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Transmission failure/replacement 2018 C-HR XLE

72K views 213 replies 68 participants last post by  jenk13460 
#1 ·
FYI, the transmission in my 2018 C-HR XLE has failed and was replaced (under warranty) in February 2020 with just over 36,000 miles. First indication that something was wrong was hearing a whining noise coming from the front end. If anyone else is or has experienced this problem, please let me know. I'm getting some feedback that this might be a known flaw in this vehicle... Not happy.
 
#2 ·
Did the dealer say anything about what failed in the trans? The whining could be anything from the differential to the actual CVT belt.
 
#4 ·
So did they just replace the torque converter or the trans with the torque converter? If they replaced the torque converter with the trans, is the failure just the torque converter?
 
#5 ·
Good question that I did not ask. It was originally diagnosed with a faulty transmission (which was replaced) then, a week later (as it was still in the shop), they informed me that the torque convertor needed replaced as well. I was under the impression (google search) that if one goes bad, the other needs to be replaced as well due to metal shaving contamination. I am not mechanically inclined so I guess that I didn't know the right questions to ask...
 
#6 ·
Same thing just happened to us with our 2018 CH-R. Luckily we bought from a dealer that has a "free" lifetime powertrain warranty. My mechanic and friend diagnosed it and told me to take it to the dealership. 64k on it and the inspector is coming tomorrow to hopefully give them the go to replace it at the dealership. Fingers crossed. I'm a Toyota fan. I've had a 2nd generation supra, Scion Tc, Xb, and two Rav 4's. Currently we have a Rav4, Tc, and the CH-R. I really want to add a gx470 but if this isn't made right I will ditch toyota all together. The pursuit of fuel efficiency is going to tarnish the brand if they can't get these CVT's right. They just recalled the new Corolla's due to the similar transmission failure. The most ridiculously reliable/affordable toyota is now seeing trouble before getting out of the gate. Can't wait to see the problems the BMW motor will have in the Supra. It's really a bummer too because I'm nearly to the point where I will be able to afford a slightly used Supra. But yeah I'm not touching it with that motor.
 
#7 · (Edited)
The recall for the Corolla HB's CVT trans was not related to any issue with the design of the trans itself. It was a production issue which involved the torque converter. In addition, the trans used in the Corolla HB is not the same as our trans. It has a physical first gear which they refer to as the launch gear. I wouldn't draw parallels to that recall and what is happening here.

While it's disconcerting that there are two reported issues with the CVTs used in our cars, I would want to know what exactly is the issue. Plus two out of the thousands of trans' out in the wild isn't predictive of the overall reliability of these trans'.

On the BMW motor. Barring some unique design quirks of the B58 motor, I wouldn't be so quickly dismissive of it either. I have the previous generation N55 motor in my 2013 BMW 135i. Other than the annoying smaller issues, the car has yet to have left me stranded or has had any catastrophic failures in my 6 years of ownership with 97,500 miles on the clock. I also had the factory PPK tune done about a year into owning the car and then a couple of years later had the Dinan S2 tune done. The two repairs I did which are known issues on my N55 are the oil filter housing gasket (OFHG) and the electric water pump. The OFHG failed on my engine and started pissing oil all over the front and bottom of the engine. It's an annoying issue since the design is the same across the inline 6s (naturally aspirated or turbocharged) of that generation of motor: N51, N52, N54, N55, etc. The water pump was replaced proactively as it's known to go bad eventually and does so without warning which will put the engine in limp mode. I did mine at 75k. Some have pushed their water pumps to just over 100k before failure. But the B58 resolved the water pump issue because it uses a mechanical water pump now. Oh and BMW finally got a clue and added an oil dip stick back into the motor. The B58 has been proving to be a pretty stout motor as many tuners are getting some pretty good power numbers from it. Papadakis Racing who are known for their 2JZ motor builds has been neck deep into the B58 when the new Supra came out. There are Youtube videos they have where they've built out a 1000HP B58 motor. And the ZF trans being used with the B58 also seems to be pretty reliable.

Personally, if I was in the market for another sports car, I'd seriously consider the new Supra or the M2C. The Z4 is out of the running because I don't want a convertible.
 
#8 ·
I just got the call from my dealership today that my tranny and torque converter need to be replaced.

Brought it in 2 weeks ago for a weird humming/roaring noise coming from the front... my initial thought was CVT, but the head mechanic at my local dealership insisted it was a wheel bearing after taking it on a test drive with me. Mind you this visit was at 60,100mi, just barely out of warranty.

Fast forward to today, I take it in for oil change, tire rotation, and the wheel bearing.... currently sitting at 60,700mi. I get a call from the dealership a couple hours later stating that the tranny is going and it will need to be replaced along with the torque converter, but they are not sure if they would cover it under my freshly warranty or not.

