CVT? ?

No, no and no- actually I would never buy a car with a trick tranny- the old fashioned kind seem to work just fine-

NOPE.

jamnblues, why do you call this a "trick " transmission?

More on the history of this , CVT was originally from concepts developed by Leonardo da Vinci. See this link below. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_variable_transmission http://www.odec.ca/projects/2007/viva7s2/cvts2.htm

A trick- as far as engineering goes, it is inspiring when people come up with novel ideas- but if they don't hold up in the real world, what good is it? Mazda's rotary is a good example of something completely different that was designed to be reliable- good luck with the continuously variable transmission- if you have the money, go for it-

I like it, but, hey, it's not for everyone, I understand. I would say it's hard to compare the rotary engine invention to the inventions by Leonardo da Vinci, a true renaissance man who was way ahead of his time. Nearly everything he invented is in use today and that was 500 years ago. A variation of CVT transmissions used in the Toyota Prius, known as power sharing transmissions have gone more than 200,000 miles with no problems. And, CVT applications have been in use in all kinds of equipment including aircraft gas turbine engines. I know that rotary engines have fallen out of favor although I'm not sure they're completely dead. One of the reasons you're seeing more cars with CVT transmissions is to satisfy the CAFE standards. CVT transmissions maximize the power and efficiency simultaneously for engines. And, unlike manual transmissions, you cannot over rev the engine. So, we'll see how they do in this latest iteration. Earlier CVT'S had belt problems, but, in the last five years with metal belts and redesign, they are stronger and more responsive. The Subaru Lineartronic CVT transmission is one of the best on the market today.

It is my understanding that the Subaru CVT is good as far as it goes but cannot be serviced even by a dealer except for minor exterior part replacement. The fluid is very, very expensive and if it goes bad you are looking at $8,000 just for the new transmission plus labor. Perhaps some one can chime in on this to verify my findings. I also understand that these CVTs' don't like towing either. The Nissan CVT is a complete disaster from what I have heard but the Subaru seems good but for how many miles?

I bought a 6 speed manual because I don't trust the CVT to go 200k like my 2003 Foresters automatic has.

2013 Outback made it just over 100k . Totally blindsided by the $9400 estimate to get it back on the road. Subaru customer assistance offered me $1000 customer loyalty cash to purchase a new Subaru. Not a fan.