Transmission --manual or automatic

rorybbellows · Post by **rorybbellows** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 1:38 pm

If you were buying a new car would you go for manual or automatic transmission??

RORY

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 1:54 pm

Depends on the car, warantee and if anyone else were to drive it.

Certainly an upscale/luxury car would have automatic transmission.
Sporty? manual
Extended warantee? automatic
Wife, girlfriend, kids, friends going to drive it? automatic.

Henke · Post by **Henke** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 2:05 pm

Seriously?! Manual of course. Automatic transmission is for sissies.

rorybbellows · Post by **rorybbellows** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 2:09 pm

And what would think are the advantages and disadvantages with either ??

RORY

I fancied buying an old merc .the roads here in kerry are crap and you need a heavy car and I,m getting to the age where I no longer want to drive fast ,I just want comfort

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 2:20 pm

I bought a new car, hmm..I guess about 3 months ago or so. I got a manual. They're cheaper

missy · Post by **missy** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 2:21 pm

depends on the kind of car, and what you will be driving.......

On most "new" cars, the difference between gas milage on manual vs. auto is almost non-existant. On quite a few cars, you can't even GET a manual transmission unless you special order the car (and, believe it or not, that includes Corvettes!!!!)

If you are going to be doing a LOT of stop and go city driving, or if you happen to get in gridlock a lot, a manual can be a real pain. On the other hand, it's a lot more fun to drive a manual, and some automatic tranmissions are geared in such weird ways that they seem to shift gears at all the wrong times.

Some cars, like certain Hyundais, have "shiftomatic" transmissions, they are automatics, but you can also shift between gears (and no clutch).

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 2:21 pm

Ah, if age factors in, automatic. I've had bad knees since I was a teen, and now that I'm nearly 40 I find manual transmissions and pushing in the clutch hurts my knees - bad enough sticks are no longer fun.

They are expensive to replace if they go bad, but many cars have nice long drive train warranties. On an older Merc., I'd have a transmission specialist give it a look over and let them drive it - they may not be able to tell you much, but they should be able to see or feel a problem that may not be obvious to the average driver.

Eric

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 2:35 pm

In the UK, Manual, unless you are immensely rich or physically disabled in some way. One of my sons's friend's mother got an automatic two or three years back. I can't tell you the trouble she has had with the machine. Actually, I can't tell you, because I've forgotten most of it. The most recent thing was that at Christmas she didn't like where she had put the car in the drive. She got in, started it up and moved it about three feet. BAD MISTAKE! I don't know the mechanics of it, but this is a BAD thing to do with an automatic. Whether it flooded it or what I don't know, but the next time she tried to move it wouldn't. At all. Four months later she's still got the manual "temporary" replacement. I think that's because she won't spring for the replacement engine or whatever is required.

I learned on a manual, as do most people in the UK. When I hired a car in the states, they didn't even ask, they just gave me an automatic. "What's this?" I thought. Where did the other pedal go? The mind understood, but the feet didn't. Every time I needed "to change gear" my foot would slip the clutch. Oops! Kangaroo petrol!

Mind you, I can sort of see the opposite point of view. Once upon a time I was driving a hired car in the Balearics and got this weird jeep type affair with the clutch and brake on a handle on the dashboard. You can drive one of these things quite a long way, and quite fast, with the brakes full on. The burning smell should give it away, but that's just one of the things you have to get used to.

Maybe I should just stay away from cars. I try to.

Henke · Post by **Henke** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 2:52 pm

Auotomatic is more expensive. You'll also have lots of trouble with it. It's a thing that just breaks. Automatic gearboxes don't last very long. It's a fact (well, there are exceptions, but don't count on it).
With a manual you'll have more control, at least I love control. Driving an automatic transmission is like being fed food at a restaurant. It can be comfortable, yes. But you can't really control the size of the bites or the frequency you get them, and sooner or later the guy feeding you is going to plant the fork in your lip. That's just the way it is.
Driving manual is not really that hard, it's way more fun, and you won't have to worry about your gearbox breaking down.

Wormdiet · Post by **Wormdiet** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 3:09 pm

NEITHER.

Continuously Variable Transmission!

