Hello from Norfolk UK.

[OldLadyAndSon]

Hello everyone,

May I take this opportunity to introduce myself and my Mum, to give a little background to the story.

My Mum has just bought a 2018 QQ (J11 facelift) yesterday from a local, reputable used car dealer.
It looks stunning in vivid blue and drives very well.
It is the dCi 1.6 diesel N-Connecta Xtronic, and has 17,000 miles on it, with two years Nissan servicing (the last one is overdue).
It is an ex-motability vehicle, and since I cannot use my right leg, it seemed like an excellent choice, though I myself am not a motability driver.
It will be fitted with a 'twin-flip' accelerator pedal next week, and a towbar at the end of the month, as the car was primarily bought as a towing vehicle, to pull a 1280kg Swift caravan.

We did all the sums regarding towing weights etc, and the QQ seemed to tick all the boxes.

What we didn't know before we bought it...but do now...is that this model has the CVT automatic transmission.
I have to admit a degree of ignorance here, and at first I panicked when I checked the temporary V5C/2W, which clearly says CVT.
I don't know why I didn't check this beforehand, I suppose I assumed that all auto boxes were essentially the same...having driven them for years.
So, some googling later and some very worrying stories...here we are!

Both myself and my Mum have read some heartbreaking stories here from QQ Xtronic owners, who have reported catastrophic failures, and I'm sure you are all well aware of what happened in the US too.

All of this proved very worrying indeed, and my Mum has been in a state of panic since, because returning the car is not possible - it was purchased outright.

We have sought advice from local automatic transmission specialists, with mixed results.
Some have said that it should be avoided, and that it is not recommended as a tow vehicle due to potential overheating of the transmission, and thence possible failure.
Others have said that it is mainly a problem with older vehicles, and since this is a low mileage, newish car, there probably isn't anything to worry about.
We called Nissan for some advice, and as we have read here, they seemed surprised that there have been any problems at all with the transmission - in fact the lady at the service dept said she would get the technicians to call me back...but they never did.

I am aware that preventative maintenance is the way to go, by way of replacing the transmission fluid every 30,000 miles - much sooner than Nissan recommend.
But I can't deny that it has left a sour taste, and we are both really worried that one day the dreaded jerking/shuddering/erratic revs will bring an end to my Mums dream of exploring the UK countryside.

I apologize for rambling on a bit...and I realize that this isn't the correct place to voice concerns regarding technical issues being that it is just the introductions thread, and there isn't actually anything wrong with the car at the moment, but I suppose what we are looking for is some sort of reassurance that we are worrying over nothing, and to just relax and enjoy the car.

Thanks for reading, hope you are all well and staying safe.

Look forward to chatting on the forums.

OldLadyAndSon.

[MikeGC]

Welcome to the forum.

I can’t comment on the "technical" aspects of your worries but we have some very knowledgeable members who might be able to assuage your concerns.

If you choose to keep the car I would suggest following the early fluid change, as you suggest. Also, seek out a good, extra and gearbox specific warranty - perhaps the helpful gearbox specialist can suggest something, so that if the worst happens, you should be covered.

And of course, you only hear the bad news on t’internet. It’s rare that people take to car forums to praise their car.
I don’t know how many thousands of these gearboxes have been sold and how many of them have given absolutely no trouble.

[gloucester]

Welcome to this forum.

There are Nissan CVT specialists who might be worth a call for reassurance.

[OldLadyAndSon]

Thanks for the replies.

@MikeGC, since there is no actual fault with the car, we will be keeping it, as per the Consumer Rights Act.
It does come with what looks like a fairly decent 12 month warranty from the dealer, which covers automatic gearboxes.
The following is quoted directly from the Mechanical Breakdown Warranty:

Automatic gearbox

All Internal mechanical components, internal gears, gear lever, sun and planet gears and carriers.
Brake bands, clutch steel discs and clutch drums (excluding friction linings).
Valve block, pressure valves and internal main shafts and pressure seals.
Excluding external selector mechanisms, all electrical components and oil seals and leaks.

It also covers mechanical components of the torque converter too, so it looks like a fairly decent warranty.
Of course, this is referring to a 'traditional' auto (sun/planet gears etc), but I think it's safe to assume the CVT's conical pulley system is classed as 'gears' in this case...I hope so!

We do like the car very much, it drives superbly...we just became worried when we read all the horror stories!
Indeed, we will certainly replace the fluid, and keep on top of the servicing too.
I will post the more specific questions in the appropriate thread.

@gloucester: we did contact Stephens Engineering, who seem to be the go-to crew for all things CVT related - we found the info in another thread on these forums.
Spoke to the receptionist who has kindly arranged for a call back on Monday, as the expert is away until then...fingers crossed!

Oddly, one company whom we found by googling, claimed to deal with any Nissan automatic gearbox problems, but turned out that they do not touch the CVTs!
The lady on the other end, curtly stated "We don't do them anymore", and pressing a little further I was able to learn that it is likely due to the number of issues with the CVT they were getting.
Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but as MikeGC said above:

And of course, you only hear the bad news on t’internet.

