- Joined
- Jun 15, 2021
- Messages
- 191
Folks,
I have a 2009 Toyota Camry 4 cylinder with automatic transmission. It has 180,000 trouble free miles and used to be my wife’s daily driver before she got a newer car. It is now my winter car.
The transmission shifter was for the first 179,000 miles simply placed in “D” and the car was driven as a normal automatic transmission sedan… as I suppose most commuter cars are.
One can however manually move the shifter from “D” to “4” to “3” to “2” and even to “L”.
When I drove a manual transmission, I would always downshift when approaching interstate exits or stop signs, or slowing traffic… I believed it saved wear on the brakes to use the manual transmission to slow the car. But that was a true manual with a clutch.
My question is – given that the transmission has 180,000 miles on it – and to be truthful it is an automatic transmission with the “ability” to be shifted by hand… and I hurting it by doing so? I never exceed 3500 RPM, and never go lower than “3”, but I can drop from 70mph to 40mph exiting the interstate without braking.
I am most concerned about keeping the transmission happy for another 50K, and if I should leave the transmission in “D” and just use the brakes, I am willing to do so… however if downshifting is not hurting anything, I prefer to do that.
What says the brain trust? Thanks in advance!
I have a 2009 Toyota Camry 4 cylinder with automatic transmission. It has 180,000 trouble free miles and used to be my wife’s daily driver before she got a newer car. It is now my winter car.
The transmission shifter was for the first 179,000 miles simply placed in “D” and the car was driven as a normal automatic transmission sedan… as I suppose most commuter cars are.
One can however manually move the shifter from “D” to “4” to “3” to “2” and even to “L”.
When I drove a manual transmission, I would always downshift when approaching interstate exits or stop signs, or slowing traffic… I believed it saved wear on the brakes to use the manual transmission to slow the car. But that was a true manual with a clutch.
My question is – given that the transmission has 180,000 miles on it – and to be truthful it is an automatic transmission with the “ability” to be shifted by hand… and I hurting it by doing so? I never exceed 3500 RPM, and never go lower than “3”, but I can drop from 70mph to 40mph exiting the interstate without braking.
I am most concerned about keeping the transmission happy for another 50K, and if I should leave the transmission in “D” and just use the brakes, I am willing to do so… however if downshifting is not hurting anything, I prefer to do that.
What says the brain trust? Thanks in advance!