So, my 99 LGT LTD's engine went, so I'm in the market for a new car. I'm looking at the 2010 Legacy 2.5i w/ the CVT transmission.

 

My only concern is that it has the CVT transmission. Does any have one of these/have any experience with these/know of any problems with these?

Don't know of any problems. Had a chance to drive a loaner 2010 OBW with CVT. That behemoth actually felt quite nicely with the CVT. It's 6 speed, so it takes off rather nicely from the stop, and cruised 70+mph at 2rpm, very smooth shifting. The car had only about 10kmiles on it though...

 

HTH

They haven't really been out long enough for the major problems to show up.

 

It "shifts" smoothly when in manual shift mode. If left in plain auto it doesn't actually shift. The beauty of the CVT is that it constantly changes the reduction ratio for maximum efficiency. If you floor the accelerator from a stop, the engine revs up to around where it creates its peak power (about 4200 rpm in this case), and stays there as long as you keep the accelerator down. The engine speed doesn't change, yet the car continues to accelerate.

 

That doesn't mean the engine is going to run at 4000+ rpm every time you put your right foot on the pedal. The ECU manages throttle input and transmission ratio to make the best use of the power being created by the engine.

 

It's "different" to drive one. They don't drive anything like a regular car as far as shifting is concerned. You give it gas, the car goes, you don't feel any change in RPM between gears because there are none.

 

As for reliability, time will only tell.

i would like to see the first one to make it to 100k without warranty issue. if that happens, its decent. if they get to 150k, then even better. will take several years for the first one to rack up that amount of miles.

too soon to tell is the only real smart answer right now.

All I can say is that I love it and no problems so far with 2.5 K miles on her.

 

The difference is really noticeable when you drive all day with the CVT and then drive around the wife's 96 Imp. The standard automatic feels clunky.

 

I passed a 4 door Justy on the freeway the other morning so there are some original CVTs going strong after 2 decades.

Edited April 30, 201015 yr by Subarupusher

My Opinion: Buy the 2.5i with the CVT.

 

Subaru / CVT / Justy.

Audi applied it to FWD.

Nissan applied it to FWD.

Subaru applied it to AWD.

 

No complaints about the CVT so far.

Oh yeah....I did have one lady call me a liar.

She got 35.7 mpg on her way from Indianapolis to Louisville, KY. (I told her she would only get ~ 33 while the Sticker said 29)

Edited April 30, 201015 yr by IndyBlitzen
Don't put a Steelers Sticker on the car. You will only get 29 mpg.

I drove one last year when they came out. If you've never drove one before, you might find the test drive pretty interesting.

I agree I really like how it drives I just wonder how long it will hold up. I have disassembled one at Subaru technical training last year and it was very impressive inside. STRONG looking internals that reminded me of a 6MT STI tranny even though they have virtually nothing in commmon. HEAVY too, took 3 of us to get on the bench where the STI takes 2 strong guys.

 

Its worth it for the gas mileage if it fails at 150K and isn't terribly expensive to swap a new one it it might be enough better on gas to justify the predictable failure. At the same time looking at the inside it looked to me like if it wasn't abused there was no way for it to break. The regular 4 and 5 AT trans looks vulnerable in places if abused but not this trans.