I'm talking about a car that is like, a normal car. Not a sports car, not a classic car, I'm talking about a regular, practical, modern car for just driving around anywhere.
I would, personally, get myself a 2020-2022 Nissan Versa. It's one of the few sedans on Brazil that has a 1.6 liter engine, and while the fact it has a CVT is kind of crummy I just really like how it looks and all the bells and whistles it comes with. And since I'm in Brazil, we get a dark blue version that looks amazing!
CVT was invented for Formula 1 racing, literally the pinnacle of auto racing and extreme performance...
It's was banned because it was too efficient. It allowed the engine to operate at peak efficiency at any rpm and any speed. If it wasn't outlawed it would have been the end of shifting and manual transmissions at the highest level of racing
The problem average people have with it, is they first experienced it in the Prius where it was programmed to maximize fuel efficiency no matter what.
So don't write a car off just because it has a CVT, lots of performance cars have them. And it should be relatively easy to get the programming changed to make it feel sportier or be more fuel efficient. Lots just have a button these days that do it on the fly.
F1 cars aren't exactly the paragon of long term reliability and ease of maintenance though. Most people need a vehicle to metaphorically finish a marathon, not get first place in a single sprint.
The only negative thing I am aware of with CVTs is that they are not nearly as reliable long term and are a pain to work on when they have issues. Kind of like rotary engines, they might be completely awesome in specific use cases but aren't great for long term reliability.
I've heard that Brazilian mechanics hate working with CVTs because they're a pain in the ass to fix and/or have tons of issues, so I'm probably basing my opinion off that. Keep in mind that we over here have a majority of transmissions be manual and relatively simpler so they're less expensive and/or difficult to fix. I guess it's just a question of taking care of it properly?
I googled it and apparently the Versa's are exceptionally bad...
But other companies make better ones. Same as with manual/automatic, they're not all equally reliable.
Yes, for now, always write off Nissan CVTs.