Fast forward another hour. They call and say “good news, we got you some coverage under warranty, but we need to bring an appraiser in to take a look at things first. We will get back to you tomorrow or Friday.”

I’m a Toyota fan through and through, but I’ll likely be selling the car after they make the repair (which they better cover under warranty or I’m going to raise ****) and move onto something with a traditional auto trans. These CVTs just ain’t worth.
 
#9 ·
Wow. That sucks. I'd really want to know what exactly is failing on these transmissions.

As to finding a car in this class with no CVT, it's getting harder. The HR-V is a CVT. Mazda's CX3 does have a 6 speed auto.
 
#12 ·
The transmission is replaced at the same time as the torque converter because there is no available remanufactured tranny for the CHR available through Toyota. They sell the tranny with no torque inserted, you order the torque separate it will always be like this until a reman comes available. Not sure what's failing, sounds like bearing inside the transmission. I'm a service manager in Canada, we've done 3 so far all with 90km-106km.
Not good. Built in Turkey! Gwan!
 
#58 ·
The transmission is replaced at the same time as the torque converter because there is no available remanufactured tranny for the CHR available through Toyota. They sell the tranny with no torque inserted, you order the torque separate it will always be like this until a reman comes available. Not sure what's failing, sounds like bearing inside the transmission. I'm a service manager in Canada, we've done 3 so far all with 90km-106km.
Not good. Built in Turkey! Gwan!
After getting the bad news on my 3yr old CHR with only 71k miles I need a new transmission at $9k! WTH?! My last two Toyota's had 305k and $165k miles and just needed oil changes/tires...the Toyota mechanic then told me the CHR is made in Turkey with the crappiest metal for the motor/transmission hence the problem! Then the service guy told me whole pointing at the VIN plate.... Only buy a foreign car (Toyota, Honda, Nissan,Kia etc if it STARTS with a M or J...M is made in the USA and J is made in Japan.. He then said lean towards the J!
Does anyone happen to know if there is a Class Action suit?
 
#13 ·
Does anyone know what the cost is to replace the transmission and torque converter on our car? I just want to brace myself in case they won’t help me out at all... I am sitting at 80,810 miles and I have an appointment with South Toyota in Texas tomorrow morning! Fingers crossed, wish me luck lol 😂
 
#14 ·
Not to scare you. But based on the Toyota Parts website, the MSRP of the trans is $6500 and the torque converter is $970. I doubt you'll be paying full MSRP and there probably will be a factory refurb option. But it's going to beat up your wallet. Add to that around $100 to $130 an hour for labor. I'm taking a stab but I'm guessing about 6 hours of book time to do the job.
 
#15 ·
Thanks for the quick reply... So I’m looking at roughly $8250. 🤦🏻‍♂️ The car is less than 2 years old and if it were in perfect mechanical shape it would be worth $12,000... according to KBB. So we can pretty much call it totaled.
I can officially say this is the worst purchase I have ever made. Funny thing is I am driving my 2005 Toyota Tacoma right now and it has 290,000 miles on it with the original transmission & motor. I assumed the CHR was going to at least get me half of that. That’s what I get for thinking.
There is obviously a defect in these transmissions and I am certain we will start seeing a ton of CH-R’s start dropping like flies!
 
#95 ·
Thanks for the quick reply... So I’m looking at roughly $8250. 🤦🏻‍♂️ The car is less than 2 years old and if it were in perfect mechanical shape it would be worth $12,000... according to KBB. So we can pretty much call it totaled.
I can officially say this is the worst purchase I have ever made. Funny thing is I am driving my 2005 Toyota Tacoma right now and it has 290,000 miles on it with the original transmission & motor. I assumed the CHR was going to at least get me half of that. That’s what I get for thinking.
There is obviously a defect in these transmissions and I am certain we will start seeing a ton of CH-R’s start dropping like flies!
And this was my point with Toyota Canada, to sink another 10,000 into a 12 to16000 dollar car.
Bought new hoping that I wouldn't have any grief for at least 5 years. I have Toyota customers that have over 400,000 km and never so much as touched the transmissions.
My hope was that Toyota would at least have a better CVT than say....Ford.. Another lemon transmission.
 
#16 ·
I don't think it'll cost $8250. I think a Nissan CVT trans replacement runs around $4k or so.

I also don't know how wide spread this is. The C-HR has been on sale overseas since 2017 maybe 2016. I haven't heard of any widespread CVT failures. I would still like to see what exactly is failing in these trans. I saw a tear down of a Jatco CVT on Youtube taken off of a Pathfinder. Can't remember exactly, but I think it was a failure in the variable part of the pulley system causing binding which ultimately caused the steel belt to fail. There were pieces of the little metal ribs that make up the belt everywhere in the trans.
 
