“Sell it to Carvana and don’t tell them.”
A woman says her Toyota C-HR ran without a problem for years—then she learned its transmission was failing at just 72,000 miles.
Jasmine Simone (@im.jasminesimone) recently shared the repair quotes that left her warning other drivers to think twice before buying the same model.
Simone says she has owned her 2018 Toyota C-HR for five years and that it has been “driving great.”
Then, something changed. “I just found out the transmission was failing,” she says.
Simone says the car suddenly started getting louder when she accelerated, and her dad suggested taking it to a shop to find out what was going on.
The first shop gave her an answer: that she needed a $14,000 repair.
Thinking that sounded absurdly high, she went to a Toyota dealership for a second opinion. That quote was lower, but not by much. It was still $10,000, she says.
“If you’re considering getting a Toyota CHR,” Simone warns, “maybe consider other options.”
“This is a common issue,” she adds, noting that she researched widespread transmission problems with the C-HR. She also claims Toyota offered an extended warranty in Canada related to the issue, but that owners in the U.S. do not have the same coverage.
As of this writing, her video has just under 2,500 views.
Motor1 contacted story subjects. We’ll be sure to update this if they respond.
According to the Automobile Protection Association, Simone isn’t the only C-HR owner to run into transmission problems.
In Canada, Toyota extended warranty coverage for certain 2018 and 2019 C-HRs after reports of failures involving a defective bearing inside the continuously variable transmission, or CVT. The APA says the coverage lasts up to 10 years or 193,000 kilometers.
The group says it collected more than 60 reports of C-HR transmission failures, most involving 2018 and 2019 models (though many failures also involved 2020 models). Owners reported an average of about 118,000 kilometers when the transmission failed.
That number might be especially significant for Simone, who says her 2018 C-HR has 72,000 miles on it (or about 115,873 kilometers).
The warning signs also sound familiar. The APA says a failing bearing can cause a whining noise while accelerating or slowing down. And if it gets bad enough, the bearing can damage the transmission and leave the vehicle needing a full replacement.
Those replacements are not cheap. Before Toyota introduced the Canadian warranty extension, the APA says owners reported dealership quotes ranging from roughly $10,500 to $15,000.
That puts Simone’s $10,000 dealership estimate—and even the $14,000 quote she says she received elsewhere—in the same general ballpark.
The comments section quickly turned into a mix of sympathy, questions, and suggestions for what Simone should do next.
“Such low miles for that to happen,” one viewer wrote.
Another asked what many people were probably wondering: “Did you ever change the transmission fluid?”
“No, it’s supposed to have lifetime fluid, but maybe I should have lol,” Simone replied.
Others were already trying to figure out a workaround.
“If you’re really in Seattle, DM me. I got a mechanic for you. Do a tranny swap and then sell it. It’s that CVT transmission,” one commenter wrote.
Another took a more drastic approach.
“I’d go to a random [expletive] CarMax dealership and sell her. Then run and get something else lol,” they wrote.
Someone else suggested, “Trade it in and don’t mention this.”
One viewer joked that Simone could solve the warranty problem by leaving the country.
“Moving to Canada? Lol” they wrote.
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Simone replied.
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