Opinion: Of Nissan Teana and Nissan Sylphy - CVT on the old and new models.

It may be very okay to buy this new 2014 Teana.....

...but not very okay to buy this previous Teana.

I just noticed that the new Nissan Sylphy and the new Nissan Teana....have the same engine and gearbox. Note that the earlier Sylpillis, er Slyphy...no, Sylphy and the earlier Tena, no, that's an adult diaper were running the same CVT gearbox and different engines. This time, both have four cylinder Nissa-Renault MR Series 2.0liter engines running a slightly modified CVT gearbox. You also get the same engine and transmission in the recently launched Renault Fluence (which I totally forgot was also recently launched - makes you wonder how much I was looking forward to it being around Malaysia).



Anyway, the main difference between the previous CVT gearboxes found in both the Nissans mentioned are that the 'all-new' models have transmission oil coolers fitted to them. This was also mentioned in some of the the Renault Fluence's launch reports by other online automotive portals and magazines. What this means is that you can now safely purchase any of the two Nissan cars mentioned above without much worry of the gearbox disintegrating prematurely.

Remember the previous issues about CVT or gearbox failures in other car makes? We had Proton with the unreliable Perdana V6 gearboxes. By the second revision of the Perdana, Proton installed transmission oil coolers into them and this actually stopped a whole lot of Perdanas dying an early death. We also had the shit ugly second generation in Asia only (2002-2008)  Honda City suffering tons of complaints about its CVT gearbox. Honda reverted to the normal torque convertor gearbox for the third generation model. Then we had Mitsubishi actually retro-fitting and then fitting oil coolers to its newly launched Lancer GT / GLS models only quite recently after there were complaints that it was easy to cook the CVT in that car too. I know a journo friend or two who managed to do just that (but can't really trust those people, they drive cars like they stole them).

So, every time you hear new blurbs that a new model has an oil cooler fitted to them you will usually come up with the assumption that this means that the previous models have gearbox issues. Nissan were lucky in some ways as not many complaints have been aired in Malaysia about this until now. My sources within the car service network tell me that Nissan CVT inside the previous Teana and Sylphy WILL break down. The question is how long it may take to do so.

One other reason why no news is making its rounds is that most Nissan owners are 'Uncles' or people who drive slowly and don't cook their gearboxes faster than Proton, Honda, Mitsubishi and even Volkswagen (who are still stinging a little from the DSG issues) drivers in Malaysia. Or the fact that the sales volume of the previous Sylphy and Teana aren't as large as those buying the other cars mentioned herein. This could be the case too as there were not enough of users out there who complained (especially since those who bought the Nissans were of the senior citizens crowd who may not even know what Twitbook or the internet is).

I personally did some checking and came up with this: from autonewscom -  http://www.autonews.com/article/20131202/OEM10/312029972/nissan-presses-jatco-to-end-cvt-glitches

There is also another one from autoblog.com. Click here. So I am NOT making this stuff up okay. Other people are.....

The article is also pasted below in case the link goes bad or you can't be bothered to head over there.

So it is, or it was, a worldwide Nissan CVT issue. And with that, I have to advise you folks out there as follows:

1. You CAN buy the new TEANA or the SYLPHY as they now come with oil coolers and going by the articles above, the Quality Control of the newer CVT boxes are supposedly much better than before;

2. I DO NOT recommend buying any previous TEANA OR SYLPHY second hand;

3. If you DO OWN A previous model TEANA OR SYLPHY and have not faced any issues, go to a mechanic who knows about installing aftermarket oil coolers and get one installed in your car. An external oil cooler will improve lifespan of the gearbox fluids and keep the box working properly.

4. If you still want to buy one of those previous Sylphy or Teana, then I suggest getting an oil cooler too; and

5. If you have read this and own either the cars mentioned above and do nothing, then that isn't my problem in the first place okay.

There, some Corporate Social Responsibility from Yours Truly.

Nissan presses Jatco to end CVT glitches

TOKYO -- Nissan is sharpening its oversight of affiliated transmission supplier Jatco Ltd. in the wake of quality and customer satisfaction problems that have pinched the automaker's profits.

Launch-related glitches hampered Nissan as it rolled out a string of new models last year with Jatco continuously variable transmissions. Nissan also is expanding and adding plants around the world, and Jatco is hustling to keep pace.

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says his team will be watching Jatco more closely. In an unusual step, Ghosn this year singled out Jatco by requiring it to explain how it will ensure customer satisfaction on any new technology it introduces.

"Every time you launch a new CVT you always have some risks," Ghosn said in an interview at his Yokohama, Japan, headquarters last month. "So we now have a process by which, before we launch any new CVT, they come before the Nissan executive committee to explain all the measures they have taken to make sure there are no surprises."

Next month Nissan will dispatch its most senior North American manufacturing and supply chain executive, Bill Krueger, to Jatco, in which Nissan has a 75 percent stake. He will become executive vice president overseeing the Americas region and chairman of its operations in the United States and Mexico. His predecessor, Tomoyoshi Sato, will return to Japan for a new assignment. Another problem has been customer perception. According to Jatco CEO Takashi Hata, some Nissan owners are not yet comfortable with the way Jatco's fuel-efficient continuously variable transmissions operate. Nissan's entire small-car strategy is based on Jatco's CVTs, and most Nissan vehicles now have one.

Jatco's innovations in CVT performance in friction reduction and operating efficiency have helped Nissan cars rise to the top or near the top in fuel economy in their segments. CVTs are the standard nonmanual transmission for every car and crossover in the Nissan-brand line, except for the electric Leaf and low-volume 370Z and GT-R sports cars.

Nissan dealers have gotten customer complaints and service visits because of unfamiliarity with CVT behavior. Because CVTs have no fixed gears, drivers do not experience the gear-by-gear stepping-up sensation of traditional automatic transmissions -- only a smooth and steady increase in engine revolutions. To an uninitiated driver, the transmission could sound like it is stuck in a single gear.

Jatco itself now plans to work with U.S. car dealers to provide more information about CVTs and gather more customer feedback about its transmissions, Hata says. Last month, Ghosn labeled Jatco one of several "head winds" that are slowing down his aggressive global business plan to achieve an 8 percent operating profit by March 2017.

Ghosn said expensive problems with Jatco had cut into the company's profits last year. He later clarified that he had not meant formal recalls, but customer service issues related to the transmissions.

David Reuter, a Nissan North America spokesman, said the issues were associated with a flurry of new-vehicle launches in 2012. "They're in the past and behind us now," Reuter said.

Krueger, a one-time Toyota manager, helped Nissan bounce back from a rash of quality glitches in 2006 arising from the rapid launch of Nissan's assembly plant in Canton, Miss. This time he will be helping Nissan monitor quality from the supplier side of the aisle.

You can reach Lindsay Chappell at lchappell@crain.com.