CrunchyCajun

My 7A went out at 50,000 miles replaced under warranty. Nissan designed this unit to not be serviceable and claimed it was designed to last the life of the vehicle with the original fluid. The service director told me that they can't open the transmissions for repair, they can only change the fluid or replace the entire unit. The part costs $9,740, the lowest price I have seen is $8,045. Installation a couple grand more.

Nissan was astonishingly stupid and short sighted with the design and strategy regarding the transmission. The heads are the same way. When you look at it through that lens, it isn't hard to imagine maybe they are also wrong about the differentials, better to be proactive with the rear diff.

Interestingly, when I picked up the car the service director came out and launched into what sounded like a well rehearsed speech in defense of Nissan transmissions, saying that there are very, very few failures and that the 7A and the CVT are getting an undeservedly bad rap. I have read otherwise about both.