2019 Nissan Pathfinder Transmission

[CarbonSteel]

A week or so ago, we completed a 7 day Caribbean cruise out of Miami and stayed 1 extra day in Miami to see a few sites. I rented a 2019 Nissan Pathfinder from Hertz (instead of paying for multiple Uber rides) and though the car itself was nice, I have to ask what the heck is up with the transmission on those cars. Are they CVTs? If so, I never want one. In stop and go traffic, it felt like it was hunting for gears it could never find and a few times it had to build RPMs before it would go. At highways speeds (we did about 430 miles total), it was fine, but at low speeds, I hated it. Perhaps we had a car with a defect, I cannot say, but I thought that I would ask about it and see if this is general experience with Nissan.

 

[buster]

Originally Posted by 2015_PSD
A week or so ago, we completed a 7 day Caribbean cruise out of Miami and stayed 1 extra day in Miami to see a few sites. I rented a 2019 Nissan Pathfinder from Hertz (instead of paying for multiple Uber rides) and though the car itself was nice, I have to ask what the heck is up with the transmission on those cars. Are they CVTs? If so, I never want one. In stop and go traffic, it felt like it was hunting for gears it could never find and a few times it had to build RPMs before it would go. At highways speeds (we did about 430 miles total), it was fine, but at low speeds, I hated it. Perhaps we had a car with a defect, I cannot say, but I thought that I would ask about it and see if this is general experience with Nissan.


Sounds like the Toyota Uhaul, I mean Tacoma, I just test drove. The Pathfinders are using a CVT. j

This is what Car and Driver said about it:

Likes: Unobtrusive engine, smooth continuously variable transmission, smooth ride.
Dislikes: Engine drones on the highway when merging or passing, drives more boatlike than it should.

 

[benjy]

many reviewers, magazines RARELY are truthful + sugarkote reviews because are concerned with loosing an advertiser $$$$. never would i buy a CVT or any other slushbox !!

 

[Wrenchturner44]

Nissan, uses JATCO CVTs in a majority of their vehicles. They had numerous warranty issues with them early on. I am not sure what kind of problems they are having currently if any, but yes they have made the switch pretty much in their entire fleet of front wheel drive vehicles.

That being said, CVTs are supposed to be lighter, cheaper (cost to mfgr.), provide better gas mileage, and allow engines to operate in optimum RPM ranges for efficiency and performance.

Downside that I see with them is durability, and the driving experience that you found with the Pathfinder.

Almost all of us in North America grew up with and know about conventional automatic transmissions. We know how they feel, perform, and expect the driving experience that they provide and deliver.

Dual Clutch Automatics (DCTs) are another non-conventional automatic that provides a different driving experience. Personally I do not like or care for the driving experience of either, and they have proved to have durability issues too, just ask Ford about the DCT design choice that they made for the Ford Focus.

Unfortunately, the average Joe, or Jolene car buyer today could care less about the transmission or even notice any kind of difference in operation of same.

In 2015, I bought a new compact cross over (Buick Encore) and one of the reasons that I was sold on it was that, it still used a conventional automatic transmission (6 speed). Most of the other brands that I looked in that category at the time had either CVTs or DCTs.

Another downside with DCTs is that most of them use a form of a conventional clutch disc that will eventually need to be replaced from wear. I have no idea how these compare to the wear of conventional automatics, but my gut tells me it will need to be serviced or replaced sooner.

Kudos to you for noticing the different driving experience of the CVT. That makes you an educated driver in my book, but it is unfortunate that the rest of the buying public is not in this camp.

 

[SZR48207]

I wonder if Nissan CVTs work better in small cars? I used to rent Versas almost weekly on business trips and they drove fine, which is to say that I wasn't expecting them to be high performance race machines and they got me around town with no issues.

 

[atikovi]

Originally Posted by Wrenchturner44
Another downside with DCTs is that most of them use a form of a conventional clutch disc that will eventually need to be replaced from wear. I have no idea how these compare to the wear of conventional automatics, but my gut tells me it will need to be serviced or replaced sooner.


Only familiar with VW DSG which is basically a manual that has been automated. Had one with nearly 160,000 miles on the original clutches. And there is an old saying that it's cheaper to replace a clutch than to rebuild an automatic.

 

[loneryder]

I had a 18 Nissan Rogue Sport rental and the same trans issues. It was a CVT and was always trying to shift into the highest gear. It would lug the engine to get it in the highest gear. I thought no wonder why we have lspi issues. Maybe if the trans was not programmed to shift into high gear as soon as possible, we might not have so much lspi. It's all about the mileage folks!! To me they are throw away cars that you don't keep very long or buy used.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Reddy45
I wonder if Nissan CVTs work better in small cars? I used to rent Versas almost weekly on business trips and they drove fine, which is to say that I wasn't expecting them to be high performance race machines and they got me around town with no issues.