This could perhaps apply to gearbox specialists too - they could possibly have a somewhat warped perception of the general motoring population, since they only deal with people who have problems.
Indeed, no-one is going to visit a specialist to say: "Hello, my gearbox is running fine....just thought you'd like to know!"

Thanks again for the welcome messages, stay safe and take care.

OldLadtAndSon

[MikeGC]

I just remembered, a have an old rugby mate living in Diss.
He had the1.6 dci with the CVT gearbox (registered 2014 so a J11a)
He didn’t do huge mileage and only towed a small trailer.
He isn’t an owners club forum sort of bloke, so even if he had been unhappy you wouldn’t know.
But, and perhaps importantly, he had no trouble with the engine or gearbox.

[OldLadyAndSon]

Thank you again MikeGC, that is reassuring.

Like you said, I'm sure we don't hear from the thousands (millions?) of happy owners out there...just the poor souls who've had issues!

We chose the caravan quite carefully, and while it's not that light...as a 4 berth it is considered a 'lightweight' caravan at 1280kg.
Understandably this will put more strain on the drivetrain, but we will be taking it very easy, with regular 'cooling' stops...and 'bullet-proof' breakdown cover too!

[DaveBerlin]

OldLadyAndSon, I have been having a look around and this might be an interesting article to take a read of. It does appear difficult to find a QQ Towing Road Test with your Engine & a CVT. The great majority of CVT Auto’s exist in the US / Japan and the US is where the most problems have occurred including the court cases and longer Guarantees - All the Best Dave

Are CVT Transmissions Good for Towing? – Car Buying and Selling : https://carbuyingandselling.com/are-cvt ... or-towing/

These sort of comments you find a lot of :
It is fine to tow a trailer behind a CVT vehicle as long as the maximum towing capacity limit is within the vehicle's towing capacity and does not exceeded the allowable weight when the load and the passengers are accounted for unless it states in the vehicle Owner's Manual to never tow a trailer.

CVTs can be expensive to repair or replace when compared to a conventional automatic transmission. Some of the common problems that owners run into include overheating, slipping, and sudden loss of acceleration. Shuddering is also a common problem.

All that is known at present is that the new Nissan CVT Auto which has been re-designed and installed in the New QQ J12 is way better than the existing units, but unfortunately this does not help you.

[OldLadyAndSon]

Thanks for the message DaveBerlin, and for the link too.

Indeed, my own research has yielded similar results, to wit; not much information out there apart from "it's fine to tow as long as maximum towing weights are not exceeded." etc.
I also read quite of lot of the class action cases in the US, and they all seem to be high mileage cars (~80,000 miles or so...some considerably more).
It seems that unlike our friends over the pond, we would consider and 80,000 mile car to be relatively high mileage, whereas their country is obviously considerably larger, and long commutes are normal.
So that's perhaps something to hang on to!

I looked at the QQ(J12) and you're right, they have supposedly improved the CVT, but also no longer offer a diesel - they are all mild hybrid/petrol cars now, so perhaps they would be lacking in the low down torque and thence not be ideal for towing either.

I'm still quite worried about towing our caravan with the CVT...a specialist I spoke to suggested an improved, external transmission cooler (didn't quote a price yet), but also suggested that this may be a 'band-aid' fix...again, worrying!

OldLadyAndSon.

[QaiFan]

IMHO your new QQ will most probably not have big issues before European regulations will force us to sell all non-EV cars. As you found out most problems with CVTs were caused by lack of proper maintenance and even then started around 100k miles. Long before that time we will all be driving a Nissan EV.
I, personally, am far more worried that my MHEV Nissan J12 car will cause problems with those complicated battery systems that, when I have to replace it, will cost me at least as much as any CVT!
There was nothing as simple and reliable as my past +2l combustion engine cars, not blown, no electric wizardry, no CVT or DCT.
But that does not mean we should never take that leap of faith... as I did...also in an instant like you, because I liked that Cashqai so much too!

[OldLadyAndSon]

Thanks QaiFan for your encouraging remarks.

I was somewhat reassured by the albeit terribly sad stories from our friends over the pond, and over here too...not meaning to sound callous though. I really do sympathize deeply with anyone who has had CVT problems.

Maybe you're right...we'll all be driving EVs in a few years...who knows, but we intend to keep the car for as long as possible.

As you have said (and the more I read about it) it does seem to be a matter of more regular and proper preventative maintenance.
In fact just flicking through the manual, it suggests that for severe driving conditions (which I'm sure towing a caravan would classify as), one should perform an engine service (minimum oil/filter change) every 6 months.
But, it also states that for the same severe driving conditions, one should change the CVT fluid at 54,000 miles...which seems reckless to me!

I certainly won't be leaving it that long before changing the CVT fluid in ours...I'm thinking of doing a lot sooner in fact, maybe around 20,000 miles.

I see your point regarding replacing batteries in your MHEV J12...hopefully you'll get many miles/years of happiness before you need to cross that bridge.
I desperately want to love our QQ...it's fantastic in every way, but then there's that nagging feeling....think I'll have to push that to one side.

Good luck.

OldLadyAndSon.