WHO MAKES THE CVT in 2024?

[HowAboutThat]

I post this here because I have a 2024 Crosstrek.
I had a row with my step-son over who makes Subaru CVTs. I looked them up and found they are designed and made in-house by Subaru. He swears they are made by JATCO, and Subaru modified the core transmission, and calls it lineartronic even though it’s a JATCO.
This is a series of questions I asked ChatGPT, that contradict themselves. The reputable and knowledgeable YouTube channels I watch, including The Car Care Nut, Mr Subaru1387, and Automotive Press, all smart and experienced, say Subaru doesn’t use JATCO CVTs.

So…Who makes the Subaru CVT?

 

[bmart]

ChatGPT is worse than Google searches! Good luck. Everything I know has Subaru making them. There are many variants. Nissan's don't work...at all. Honda uses a completely different system for CVT and they're pretty excellent.

 

[HowAboutThat]

ChatGPT is worse than Google searches! Good luck. Everything I know has Subaru making them. There are many variants. Nissan's don't work...at all. Honda uses a completely different system for CVT and they're pretty excellent.

Do you know whereI could go to get a conclusive answer?

 

[bmart]

In today's world...on any topic? Nope. You could try Subaru Corporate.

 

[Dick Foster]

Suburu makes the Lineartronic CVT used in most Suburu models today. Or you could say Fuji Industries which is Suburu's parent company.

It's reported to be very reliable. Unlike the Nissan POS that gave CVTs a bad rap from the get go.

Remember that Nissan is really Renault which is well known for laying eggs in the market place. They crapped in the US market in the 50s/60s so bad they had to buy Nissan aka Datsun just to get back into the North American market.

CVTs have fewer parts so are therefore more reliable, overall.
There's lots of info on the Suburu Lineartronic CVT on the web.

 

[draganm]

there's a good possibility that originally, instead of starting with a blank piece of paper subaru bought the rights to the original JATCO design. Then made it subaru specific and improved it as needed.

We'll probably never know as indiustry keeps these things close.

I do know subaru CVT's can go a very long way before needing replace, assuming you change the fluid every 50K miles. Maybe an occosional valve body failure, but it's not a terrible expensive repair as far as transmisisons go..
JATCO's are a different animal, they shed debris like crazy, it's why they have external spin on filter and most mechanics recomend a drain/fill and fluid replace every 25k if not sooner

 

[HowAboutThat]

there's a good possibility that originally, instead of starting with a blank piece of paper subaru bought the rights to the original JATCO design. Then made it subaru specific and improved it as needed.

We'll probably never know as indiustry keeps these things close.

I do know subaru CVT's can go a very long way before needing replace, assuming you change the fluid every 50K miles. Maybe an occosional valve body failure, but it's not a terrible expensive repair as far as transmisisons go..
JATCO's are a different animal, they shed debris like crazy, it's why they have external spin on filter and most mechanics recomend a drain/fill and fluid replace every 25k if not sooner

Thank you for the reply. I’m very surprised that even ChatGPT gives conflicting answers. I don’t really care, overall, because I’m not an off-roader and I’m being religious about common sense maintenance. I changed the oil at 1K and have the “official” gratis oil change at 6K, and then will change the tranny fluid at 12K. Not sure when to change coolant or differential fluid, but I’ll get some guidance from the YouTube folks.
The car will probably outlive me, despite the boy’s negativity.
I bought the car because it fits two cellos, a bicycle(though not at the same time) and amazingly, is 6 inches SHORTER than the Mercedes C300 which was previously in the garage…
Win win!

 

[draganm]

keep in mind the CVT service is not cheap, typically hundreds of dollars. Subaru america owners manual doesn't have it changed till 100k miles, which is nuts. subaru japan recomends every 30K. Front and rear diferential gear oil, every 40k to 50K miles is fine, use full synthetic

 

[HowAboutThat]

keep in mind the CVT service is not cheap, typically hundreds of dollars. Subaru america owners manual doesn't have it changed till 100k miles, which is nuts. subaru japan recomends every 30K. Front and rear diferential gear oil, every 40k to 50K miles is fine, use full synthetic

Based on what I’ve seen on YouTube, if you don’t have the right draining equipment, you can only replace half of it at a time, two changes only replace ~75% of the fluid, and the fluid itself is very expensive. I haven’t found anybody in my North Texas area who specializes in Subaru service, but the guy who worked on my Mercedes is brilliant, and he’s the guy who did my first oil change.
So it will be expensive, but I’d much rather spend $400 now than a few thousand ps in a few years… Especially because it would no longer be “a few,” thousands.
Replacing it at 12 K is just good preventative maintenance, because it gets rid of all those shavings that are produced by the transmission breaking in.
The dealership will do it at 36K and I think that will be fine.

 

[bmart]

I’m very surprised that even ChatGPT gives conflicting answers.

ChatGPT only gives conflicting answers. It is pulling from the Internet, a database that is 99% falsehoods.

 

[draganm]

Based on what I’ve seen on YouTube, if you don’t have the right draining equipment, you can only replace half of it at a time, two changes only replace ~75% of the fluid, and the fluid itself is very expensive.

correct, and true with any transmission.
Could be worse, i bought 6 quarts of cvt fluid for my wifes Acura at the dealer, basically the full box = $450.
it was a " can you do this for me, i already paid for it" . total scam