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CVT is about as reliable as any other automatic transmission. Most last well over 150k miles. They do seem to be sensitive to the fluid in them, so making sure to change transmission fluid on a regular basis (per the owner's manual) is important.

its the exact same CVT found in many nissans/toyotas/mitsubishi's.
 
i needed new CVT at around 155k miles, on my 2007,
mine was covered without issues and $0 charge under my lifetime power train warranty
most jeeps come with 5 yr 100k mile power train warranty, unless you purchased an additional warranty
 
My CVT has never given me any trouble in five years and nearly 70k miles. I wouldn't recommend a Patriot with anything else, especially with that accursed 6-spd available these days.
 
I might be getting a new CVT within a few months. @42k miles at the moment and the dealer has been trying to get data for the last year on why I have a jerk. They won't say what it is but the top guess is a groove. I've been fairly rough on the Pat but it was the best driving vehicle before 2 Septembers ago. Rosso might try to kill me but I'd go with the 6spd if you're not getting a FD2. At least they all have 100k mi warranty.

The CVT is awfully nice though when merging onto 70+mph freeways. No jerky downshift just ramp it up to 4k rpm and away you go.
 
What problems are folks having with the 6 speed? I've driven one for about 4 hours(company car business trip) and I liked it. My sons Pat has 6 speed too and before he purchased it I looked on here and other sites and didn't find any issues.
 
It's not so much that there's problems, as much as the CVT works just fine for what the Patriot is, and only needs retuned(and a better cooler) for more power. There was absolutely no reason to release the 6-spd. The Patriot's entire ultramultipurpose reputation was built with the CVT, and changing it is like an insult to those of us that love the CVT so much. That's how I see it anyways.
 
Rosso, I can think of any number of things that were "perfectly serviceable" that have been replaced by an improved solution. DVD - Blu-ray, for example. It doesn't mean that the former was a failure, only that another option presented itself. I think the increased sales indicate that consumers prefer the 6-speed. That's Capitalism. The market is speaking. That being said, the CVT is perfectly serviceable. My only complaint about it is sluggishness off the line which I don't have to deal with in the 6-speed. Getting out into traffic with the CVT is sometimes a nerve wracking experience.
 
Not if you do it right, and all Chrysler had to do is tune the CVT. They're just too lazy to properly set up the option that belongs in the Patriot.
 
the reason the cvt lags on initial takeoff is because it has some sort of anti-vibration crap in it. basically it's a necessity so you don't ruin the belt. It's weird at first, but you learn the lag and forget about it pretty quickly.
 
You have to trick the computer into going faster. If you go straight to the floor it lags you have to find the sweet spot and then once you've gained some speed floor it to take off. I would prefer the 6 speed as it has a much better ratio than the cvt. Jatco does have CVTs that have better ratios but Jeep went cheap... Lol
 
The 2015 FD1 my wife and I tried to buy had the 6 speed and it felt pretty good. Not overly impressive but my main observation was that it was a little quicker on your throttle input response. I think the CVT in autostick mode is faster though for the most part, but my '13 is FWD after all which probably helps it seem quicker.
 
I've noticed lately mine's a bit more touchy in autostick mode, but it's probably designed to glide a bit in normal mode in an attempt to save fuel. Might seem sluggish, but maybe it's just using the computer stuff to be as economical as it can possibly be under the given driving habits. Everybody having learned to drive conventional trannys makes it hard to learn that, but it's not so much bad as just a little different.
 
My CVT died at 110,000. I wasn't happy about that, but it was completely covered by the lifetime warranty. Thanks Fiat/Chrysler! I really like the CVT because it delivers the best of both worlds: its an automatic when I want it to be, and I can use autostick like a manual in the snow. I'd buy another CVT. I'm at 170,000 now; no problems since.
 
The thing I don't get is that CVTs are supposed to be capable of much larger ranges in smaller packages than conventional automatics as well as more reliable, and handle almost the same amount of power. It seems Jeep went with some leftover, outdated inventory or something as this CVT is just meh. Based purely on numbers the new 6 spd beats it everywhere.
 
The thing I don't get is that CVTs are supposed to be capable of much larger ranges in smaller packages than conventional automatics as well as more reliable, and handle almost the same amount of power. It seems Jeep went with some leftover, outdated inventory or something as this CVT is just meh. Based purely on numbers the new 6 spd beats it everywhere.
Do you know what's funny? my parents suzuki kizashi has the exact same CVT, and a 2.4l engine (looking at it, it looks almost the same as the patriot engine, but puts out another 7 or 8hp). and that is a totally different animal. Smooth, accelerates hard, fast off the line, no jerks, etc. Everything most people complain about the cvt in the patriot doesn't exist in the kizashi. Theirs has 75k miles on it without a single issue. I think if jeep had been more committed to it, they could have given a better performance out of the cvt. Better programming probably.
 
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