she knows about older stuff, i showed her this and said its basically the same

Except for one little distinction; The one pictured, you can actually fix. There are some acceptable CVTs on the market, but there is also some real junk. Google Nissan CVT problems.

A neighbor came to me asking for advice on what to do about their 2016 Versa. 68,000 miles and the CVT is buck-jumping bad. No shop will touch it and Nissan has no fix or transmissions available at this time either new or rebuilt. They asked about used trannies, but with the terrible record these trannies have, it seems a crap shoot as to whether they could actually get a good one. No remans aftermarket available either that have good reviews. Dealerships know of the problems and with a quick test drive, only offer salvage money for trade-in. Basically it's value is in it's nice body panels.

What a terrible situation for them to be in.

Bottom line: Do a lot of research on the particulars of the model(s) that may be on the sort list of considerations. Try to eliminate the junk which there is plenty of.

I worked with a guy in 1996 who had a Honduh with a CVT. It was in and out of the shop 5 or 6 times and they could never figure it out, so they replaced the trans. After the third trans in less than a year they just gave him a new car and took the old one back. He had to sign something that said he couldn't talk about it, but since he knew I was a car guy kept me apprised as it was going on. Gotta give Honduh kudo's for finally fessing up that they sold him junk, but it took them a year. I never did find out if the new car was any better as I transferred to a different job in the company shortly after he got it...

What does CVT stand for?
Cadillac Vehicle Transmission
AKA

I think it stands for Constant Velocity Transmission. We used these on jr dragsters. They worked great. They did need maintenance but were exposed so that was easy.

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most modern cars went to CVT to eek out a bit more mpg.
As stated above, the Nissans are the worst. Replacement is not economical. The trans shop I go to won' t touch them. Friend had a Nissan rogue. The CVT died at under 100K and I think the quote was like $12K to replace it, but it was not available.
They can be great - I had one on my RZR and it was a snap to change when it failed.

CVT = continuously variable transmission. Of which, Nissan is the worst! Nissan has a "Push belt" as opposed to a pull belt that most CVTs are. (when I say belt, it is actually steel and could be referred to as a chain, but isn't driven by a sprocket and barrel cog like a bike chain but rather by friction between sheave/clutch and belt.) such as the picture of the go cart/four wheeler previously posted.

Chrysler used one in the Caliber. Ex had one, never had any trouble with it, but got rid of it at 50K. Dealer calls them "snowmobile transmissions". They won't touch one.

I had one of those on a mini bike i had as a kid. It would break belts constantly. The old school term was torque converter clutch.

I have a buddy who buys Nissan Versas at auction and fixes them. They are cool little cars for running around town. A good second or third car, or a good car for a high school kid or a college kid. There are some fixes for the transmission. The factory kind of screwed up on the early ones but started to make fixes and some stuff can be retrofitted. I helped him with one project when I had my big shop, but I haven't worked on one for a couple of years now.

Like anything, depends on the usage.

City use, all bets on any transmission are off.

I have almost 400,000 miles on 2 Murano CVT's and have had zero issues. Nissan has well over 20 years with this transmission, continues to produce them, and show no signs of stopping, and I have no reason to question their commitment.

Unpopular opinion, but if a CVT could be made to stand up to diesel torque, it would be the ideal transmission instead of revving the [censored] off an engine designed for 1200 to 1800 rpm efficiency. 1400 rpm, 40 pounds of boost at all times would make Electric power in a diesel.

Your anecdotal experience with one transmission version has NO bearing on the durability of others. Here are what others are experiencing with other Nissan CVTs:

https://thelemonfirm.com/2022/12/27...t-nissan-for-the-cvt-transmission-defect

www.carparts.com/blog/why-the-nissan-cvt-is-quite-possibly-the-worst-transmission-ever-built

https://autorepairdenvercolorado.com/nissan-transmission-common-issues-encountered-with-the-cvt

www.nissanforums.com/threads/concerns-with-cvt-transmissions-in-all-nissans.277265/

www.quora.com/Why-has-Nissan-had-so-many-problems-with-their-CVT-transmissions

https://lemonlawexperts.com/are-nissan-cvt-transmissions-reliable-consumers-say-otherwise

www.apa.ca/en/update-on-the-nissan-cvt-class-action-in-quebec/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F1jKQY_wxA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwqcDNy9pnI

I agree with you, good list of citations.

I was skeptical on the CVT before I bought our '04 Murano new, but not anymore.

I wouldn't buy a used one that was used for city driving though. Either buy new or from someone you know that doesn't beat on their vehicles.

The key word is research.

Not all CVTs are junk no more than all are great.