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High mileage CVT auto - avoid?

peter_964rs

peter_964rs

That's no moon!
Our Ukrainian needs a car that’s small and affordable and, alas due to regs for refugees with Ukrainian driving licences in the Uk, automatic. We’ve found a couple of relatively local high mileage Toyota Yaris autos - one 88k and the other 110k - she can just about afford but I’m worried they shouldn’t be touched with a barge pole because the CVT might be unreliable and / or expensive to repair. Should we not bother looking at them? Thanks!
 
Most really small modern cars are usually good for 100,000 to 130,000 regular miles before they fall victim to a failure that is uneconomic to repair. This could be gearbox failure, catastrophic mechanical engine failure or engine management failure.

Not sure that modern CVT boxes are any more likely to boom between 100 and 130 thousand miles than any other gearbox, but I stand to be corrected by someone with evidence to the contrary. My experience is that the management system is the most likely to end the economic life of a small car.

Any tiny car with over 90,000 miles is a bit of a crap shoot, TBH, IME.
 
Those mileages aren't high at all...

But if there's no proof of the boxes being serviced etc then I'd be very wary.

But if you can get a good deal that knocks an amount off to cover a service, then it should be ok...
 
My Avensis cvt has just had new gasket and oil change at 130k to deal with a small leak. The auto specialist was surprised to see it, the Toyotas just don’t fail. He also mentioned Hyundai and Kia’s as not being regular.

The issue is they’re sealed for life, no dipstick’s and a pita to get them serviced.
 
divedeepdog said:
My Avensis cvt has just had new gasket and oil change at 130k to deal with a small leak. The auto specialist was surprised to see it, the Toyotas just don’t fail. He also mentioned Hyundai and Kia’s as not being regular.

The issue is they’re sealed for life, no dipstick’s and a pita to get them serviced.
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No such thing as sealed for life; brand BS. Just like BMW state their autoboxes are sealed for life (ie 100k); whereas ZF (makers of the boxes) state 60-80k!

Fortunately our Racing Jazz has a dipstick and a drain plug; just need to measure what came out, and then refill with new fluid of that amount

If you speak to a specialist autobox servicing place (we're fortunate to have Grant and Automatic Transmissions, Preston; here in Preston; he'll soon tell you the bullshit ways of car brands and the bollocks they tell buyers about how boxes are 'sealed for life' and the hell show you just what bad autobox fluid looks like and how much damage it can do if just left!

His most popular boxes are Jap brands and their CVT boxes and a lot of Audi CVT boxes too.. Then the usual suspects (ZF etc)
 
In New Zealand, high mileage on a small car is 300,000km+ I don't think I've owned a car with less than 150. I've never done anything to them except oil, normal wear parts and welding rust patches.
 
My GF had a Perodua (Toyota group) Myvi that managed 250,000 km on a CVT gearbox, this is a related platform to the Yaris. This was in Kuala Lumpur, which is traffic hell and hot.
 
A friend just sold his Yaris at 275,000 km. (170,000 miles) because there was something expensive to repair.
 
Car licences issued in Ukraine are exchangeable in the UK. However, for drivers who took a test in Ukraine before 28 December 2021, the law only allows automatic car entitlement to be granted when the UK licence is issued. This is because the Ukrainian driver licensing authority does not retain information to confirm whether a test was taken in a manual or automatic car before this date, only afterwards, and the two situations need to be treated consistently by the UK authorities.
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https://ukrainianrefugeehelp.co.uk/driving-licences/
 
Not silly at all any more than allowing a uk driver who passed in an auto to jumping into a manual. When I returned from Australia in the late 70’s I was only allowed to drive on my Australian licence for 12 months and then had to take a UK test. At the time the Australian test was much more onerous than the UK.
 
matt j said:
I presume Honda Jazz Sport, same as a regular Jazz but with a few go faster looking bits on it. My Mum has a 2019 model from new and it's a nice little car, although her needs are minimal. I couldn't live with a CVT if it were me.
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Haha no; it's a 1.4 CVT asthmatic but nicknamed the Racing Jazz as it's anything but :D

It was my wife's Nana's car but she gave it to my wife when she stopped riving (after we told her she had no choice) and the wife's Ford Focus was starting to cost more to keep on the road than it was worth

We do have to lean forward to get up hills haha, but it's a great little car and does the short commute for my wife (home to Uni where she works and back) faultlessly and it's a tardis too! Fold them seats flat and you can get hell of a lot in there!
 
Alas yes :(

"If you passed your test in Ukraine before 28 December 2021, you can exchange your licence to drive an automatic vehicle only. This is because the driving licence authority in Ukraine did not keep details about the type of vehicle a test was taken in before this date."

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/driving-and-public-transport-homes-for-ukraine

Whilst she has passed her test on a manual, due to that being a few years ago that isn't on her licence or in any computer systems where the data could be shared with DVLA hence the obligation to stick to an automatic or pass a test in the UK on a manual. She's planning on returning home as soon as it's safe so we're just settling on the auto car.

Ive been sceptical of CVT believing them to be unreliable but that might not be the case in a relatively light, low torque engine car like the Yaris. My mum has a Jazz CVT and I hate it but it keeps on going .... hence my question as to whether or not we should steer clear.
 
peter_964rs said:
Alas yes :(

"If you passed your test in Ukraine before 28 December 2021, you can exchange your licence to drive an automatic vehicle only. This is because the driving licence authority in Ukraine did not keep details about the type of vehicle a test was taken in before this date."

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/driving-and-public-transport-homes-for-ukraine

Whilst she has passed her test on a manual, due to that being a few years ago that isn't on her licence or in any computer systems where the data could be shared with DVLA hence the obligation to stick to an automatic or pass a test in the UK on a manual. She's planning on returning home as soon as it's safe so we're just settling on the auto car.

Ive been sceptical of CVT believing them to be unreliable but that might not be the case in a relatively light, low torque engine car like the Yaris. My mum has a Jazz CVT and I hate it but it keeps on going .... hence my question as to whether or not we should steer clear.
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conventional autos are historically more durable than manual plus clutch. The odd oil change and 200-300k miles is apparently the norm. That's about 2 clutches and one manual gearbox rebuild.
 
peter_964rs said:
Our Ukrainian needs a car that’s small and affordable and, alas due to regs for refugees with Ukrainian driving licences in the Uk, automatic. We’ve found a couple of relatively local high mileage Toyota Yaris autos - one 88k and the other 110k - she can just about afford but I’m worried they shouldn’t be touched with a barge pole because the CVT might be unreliable and / or expensive to repair. Should we not bother looking at them? Thanks!
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Got our son a Hyundai years ago, totally unloved and the service history looked fake. Price was right.

It was about 90k miles so i gave it a full fluid change and a bit of a flush; gearbox was supposed to be filled for life but i sucked the oil out with a Pela. It needed changing.

It was last heard of somewhere in the south of France but never missed a beat or gate post.
 
hifilover1979 said:
Haha no; it's a 1.4 CVT asthmatic but nicknamed the Racing Jazz as it's anything but :D

It was my wife's Nana's car but she gave it to my wife when she stopped riving (after we told her she had no choice) and the wife's Ford Focus was starting to cost more to keep on the road than it was worth

We do have to lean forward to get up hills haha, but it's a great little car and does the short commute for my wife (home to Uni where she works and back) faultlessly and it's a tardis too! Fold them seats flat and you can get hell of a lot in there!
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Ahh sorry, it's what I call my mum's when she said she was getting the Sport Jazz :D
 
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