Man I hate automatics

[redhat]

This is somewhat stemming from having to recently drain, filter and fill the Impala's 4T65E, I am soon reminded why I choose a M/T Accord.

Every so often, maybe it be when I've been doing a lot of stop and go traffic or just get tired of rowing through the gears I start to think how an automatic would be nice. But the hunting to fix potential problems can be such a pain. I don't think the luxury of not having to shift is worth it.

Sure I may have to replace a clutch or do a MTF change here and there, but for the most part I don't have to worry. I just don't have to worry. This all provided you are indeed a good M/T driver and don't ride your clutch (which I don't). Just less to go wrong, I can hold 3rd gear at 3-4k going up a grade and have plenty of power. Not worry that I'm overheating the trans. or that its going to up or down shift by my throttle pressure. I can have so much more fun.

That is all, just a rant. I guess I just hate automatic transmissions. Now I need to teach my GF how to drive stick and convince her.

The truly sad part though is that the M/T is being offered less and less. Big kudos to Honda for still keeping a 6-speed M/T in the LX, Sport, EX and V6 coupes.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Auto's aren't that bad. I was in the same boat as you and the only cars I'd ever purchase were manuals.

Since moving to one of the highest traffic areas in Canada, I can FINALLY appreciate an auto. Far less stressful, and as long as you keep up on fluid changes. IMHO there's really no reason why the trans shouldn't last at least 150k miles

In terms of complexity, they really aren't that bad. I;m not sure what problems you are referring to

Originally Posted By: redhat
This is somewhat stemming from having to recently drain, filter and fill the Impala's 4T65E, I am soon reminded why I choose a M/T Accord.


why dont' you simply do a few fluid extractions. Far simpler and kinda fun if you have the right extractor

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: redhat
This is somewhat stemming from having to recently drain, filter and fill the Impala's 4T65E, I am soon reminded why I choose a M/T Accord.


You're driving the wrong automatic.

4-speed autos aren't as nice as 5- and 6-speed units already, and (flame suit donned) I find that "domestic-branded" automatic transmissions have very inflexible shift schedule programming.

I think you'd find an equally dramatic difference in your two cars if the Accord had an A/T.

 

[Kira]

Hello, I agree with what you posted. What you say goes multi-fold for used cars. When I was first driving many girls would only buy a used car with a manual transmission for fear of "buying someone else's problem"-and it wasn't the radiator they were concerned with. You cannot at all count on car owners to maintain their automatics.

Dopey, moron people don't even change their car's oil.

What is undeniable is that a working automatic transmission does its job quite well. They're easier on the drivetrain, leave the driver more able to concentrate on the road and, when all is going well, require minimal maintenance. Automatics are not garbage out of the chute all the time. Some are.

When they hiccough or begin to slip internally or are not well designed in the first place, you have something big on your mind all the time. That some of them last over 150K is too narrow a data set to stitch onto a flag.

I passed on a manual version of my current car. I cuss myself over it every darned day. It was IN MY HANDS! Kira

 

[redhat]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd

You're driving the wrong automatic.

4-speed autos aren't as nice as 5- and 6-speed units already, and (flame suit donned) I find that "domestic-branded" automatic transmissions have very inflexible shift schedule programming.


I couldn't agree more. Now that you mention that I will agree that the 6-speed auto in the Honda's seems to shift quick and nice. Not a big fan of the 6-speed A/T in the new Impala either.

 

[andrewg]

I have loads of traffic where I live....most of the time. For fun, a sporty car with a manual is still enjoyable on weekends. But commuting and every day driving? I'll take an auto. Just regular fluid changes for me using a simple pump. In my Focus the manual doesn't even call for a filter change more than about twice in it's entire life. So all I do is pump and replace the fluid (3 quarts worth) every oil change. My Honda Ridgeline is just a simple drain and refill. No hassle.

 

[redhat]

Originally Posted By: Lolvoguy
Auto's aren't that bad. I was in the same boat as you and the only cars I'd ever purchase were manuals.