Hard to say. Aside from the first few years of the CVT Pathfinder and Murano, the 3.5L V6 and CVT combo seems to hold up well and they just seem to behave nicely. There's folks here with 200K miles on them. I've got about 86K miles on my 2016 Nissan Quest with this engine/trans combo and it started life as a rental.

FWIW, the Pathfinder CVT is rated to tow something like 6000lbs. Not to say I'd do it, but the owner's manual says it can. LOL

The one thing that makes Nissan/Jatco CVTs nice is they're easy to do fluid services on.

 

[joegreen]

Originally Posted by 2015_PSD
A week or so ago, we completed a 7 day Caribbean cruise out of Miami and stayed 1 extra day in Miami to see a few sites. I rented a 2019 Nissan Pathfinder from Hertz (instead of paying for multiple Uber rides) and though the car itself was nice, I have to ask what the heck is up with the transmission on those cars. Are they CVTs? If so, I never want one. In stop and go traffic, it felt like it was hunting for gears it could never find and a few times it had to build RPMs before it would go. At highways speeds (we did about 430 miles total), it was fine, but at low speeds, I hated it. Perhaps we had a car with a defect, I cannot say, but I thought that I would ask about it and see if this is general experience with Nissan.

Yes they have cvt transmissions

 

[sloinker]

I saw parts of a grenaded CVT strung about a local transmission shop recently. I'm thinking Jatco, guy doing the rebuild said Subaru. Who builds Subaru's CVT's? I've driven a few CVT's over the years and hated them and recognized them instantly upon driving them off the rental lot. It's been a couple years and I hear they have gotten better. I need to rent one again and check next Time I'm out of town.

 

[sloinker]

Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Wrenchturner44
Another downside with DCTs is that most of them use a form of a conventional clutch disc that will eventually need to be replaced from wear. I have no idea how these compare to the wear of conventional automatics, but my gut tells me it will need to be serviced or replaced sooner.


Only familiar with VW DSG which is basically a manual that has been automated. Had one with nearly 160,000 miles on the original clutches. And there is an old saying that it's cheaper to replace a clutch than to rebuild an automatic.


Conventional transmissions use a form of wet clutch discs as do many DSG's so I imagine comparable life spans all things being equal. Some DCT's use dry clutches, don't know about their life spans. Properly serviced VW DSG's should last the life of the car which I am led to believe is 150K miles according to the manufacturer and recent court papers concerning the cheater fix on the TDI's and the buy back program.

 

[4WD]

The Rogue has become common on the rental lots for a while. Some of the early models were in scream mode often … but the last one I had (2019) was more refined. Yesterday they sent me out the door in a Pathfinder with only 6k and it's a very well equipped unit. Getting out of our Tahoe the road noise was noticeable … but had no wind noise and the transmission only had occasional hints of what type it was.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted by 4WD
… but had no wind noise and the transmission only had occasional hints of what type it was.


I find even on the latest addition Rogues, they've really tightened up the CVT programming so it's tough to detect any rubber-bandy effect during normal driving. The V6 and CVT combo they seemed to have done this around 2015-16.

 

[dareo]

CVT=Never, at least for me. Id rather drive a stick, conventional automatic or even a DSG box. I'd also rather drive a pure electric than a CVT. Sure many of them can work fine but I personally will never own one.

 

[4WD]

Yessir … and guess I also stepped up from 4 banger to six pack !
Just drove it another hundred plus miles … no sports car but a good highway cruiser

 

[FADEC]

Originally Posted by JTK
Originally Posted by Reddy45
I wonder if Nissan CVTs work better in small cars? I used to rent Versas almost weekly on business trips and they drove fine, which is to say that I wasn't expecting them to be high performance race machines and they got me around town with no issues.


Hard to say. Aside from the first few years of the CVT Pathfinder and Murano, the 3.5L V6 and CVT combo seems to hold up well and they just seem to behave nicely. There's folks here with 200K miles on them. I've got about 86K miles on my 2016 Nissan Quest with this engine/trans combo and it started life as a rental.

FWIW, the Pathfinder CVT is rated to tow something like 6000lbs. Not to say I'd do it, but the owner's manual says it can. LOL

The one thing that makes Nissan/Jatco CVTs nice is they're easy to do fluid services on.

My 2019 Murano with V6 and Cvt seems to run and shift great. I say shift as it has a "simulated" 7 speed auto in it. The CVT will "shift" as you accelerate and it really feels like a conventional automatic. I bought it new not wanting to like the CVT but it has really grown on me. And I'm very critical on power train smoothness. Getting 29 MPG average on 60% city 40% highway.