Don’t Look For Subaru To Drop The CVT Automatic Transmission Even If You Despise It

I will never buy another subaru

No more Subarus in my garage. Its a garbage!!

CV transmissions rely on belt drive. Never met a belt I liked. Can't buy Subarus for this reason.

ABSOLUTELY. I will never drive another vehicle with a CVT. I leased a 2014 Outback with CVT transmission and despised it so completely, I traded it in on a low mileage 2008 3.0R (which I LOOOOVE). I don't know what I'll do when it's time for a new vehicle. Unfortunately, it won't be a Subaru if they stick with the CVT. I also won't drive a vehicle the EyeSight technology. Subaru should pay attention to feedback from their oldest and most loyal supporters.

Drove a new Subaru outback - will never buy any car with the cvt trans. Why these people insist on keeping that crappy trans on such a basically good car is beyond me. Put VW's/Audi's DSG transmissions in them and you will find a ton more buyers. I'm all out

Yes. We have owned a 2004 Forester XT (one of my favorite cars I have ever owned), a 2005 Legacy GT, a 2009 Forester, and finally a 2011 Legacy with a CVT. That killed it for us. We now drive a 2015 Toyota Highlander and a 2017 Infiniti QX50. CVTs are junk. Yes they are lighter and get a little bit better gas mileage, but not hardly at all any better than the new automatics. My biggest issue was our 2011 Legacy started to have transmission problems and this is a direct quote from the dealer..."Are you out of warranty? Oh, those things are very expensive to fix and most times they can't be fixed at all. A new one will cost you around $5700" We left Subaru for ever. Give us a call when they dump that trashy transmission!!!!!

Will not buy CVT. It is cheaper for manufacturer but horrible for consumers. Subaru has problems with their CVT. Also will be very expensive to repair

Being a car enthusiast, I was very disappointed when Subaru discontinued the 5speed automatic in the Legacy and outback 3.6 versions in favor of the CVT. This was at a time when we had sold our daughter my wife’s 2.5 Legacy with CVT with me giving my wife my 2011 3.6 Outback. So, I needed a car. The new 2014 Legacy’s were just coming out and I had planned on purchasing a 3.6 model. Unfortunately, they announced that we’re dropping the 5 speed in favor of the CVT. So, no more Subaru for me. I punched an Audi S5 with a beautiful 7 speed dual clutch tranny. We still have our 2011 Outback now with 121K miles. But when it goes it will be replaced by an Audi SQ5.

I will never own a cvt vehicle. Cheap and basically disposable for manufacturers to make a quick buck.

In the market for a new car and was very impressed with the Ascent, the stylish design with roomy cabin and beautiful interior caught my eye. Reading the safety ratings and overall satisfaction ratings made it close to the Telluride and better than Explorer and Grand Cherokee until I saw it has the CVT transmission. We bought our son a new Ford focus in 2016 and had never experienced the cvt until then. The high rpms, shuttering and jerking made it unpleasant to drive to say the least as well as stalling in traffic. The transmission did not live long and was replaced under warranty. Will not endure that again. I prefer the automatic over a cvt. Subaru is off the list and Telluride moves back in top place. We have test drove all the vehicles I mentioned within the last month and was looking for a dealer to schedule a drive in the Subaru Ascent Touring edition until I saw Subarus exclusive use of the cvt. Yes, that will prevent me from buying a Subaru or anything else that uses that headace.

We have a 2019 Crosstrek with the CVT. During my first Subaru buying purchase I asked and was told the car had a CVT. My "buy" went to a lease. My wife refuses to drive a stick so, while we love our Subaru, I would not own a CVT out of new vehicle warranty.

Worse transmission on earth, should have them all called back, many people agree just read the forams on the internet.

June 2020 - Just hitting 100k in my 2016 Subaru Forester.
- Commute 60 miles; all highway and no traffic 5 days a week
- Drive up steep Mountain Passes (Reno is 4,500 ft and mountains passes are 8 to 10k ft) every weekend for ski or cali for kids soccer

I LOVE the CVT. I accelerate and decelerate slowly over distance to improve gas mileage along with wear and tear on the car. I can only imagine how much the CVT plays a big part in the longevity of the engine and drive train with the power transition being seamless.

