Hi everybody!
I'm posting in the hopes someone can shed some light and maybe help me out. I've read other threads about the CVT but didn't find anything that would be applicable to my situation. If I missed something, please let me know, I appreciate it!
For background: I bought my 2013 Nissan Versa SV w/ CVT on March 30, 2013 from Downtown Nashville Nissan. I purchased the car mainly because of the great fuel economy and generous leg room (appreciated because of my long legs). I drive a lot to jobs outside of town for rehearsals and concerts; really enjoy the excellent fuel economy it gives. Everything was cool till this past week when I was driving the car back from the Chattanooga area to Nashville. I've driven the route many times before and I could feel the car driving/working harder and having to attain higher RPMs than usual to accelerate at certain hills and winding sections. In addition, the car felt like it was skipping gears while shifting. Lastly, at random times the car will fluctuate/rev engine for no reason. The driving harder/shifting irregularities and the random fluctuating have occurred since the trip back that day, so I don't think it can be attributed (or at least completely) to something that the car was being affected by that specific journey.
I took the car to Downtown Nissan last week and their service department said everything looked "perfect". I explained beforehand exactly what had been happening and they said they couldn't find anything. Since last week, these behaviors have continued and I proceeded to take the car to another Nissan dealership, this time to Nissan of Rivergate, a bit of a drive from me but apparently the top-rated Nissan service department in the state. They also said they couldn't find anything wrong and that no codes were being brought up. I then spoke to the service manager and we ended up going for a drive. On the drive, he didn't see/feel anything out of the ordinary.
I'm frustrated for a few reasons. First, previous to this car, I owned a Corolla which was a lemon and brought me neverending headaches with EVAP issues. Now, already at only 16,000 miles, I'm having trouble with the Versa. The manager told me on the drive that it was very possible that the problems I faced on the drive back from Chattanooga were because at hot temperatures the Versa's CVT will limit itself on how many gears it will use until it cools down. He also said that if you take your car to a non-Nissan place for oil change and they top off your fluids, it's possible that they top off your transmission fluid and that this will wreck havoc on the drivability of the car because of the precise amount needed/allowed due to how expansion occurs when car heats up.
I'm sorry this ended up being a book, but if you made it down here, I really appreciate it and will listen to any advice or anecdotes. Thank you in advance!
