Subaru CVT, any good?

My Brother-In-Law is thinking about a 2016 Forester and is asking me about the CVT offered. He's not a car guy so I don't think he'd care much for snappy shifts and such. Reliability is his biggest concern.

My parents bought a '15 Forester CVT and love it. It replaced their '07 manual Forester and my Dad (a staunch manual transmission supporter) has consistently raved about the CVT. They're averaging 31-33 MPG in mixed driving, but they also routinely beat the EPA ratings. Their current mileage is several MPG better than their previous Forester.

Too early to say anything about reliability, but so far their CVT experience has been a positive one.

Wife's on second legacy (lease) and I'm amazed at how efficient CVT is. No fun though, unless you play with flappy-paddles. Her '12 didn't have "steps" and we both preferred it since the engine would go to peak power rpm on heavy throttle and stay they as you slipped up to speed.

From what I hear, Subaru's CVTs are the only good ones on the market right now.

GameboyRMH wrote: From what I hear, Subaru's CVTs are the only good ones on the market right now.

That's kind of a broad brush, since IIRC it's the same unit that Mopar bought from Nissan, or Aisin, or whoever made it.

They are more or less immortal in Calibers and Compasses. Just do the service every 60k (thankfully the special CVT fluid isn't dealer only anymore) and worry about other things.

Wife has a 2013 Legacy and I bought a 2015 Outback in June.

Wife has always driven automatics and has not mentioned that she notices any difference. If she felt something wasn't right she would not hesitate to say so.

I got my first automatic in 51 years in 2010 when I bought a Transit Connect. so far I like the Subaru CVT much better. Only thing I have noticed is that it seems to rev a little higher at first on cold mornings until it gets warmed up. Only takes a block or two to get it warmed up.

Have a 2015 Outback 3.6 with the CVT. I like it fine.