Jump to content

Is an auto a better bet than a manual for the budget conscious motorist?


stripped fred

Recommended Posts

Having now owned my first auto car in the sharan I bought recently I'm quite a convert. It got me thinking, does an auto make sense financially due to the lack of a clutch and dmf (on a modern)? A lot of manual cars I've owned have needed a clutch at some point and as i'm unable to change this myself it can cost quite a bit. Also, is there an argument for the engine being under less stress due to the smoother nature of the changes? This night all be b_____s but thought I'd just put it out there. I know you lose a bit in terms of economy and if the auto box itself starts playing up then it's game over as they're costly to fix but assuming it behaves itself am I onto something?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm fast becoming an auto lover. Never thought I would. Auto gearboxes can go wrong, sometimes very badly and very expensively - especially post-2000 ones. Ask some Volvo owners...

 

Mind you, manual gearboxes can fail, and they do, as you say, also have clutches to wear out, gear selectors, sometimes DMFs too.

 

In conclusion, swings and roundabouts. Actually given fluid changes, I think most pre-2000 auto boxes are pretty reliable. But, people just don't bother, then wonder why the drive has gone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having now owned my first auto car in the sharan I bought recently I'm quite a convert. It got me thinking, does an auto make sense financially due to the lack of a clutch and dmf (on a modern)? A lot of manual cars I've owned have needed a clutch at some point and as i'm unable to change this myself it can cost quite a bit. Also, is there an argument for the engine being under less stress due to the smoother nature of the changes? This night all be b_____s but thought I'd just put it out there. I know you lose a bit in terms of economy and if the auto box itself starts playing up then it's game over as they're costly to fix but assuming it behaves itself am I onto something?

YES. Yes it does.

 

A proper oily propeller type auto though, not one of them electrically-operated manual jobs. They're shit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Swings and roundabouts, as said above, but I'm firmly on the side of the auto box, and preferably an old RWD one.  You only have to look at my signature.  All the cars currently listed are auto, even the Blob.  Yes if the box goes wrong it's deep shit financially, but so is any major failure on my cars, and lots of less-major failures too!  To me, the benefits outweigh any possible risks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Clutch changes aren't cheap (unless you like being pinned to a concrete floor by a ruddy great gearbox)....I reckon I have spent far more on clutches than I ever have on auto box problems.   In 14 years of budget Merc autoshiting its only cost me an inhibitor switch.   Across 4 cars.   Wouldn't piss on a modern one, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree with the above, autoboxes rarely shit themselves, and can be swapped out for second hand ones usually, at much less than the equivalent clutch change in the rare occasion they let go.

 

I am a huge fan, especially in larger vehicles, completely changes the driving experience of a motorhome etc :-D

 

All those captains of industry drive luxury autobox equipped motors, for very good reasons, and if you drive them properly they can shift and are a hoot as well 8)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love autos and will have another after the c2. Wouldn't recommend a smaller engine in a larger car though. The 1.6 in the vectra wasn't too bad but the 1.6 in the focus auto did like a drink and didn't really move. The kia carens was a 1.8 and really need a shove to get going. The volvo 440 wasn't too bad being a 1.7 but damn it was thirsty. A 2.0 or larger I reckon us needed with a petrol engine. Folk I've spoke to with larger engines nearly always have bettered my mpg bar the vectra B I had. Volvo and kia were both low 20s,focus was mid-high 20s.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 if you drive them properly they can shift and are a hoot as well 8)

Let me just say here: Bullitt.  You don't imagine that "rental" Charger was manual, do you?  And that certainly shifted!

I'll add to that: just about any Hollywood chase scene you care to name.

 

Also: the General Public is suspicious of autos, which keeps prices down on the "used" market, although not by a whole lot.  But every little helps.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah it's definitely a replace rather than repair situation if they shit themselves, rebuilds are heinously expensive. I've got a known* good* replacement standing by for mine which I picked it up for £50 on an unspecified internet auction site. Probably be borked if I ever have to put it in, but also by having it it lessens the probability of the original dying.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the real world, my experience is that out on open roads, an auto doesn't necessarily drink more juice, even without a torque converter lock up. Around town, where you get most advantage, the difference seems more noticeable, perhaps because you're always fighting forward propulsion with the brakes. Depends on the gearbox too. Good autos allow you to use the engine's torque and keep the revs low. Both my Honda and the Jag do this unless you cane them. Some autos kick down far too readily though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another yes for autos, especially if you spend a lot of time in city / stop-start driving, using neutral for long waits does save fuel. I have had one auto box fail, at 300,000 km and mostly because it was not properly serviced. That was replaced by a second hand one and that outlasted the car. Manual gearboxes are very much outdated technology . I was surprised to see so many manual cars in uk a few years ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I certainly hold a proper auto in higher regard than I used to. They don't suit all cars/situations/drivers/engines and I suspect that you always lose a bit of fuel economy over a manual on a like for like basis. And I've not had the pleasure of one crapping out on me yet, and I'd rather not so I'm trying to get to grips with the black art of fluid level measurement, and regular fluid and filter changes. But the slush box/3.3l V6 combination in the voyager is a joy to drive and I ignore its mpg. Even the driving school Corsa C 1.4 auto is alright to drive, but again not as frugal as a manual.

As for cvts, I have no experience of them. But Mrs CW does, and she will do anything to avoid repeating it, judging them to be dangerous in an underpowered modern when you need to blast off the end of a slip road and it goes all nanny state on you.

 

Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a massive convert to automatics over the last 6 years; I never thought i'd say it but i've owned 11 autos in that time, proper torque converter types. The 5 speed job in my Charger is considered an antique but it's a bloody lovely box.

 

The only problem i've ever had is when the shifter cable came off the shift handle in a Pathfinder and left the car without drive but that was easily sorted.

 

Manuals seem like some sort of weird anachronism that Brits remain obsessed with.

 

Wouldn't ever have one of these modern DSG things though. They're awful to drive

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd like to go Auto after trying a few here and there but I do struggle to overcome the suspiciousness previously mentioned. It would have to be an old school Auto, not some robotised piece of shit.

 

Driving the rental C4 Cactus last week, id be controlling the speed with the cruise +/- but then having to change gears to suite. That really needed an Auto 'box.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wouldn't ever have one of these modern DSG things though. They're awful to drive

 

I disagree, all the dsg equipped cars I have driven have been fantastic, (Golf R32, Passat TDI, Golf TSFI, Polo tdi) and I really rate them, I'm just not brave enough to dip my toe into the muddy waters of £2k dsg equipped cars just yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...