First time CVT owner. How long will it last?

My 09 Civic had a rock solid hill assist traditional automatic transmission. I got 200,000 completely trouble free miles out of that car before selling it and only afterwards did I discover that automatic transmissions are no longer available in the Civic; now it's a CVT.

The looming question in my mind is what kind of lifespan should I expect from a CVT in my new 2019 LX? I have the n/a 2.0 liter motor in case it matters.

I searched around several Civic forums and found a few people reporting 200,000 or more miles on their 2016 CVT equipped Civics. This of course gives me hope but I don't feel that the sample size is big enough to conclude that I'm going to be as lucky.

All of that said, is there any large pool of data that shows that CVTs will last as long as traditional automatics? I don't care about other automakers in case you're thinking that I'm asking a general question. I'm only interested in the CVT in the 10th gen Civic.

Thanks.

TheHorse13 said:

My 09 Civic had a rock solid hill assist traditional automatic transmission. I got 200,000 completely trouble free miles out of that car before selling it and only afterwards did I discover that automatic transmissions are no longer available in the Civic; now it's a CVT.

The looming question in my mind is what kind of lifespan should I expect from a CVT in my new 2019 LX? I have the n/a 2.0 liter motor in case it matters.

I searched around several Civic forums and found a few people reporting 200,000 or more miles on their 2016 CVT equipped Civics. This of course gives me hope but I don't feel that the sample size is big enough to conclude that I'm going to be as lucky.

All of that said, is there any large pool of data that shows that CVTs will last as long as traditional automatics? I don't care about other automakers in case you're thinking that I'm asking a general question. I'm only interested in the CVT in the 10th gen Civic.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

With proper maintenance, as long as it's not totaled or stolen, it should last just as long. Honda CVTs are not Nissan CVTs.

I fretted about this for a time.

The current one is likely the best one yet from Honda. Although it's a work in progress; I haven't heard a ton of bad stuff re: the older versions. But only time will tell, ultimately.

Some folks here have, IMO, beat the crap out of their transmissions. Yet they still work.

Drive sensibly, change the fluid at the recommended intervals, and give the thing a second or two to engage before gassing it.

And enjoy the car.

It will last 1.25 years based on all the statistics I've seen.

Seriously though OP, Honda wouldn't be using it in the 10th gen if they didn't think it was reliable or would last. You have to remember before the 10th gen release, the Civic (and Honda) was getting a fair amount of bad press. They needed to knock the 10th gen out of the park... and they did.

Just enjoy your new Civic. The CVT will be just fine.

Thank you for the replies.

The gen 10 Civic will be a utility family car which will go on grocery runs, drop/pick up kids and of course commute back and forth to work. I never beat on my former Civic and of course I will continue with the same behavior with this one. It's not a dragster so there is no need to mash the gas pedal.

I just hope that the new to me CVT technology holds up as well or better than my 2009 and I was looking for any concrete info that supports my hope.

Honda has been using CVT on scooters and small engine car outside of the US for years. The 2014+ Accord also has CVT and they are fine. Change the fluid on time and dont abuse the transmission.

CVT's from 15 years ago was common to hear about a failure, the only failures i've heard about on these cars is from people who put to much torque to them from increasing the performance of the motor too much, which isn't really something you can even do with the N/A 2.0

I put 70k miles on my '17 sport hatch and it still drove basically identical to the new '19 I just traded for. I was definitely hesitant about the CVT given all the bad rap they get but Honda definitely knows what they're doing with this one.

It's certainly welcome news to hear that the CVT in the 10th gen is holding up. I hold on to Civics until they cross over the 200k mark. In my mind, this is the point where the car still holds good value and also the point where you may start to stare large ticket repairs in the face.

I'm starting to see that I can expect the same life expectancy out of my 2019.

Between stats, YouTube personalities and teardowns on various transmissions of the CV flavour, I would say that Honda has the overall best design at the moment with Toyota a close second. There was one slightly different designed CVT used in some US/CA market Hondas almost 20 years ago that were trouble prone but that particular design is not in use. Honda has a CVT in the Civic since 2016, CRV since 2015, the Accord since 2014 and of course in the Fit and HRV. The CVT in the 2.0NA is not the same as the one in the turbos but I can't see it mattering for much where the torque output in the 2.0 is so much lower than the turbos.

Considering that Honda actually R&Ds and makes almost every transmission they have ever used (Some ZFs have shown up here and there), they can't blame Aisin or Jatco if something goes horribly wrong like the 5 speed auto for the V6 debacle back in the early 2000s, I expect them to make good quality CVTs. I have about 37k KMs on our 2017 and am actually very content driving it.

The same CVT in your car is used in the 174 hp turbo models. The people who drive them (even the ones who install tunes and do "spirited" driving with the increased horsepower) don't seem to report a lot of transmission problems.
Your car has 158 hp and you are not driving it hard. Its CVT ought to last a long time.

The Hybrid Civic was using a CVT for a long time before the gas Civics, as well as the FiT.

Another point in its favor: the current Honda CVT is much cheaper to repair than those made by other manufacturers, which have to be replaced instead of repaired. From what I’ve seen, a major repair is likely to be less expensive than a comparable repair on a conventional automatic.

Unlike the Mini, where it’s cheaper to convert the car to a manual than it is to replace the CVT. (Mini CVTs, like Nissans can’t be overhauled, they have to be replaced.)