#17 ·
hi - unfortunately, I think I agree that this is a known problem that Toyota hasn't addressed properly. back early February I was driving home from Albany and experienced some sluggishness while driving and then the indicator on panel started to flash Abnormal Voltage...the indicator eventually went away that night and within a months time battery shut down 2x and just yesterday got it restarted and now car is "locked" all malfunction indicators are lit and the car will not MOVE. set into drive/reverse/neutral and it will simply not accelerate. I literally had to let the car "roll" into a safe spot. I felt yesterday the system failed and locked the transmission. will call toyota today and see what they say. Hope this helps.
 
#19 ·
I took in my 2019 CH-R to the dealership yesterday. I've been hearing a loud whistling sound over the past 3 weeks, since I took the car in for the 5,000 mile maintenance. At first, they said that a chirping sound was normal, but I urged them to look into it more because it is a WHISTLE when the car idles at a red light or when parking. Just got a call back and they said that it's the transmission... that they DON'T know what the problem is. However, they are replacing it (must be under warranty). Transmission problems at 5,000 miles? Seems a little crazy to me.
 
#20 ·
This is concerning. I've been noticing some strange "gear shifting" behaviors with my trans lately too. I guess I'll have to start paying close attention to the trans now. I'm at 26,200 miles on my 2019.
 
#25 ·
Hi, there - did you take a video of the whining noise? I have this noise in my 2018 CHR and have an appointment on Monday to have it checked out. I am printing out the reported replacements of the transmission and torque converter for the mechanic so he as see what I'm talking about. Toyota does not have a recall at this time on the transmission or torque convertor. I have 52,000 miles on my car and still under warranty plus I have the platinum warranty too.
 
#26 ·
Unfortunately, I did not record the "whining" noise. I had no idea that the sound indicated something as severe as a transmission failure so I didn't even consider it. I can only describe it as a high pitch noise whose pitch increased on acceleration. The noise was not present at idle. Hope this helps. What are the "reported replacements" that you are printing out? Is there a log out there that records this failure with our vehicle?
 
#27 ·
I'm going to record it. I am going to print out what people on here reported as there is no alerts lights or error codes in the car. I'm going to show the service manager what people with CHR whining noise are reporting that Toyota dealers are having to replace the transmission and the torque converter. My service manager called and said there is no recall on the transmissions or alert about this in the US.
 
#29 ·
Sorry to say but, that sounds about right. You're lucky, mine went out at 36,000 miles. I'm interested in hearing how the service manager deals with it...I'm thinking that we should report it to Toyota corporate marketing as well (800-331-4331). Might actually get a response from them if enuff people *****. I'm counting at least five individuals in this thread that state specifically that the tranny needs replaced. Considering the number of owners truly utilizing this site and the percentage of failures...It MAY indeed be a manufacturing defect that needs to be corrected.
 
#30 ·
Sorry to say but, that sounds about right. You're lucky, mine went out at 36,000 miles. I'm interested in hearing how the service manager deals with it...I'm thinking that we should report it to Toyota corporate marketing as well (800-331-4331). Might actually get a response from them if enuff people *. I'm counting at least five individuals in this thread that state specifically that the tranny needs replaced. Considering the number of owners truly utilizing this site and the percentage of failures...It MAY indeed be a manufacturing defect that needs to be corrected.
I agree. I will let you know what the service manager does.
 
#32 ·
Took my car to the dealer yesterday for roaring noise under the hood and car running at high rpms at HWY speed. First, the guys at reception were busy eating dry nuts and totally ignored the fact that a person was waiting to be served. When they did acknowledge and heard my complaint, they simply said if the RPMS are not touching the red bar then there's nothing wrong and CVT is functioning as it should. I came right out...will go to a different dealership and see if they're willing to actually take a look. My first new Toyota and the experience with the dealership/service so far has been very negative

Also, noticed that Lane Departure Alert no longer works as of yesterday.
 
#34 ·
Hey Tanveer0543!
Sounds like a different issue to me.
I had no problem with LDA that I noticed (maybe because the instrument panel was lit-up like a Christmas tree). And I certainly wouldn't describe the sound as a "roar". Very high pitched whine, frequency increasing with acceleration. I noticed the whine for, probably, 3, 000-4 000 miles before it became increasingly obvious.
Hope it's something else my friend, something that is not as significant as a transmission failure.
Let us know...
 
#74 ·
Took my 2018 C-HR to the dealer 82,094 and they said the transmission needs replaced and the dealer is not willing to help even though I took mine in around 50,238 for a whining noise under the hood and they said "diagnosed tires." Did you get the trans fixed then trade in or just trade in as is? Just wondering because I am trying to weigh my options
 
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