Since moving to one of the highest traffic areas in Canada, I can FINALLY appreciate an auto. Far less stressful, and as long as you keep up on fluid changes. IMHO there's really no reason why the trans shouldn't last at least 150k miles

In terms of complexity, they really aren't that bad. I;m not sure what problems you are referring to


The '11 Impala we have was slipping at inital take off then banging into gear. The car has 72k and we bough it with 65k -- trans. fluid and filter was suppoed to be fresh as of purchase. I found out this probably wasn't the case. GM specifies 100k for normal and 50k for severe trans. service. I went ahead and did the filter and fluid and the trans. shifts a lot better. It hasn't banged into gear yet, but I am not 100% sure the problem is gone. It may come back for all I know but at the very least it is shifting better. Will be taking it to the dealer next Tuesday for them to look it over/plug it in. I'm curious of there are any codes on it.

So any rate, I just hate this screwing around.

 

[eljefino]

I buy used and cheap and am indifferent about transmission.

I like a good 4 speed auto. The 4T45E 4-speed in my HHR with drive-by-wire does a nice speedy shift about where I'd want it to. It cuts engine power mid-shift and I'm hopeful for added durability on this alone. I did a pan drop/ filter change and it looked great in there with 135k (unknown maintenance.)

I even had a 97 taurus with fifty problems but the transmission wasn't one of them. It even had a huge dent in the pan!

My saturn OTOH has worn off its 1st and 2nd synchros so I need three feet to drive it. Fun, except on I-93 in Boston.

 

[IndyIan]

I respect the 3spd auto in the Neon, it took crazy abuse for some trackdays, WO up and down shifts for 30 minutes at a time and never blinked... Seems it had enough cooling to keep the fluid at reasonable temps as it never changed colour for the 110,000 miles I ran it, and it could have been the orginal fluid for all I know... You could brake torque quite a bit on the starts for autocross and 1st was high enough to run most courses here. If all autos were that solid, no one would complain about them.
If I have a choice though, I'll get a manual, the Neon would be much more fun with a proper manual, and I have nearly no stops at all on my way to work. But if I did have an hour a day of 0-15-0 mph, I'd probably get an auto too.

 

[domer10]

Does not concern me, never had a transmission problem in my life. Take care of it, it takes care of you.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I like some automatic transmissions. I generally like Honda automatics because of the way they work and feel. I also like my AW-4. It does some strange things and saps power, but I don't have to worry about it failing.

I hate the manual transmission my Focus as much as I love driving manual.

When NYS DOT decides to close the main thoroughfare in the City for 3 months straight, I do find myself driving the Cherokee a lot more to deal with the traffic jams.

Originally Posted By: domer10
Does not concern me, never had a transmission problem in my life. Take care of it, it takes care of you.


I am trying to convince my parents that they NEED to change their transmission fluid in their Escape.

 

[redhat]

Originally Posted By: domer10
Take care of it, it takes care of you.


And I always do take care of them, however, sometimes it's inevitable.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: redhat
Now that you mention that I will agree that the 6-speed auto in the Honda's seems to shift quick and nice. Not a big fan of the 6-speed A/T in the new Impala either.


I haven't driven a new 6-speed from Honda yet; both of ours have 5-speeds. My folks are buying a new MDX in the next month and it has the 6-speed and I'm interested in trying it.

We have a Malibu and an Equinox at work with GM's 6-speed and I'm sure that they're fine mechanically but the programming is so inflexible. I won't call it "bad" because that's subjective, but it's biased to economy almost to the exclusion of everything else.

My 2011 Camry had a 6-speed and the shift programming was quite good. It had an overly aggressive TCC engagement schedule, though, which really dampened response. But it had a +/- shifter which offered full control to the driver.

I'm kind of hard to please when it comes to transmissions; I'll end with saying simply that some are much better than others.

 

[supton]

I hear you.

A few years ago I had to get a rental, as the Jetta was in the shop. Kia of some sort, the small one. The 4spd auto actually was fine. What was annoying was the fact you really had to hold the brake down at a stoplight! Didn't have to drive far before my right foot was starting to hurt. Was so glad to get out of that thing. Even now with my truck every once in a while I will look away and then come back, and my truck is rolling forward.

I'd be flipping mad to have a trans die on me at 150kmiles. I wasn't happy about doing a clutch (due to a bad flywheel) at 249k, and that did not involve rebuilding an expensive component with eighteen million parts.