Yes it's a crap style of transmission. That should yield cheeper vehicle price.

Yep. Never will buy one or suggest one to customer.

Yes, I think so. Why would Subaru put a 100,000 mile transmission in a 300,000 mile car?

Yes. Drove an Outback for 11 years, replaced it with an Impreza. Drove that for 3 years. Learned to hate the CVT experience. When the AT Temp light started coming on and two different dealers were unable to do anything about it I started reading up on it. The end result: I ditched the Impreza and will never drive another CVT car as long as there are alternatives.

I bought a new Mazda CX5 Akera (Signature) with 2.5 turbo rather than replace our 9 year old Outback 3.6 with a CVT. Only 4.5 months down the track I couldn't bond with the Mazda and worked out a deal on another Outback 3.6 with CVT and took the plunge.
Since then I've totally become used to the CVT characteristics and don't have any issues. The car tours quietly and economically for a large 6 cylinder car and with its inherently smooth, quiet engine there is never anything but silence from the CVT. I'll wait to see how reliable it is (but I don't really feel there'll be problems down the track) but to this point I'm very happy to get the last of the 3.6, CVT notwithstanding.
And using the paddle shifters is great for fixing "gears" when in twisting and undulating terrain.

Yes. Simple reason nobody can repair the CVT except a few dealerships. And usually it's complete replacement CVT. EPA is driving fuel economy at the expense of Long Term Reliability.

Absolutely. There is a 0% chance of me buying a Subaru or anything else with a CVT transmission. It's not just about the unnerving feeling of having no real shift points for me, though that is irritating. More than that though, it's the inherent unreliability of these things. CVT's were invented 50 or 60 YEARS ago. There are some very good reasons why they were extremely rare in automobiles up until very recently. They do not have anything like the longevity of a conventional automatic, much less an manual transmission which can go for hundreds of thousands of miles without a rebuilt. What's worse, you can't rebuild them the same way. When your "Lineartronic" CVT explodes 5,000 miles after your limited powertrain warranty expires, you're looking at $7500-9,000 or more to replace it. All of that for an extra 1 or 2 MPG at the absolute max? It was a stupid move they made and I have a feeling they are going to pay for it with their reputation. Wait until these Lineartronic cars start aging. The stories are going to make their leaky head gaskets look like nothing by comparison. There is a reason why Toyota uses hardly any CVT's outside of hybrids and even then, their CVT design is different than everyone elses. Toyota cares too much about their reputation for reliability to risk it chasing an extra 1 mpg.

I have recommend Subaru to friends if they can live with a CVT.. but I won't own a Subaru until they can at least make a CVT as good as Honda... but even then I doubt it.

I sold my 2019 Outback because of the cvt. In warm weather it felt like you were trying to start out in third gear. Service department says it doesn’t show up ont the diagnostic machine so there is nothing wrong. The car is gone before the third warm season starts. It only does it in warm weather which they were to. Never again.

CVT'S in all vehicles are awful from Infinity on down the line. Even if you service it every 30k as most of them recommend, you are lucky to get 150k out of it. Will not buy a car with one in it unless it has a proven track record of 200k+

Our Subaru Impreza transmission failed at 60000 miles.....the warnings about the trannys came out 6 months after we bought the car....never again

Yes...I traded My Outback for a new CX30 Mazda with the 6 speed Auto.......The CX30 is much more fuel efficient than My Subie was.........Am averaging 30+ around town........And the Mazda engine is FAR torqueier than My Subie.......But, I still love Subaru and if I am able to Buy the new Solterra at a reasonable price...I will........I have heard tho that Subaru might send 200 hp to the front and 100 to the rear..........Any decent German Engineer will tell You, That is Ass Backwards.......The cars steer better/handle better with rear wheel bias......65% rear, 35% front........Please Subaru....Do not screw this up............Paul