if any).

Perhaps I should clarify the ask slightly more. We will need an auto but seat height needs to be at least where our Tino is - so that is 67cm according to rica.org and counts out the Civic / Mazda and Auris.

I guess we are going to be looking at the Mazda 5 / CX5 type of thing if the most reliable are proper Japanese. We have considered the ix35 but it appears to only have diesel autos and as we do less than 3k miles a year it has to be petrol. We don't mind something up to around 5 years old as long as mileage is sensible or just slighlty high as we won't be putting many on it. (We had our Tino at 36K in 2004 and its just done 71k.

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Tue 15 Aug 2017 21:34
Nissan Qashqai - Nissan CVT - is it any good post 2013? - badbusdriver

Thanks SLO76, my query is really around the fact that Honest John is suggesting that the fault was limited to the two year period.
Like you I've read many many reviews and seen quite a few Nissan CVT's advertised with mileages over 120K. Of course on the high milers you don't know how many repalcement boxes they have had (if any).

Perhaps I should clarify the ask slightly more. We will need an auto but seat height needs to be at least where our Tino is - so that is 67cm according to rica.org and counts out the Civic / Mazda and Auris.

I guess we are going to be looking at the Mazda 5 / CX5 type of thing if the most reliable are proper Japanese. We have considered the ix35 but it appears to only have diesel autos and as we do less than 3k miles a year it has to be petrol. We don't mind something up to around 5 years old as long as mileage is sensible or just slighlty high as we won't be putting many on it. (We had our Tino at 36K in 2004 and its just done 71k.

Hyundai ix20, Kia venga or Kia soul. According to the motability website, the ix20 has a seat height of 61cm, which I know is lower than you need. But, a, according to the website, the measurement is taken at exactly half height (assuming there is height adjustment, which there is), so at full height there could easily be another 5cm, and, b, the Kia venga, which is essentially the same car, is listed as having a seat height of 70cm. Both these cars are available with a 1.6 petrol with torque converter auto. The Kia soul seat height is listed as being at least 70cm, and can be had with the same engine/gearbox combo as the other 2. But with the soul, stay away from the versions with huge wheels, as they give a very harsh ride, or so I've read.

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Tue 15 Aug 2017 23:24
Nissan Qashqai - Nissan CVT - is it any good post 2013? - SLO76
Suzuki SX-4 1.6 CVT? Chain cam normally asperated engine should run and run and it also sits higher than a normal hatch. Not heard of any gearbox issues to date but the current car is only 4yrs old.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/suzuki/sx4-s-cross-2...t

Toyota Verso 1.8 CVT? Toyota have tested this engine and gearbox to destruction in taxis across the globe. It's probably the most reliable thing you could buy and there's always a market for them when you need to sell.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/toyota/verso-2013/?s...t

Edited by SLO76 on 15/08/2017 at 23:27

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Sun 13 Aug 2017 23:16
Nissan Qashqai - Nissan CVT - is it any good post 2013? - badbusdriver

I was in a similar situation myself about 6 months ago regarding cvt transmissions in general, but specifically relating to the current Honda jazz and Toyota yaris. As you probably have noticed, very little of the motoring press have anything good to say about them, and that's without taking reliability into account!. What you need to be looking at are owners reviews for the cvt version. Unfortunately, due to the relative newness of the current shape qashqai, you probably won't find that many, but try autotrader and parkers websites. The motoring press typically are very dismissive of cvt transmissions, but a quick look on the Internet found an auto express review of the qashqai cvt, and they were very positive about it, though obviously that is of no help regarding long term reliability. It does seem that Nissan have, through programming the cvt's behaviour, made it seem like a traditional auto transmission, by making 'steps', like gear changes. This seems to be par for the course these days, that is the case with our jazz, and it is also the case with the yaris.

I did read a report of some older Honda cvt's (I was reading specifically about the weird Japanese market mobilo spike, which has a 1.5 petrol mated to a cvt, so no idea if the same cvt was used in the jazz of the same erase) suffering from reliability problems. But given our car has, what I presume is a new type of cvt, along with the fact that being my wife's motability car, we will only have it for 3 years, it didn't put us off, and so far, 3 months in, we really like the car.

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Mon 14 Aug 2017 13:53
Nissan Qashqai - Nissan CVT - is it any good post 2013? - scot22

Is a pre 2012 Mercedes B class worth considering ? Heard mixed reports, not unusual, on Mercedes cvts. Most positive from Mercedes dealer ! Mor?e knowledgeable hopefully may comment.

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