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 3:19 pm

I don't know where people are getting the idea that automatic transmissions are problematic (maybe European automatics are!), but I currently have two cars with automatic transmissions, and neither has ever given me a moment's trouble (both have more than 100,000 miles on the odometer). My first car was also an automatic, and had 112,000 on the odometer when I sold it, and never a bit of trouble with the tranny. With manuals, on the other hand, we've always had to replace the clutch at least once...usually more than that...during the life of the car. And, by the way, a car not starting has nothing to do with the tranny...that's going to be a starter or fuel delivery problem. If it's a matter of the car not going into gear, that's another story (often related to the shifter cable, which can break in either type of car).

What it really comes down to is how much you want to spend initially (automatics are usually more expensive up front), how you like to drive (people who prefer manuals usually prefer to have more direct control of the car's engine...they like to be able to fine tune the shifting to get the most power or economy from the engine), and whether or not you have a disability that would make shifting problematic (for example, with my arthritic left knee, it's really difficult for me to operate a clutch these days). I also recommend an automatic if you live in a seriously hilly area...it gets very tiring having to coordinate clutch, accelerator and parking brake in steep areas (and it's guaranteed to be hard on the clutch!). Manuals are also less of a good idea if you regularly drive in heavy, stop-and-go traffic, which can cause the clutch to heat up very quickly. Other than those caveats, it really comes down to personal preference.

I should add that all my automatic transmission cars have been American-made vehicles (a Lincoln, a Ford, a Chevy and a Pontiac, to be precise)...it's possible that European auto makers have never gotten the hang of making a good automatic transmission.

Redwolf

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 3:19 pm

I must say that while I'm driving a manual now, I drove an automatic chevy cavalier Z24 for 7 years, and never had a problem with the transmission.

missy · Post by **missy** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 3:47 pm

I've driven - all with automatic:
1966 Chevy Nova (300,000 mile)
1974 Chevy Nova (100,000 last time I saw it)
1979 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup (90,000 )
1980 Chevy Citation (got creamed at 70,000)
1986 Chevy Nova (which was really a Toyota Corolla with a Fisher Body) (got creamed at 90,000)
1991 Dodge Caravan (don't know the milage)
1998 Pontiac Grand Am (which is my current car - 80,000)

And Tom has a 1996 Ford Contour (100,000)
And we have a 1992 GMC conversion van. (140,000)

The ONLY vehicle that has had transmission problems was the 1991 Caravan. It broke a tooth off of reverse, before the van had 10,000 miles on it. The repair was covered under warrenty, and it never had another transmission problem up to when my ex sold it last year.

************
Another reason to get an automatic vs. a manual is if you are going to do ANY towing (and, of course, get rear wheel drive). Towing is hell on a clutch.

chas · Post by **chas** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:58 pm

missy wrote:On most "new" cars, the difference between gas milage on manual vs. auto is almost non-existant. On quite a few cars, you can't even GET a manual transmission unless you special order the car (and, believe it or not, that includes Corvettes!!!!)

One of my pet peeves with life in the US. I have a 1999 Subaru Outback. It had just arrived on the lot when I test drove it. The salesman said they kept asking for more manuals, but the company wouldn't send them. She said they always sell them immediately. I bought that one before it had even been washed. Not only that when we went to drive it away, there was a couple sitting in it saying THEY wanted it; didn't want to wait weeks till another stick Outback came in.

Jayhawk wrote:Ah, if age factors in, automatic. I've had bad knees since I was a teen, and now that I'm nearly 40 I find manual transmissions and pushing in the clutch hurts my knees - bad enough sticks are no longer fun.

I use the clutch as a bellwether. When I have trouble pushing the clutch in, it's time to see the orthopedist. Actually, the time I wished I had an automatic wasn't after knee surgery, it was after shoulder surgery. I was in a shoulder sling for three weeks; it was possible to steer a little bit with the bad arm after a couple weeks, but it was absolutely no go for two weeks.

chrisoff · Post by **chrisoff** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:28 pm

manual, because we have corners over here. you just don't get the same feeling with an automatic when you can't drop a gear coming out of the bend and tear off.

I got given an automatic courtesy car once and it was horrible.