Now when I drive my truck all I do is watch the ATF gauge. And listen to make sure the convertor is locked up. And at least once/drive it seems I'm "fighting" the trans, as it will unlock on a hill. Driving an automatic is more stressful than a stick.

Never mind the fact that it won't stay in gear... Any other vehicle I've ever had, if I wanted to give half or more throttle at 60mph, would stay in gear and pull properly w/o banging off a rev limiter. And every other vehicle I've had would easily pull EPA highway miles w/o me having to hypermile.

Although: this morning I nearly got "kissed" by a semi who couldn't stay in lane. WOT and I guess it was nice that the truck dropped 2 (3?) gears and got out of Dodge. Have to admit, it dropped those gears faster than I could have shifted. [Then again, if it was a proper turbo diesel it wouldn't have needed to.]

 

[Chris142]

i refuse to own an auto trans! im holding out as long as i can. took me a year to find my pickup.it has a warner t19.

 

[rjundi]

Honda's are drain/fill and quite simple to replace AT transmission fluid. I own a 07 MDX and my mechanic charged me $15 for change when I provided the fluid.

I like manual in fun to drive vehicles but automatic is great in things like pickup truck, minivan and SUV's I have driven manual in the past. Yes I have driven a manual minivan, the Caravan turbo but I think my then high school girlfriend and her sisters demolished the gears.

 

[mongo161]

When I purchased my 97 T4Runner SR5 new, back in the day, a manual transmission T4R could not be found in my market area. Seems like you have to be in right market, most of the time, to find a MT vehicle. If and When I purchase another vehicle, I'll make sure to search outside of the NYC area. Out West in New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Utah there are plenty of standard transmission vehicles on the road.

IMO...With the proliferation of cell phone and texting in use today, the need decision has dried up. Unfortunately, texting and gabbing on cell phones, while driving, has brought about this "dangerous bad habit". Another reason that has caused a drop in demand for manual transmission vehicles since it is impossible to text, gab on the phone and drive a manual transmission vehicle. Another is today's youth refusing to drive manual vehicles, the availability of manual transmission vehicles will not improve in the future.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: redhat
Now that you mention that I will agree that the 6-speed auto in the Honda's seems to shift quick and nice. Not a big fan of the 6-speed A/T in the new Impala either.


I haven't driven a new 6-speed from Honda yet; both of ours have 5-speeds. My folks are buying a new MDX in the next month and it has the 6-speed and I'm interested in trying it.

We have a Malibu and an Equinox at work with GM's 6-speed and I'm sure that they're fine mechanically but the programming is so inflexible. I won't call it "bad" because that's subjective, but it's biased to economy almost to the exclusion of everything else.

My 2011 Camry had a 6-speed and the shift programming was quite good. It had an overly aggressive TCC engagement schedule, though, which really dampened response. But it had a +/- shifter which offered full control to the driver.

I'm kind of hard to please when it comes to transmissions; I'll end with saying simply that some are much better than others.


I have a good amount of wheel time behind an Accord with the 5A. It's actually quite nice.

I drive much lighter than the owner of the car and I think that confuses it.

It starts out in 1st gear, shifts to 2nd, shifts to 3rd, locks torque converter, unlocks torque converter, locks torque converter, shifts to 4th then to 5th.

I like how it pretty much always had the torque converter locked all the time under acceleration (better fuel economy) and the "grade logic" feature.

I did get to drive the car on a trip last year and got 30MPG out of it! Not too bad considering it's a pretty heavy, v6 car with 240HP.

Still probably one of the best all around cars I have driven. Better than the 8th and 9th generation, IMO. If it weren't for timing belt on V6 models, I'd strongly consider importing a 06/07 V6 accord for a nice daily driver.

*importing meaning buying one from outside of the rust belt.

 

[redhat]

Originally Posted By: supton
I hear you.

A few years ago I had to get a rental, as the Jetta was in the shop. Kia of some sort, the small one. The 4spd auto actually was fine. What was annoying was the fact you really had to hold the brake down at a stoplight! Didn't have to drive far before my right foot was starting to hurt.


I couldn't agree more. I do enjoy stopping at a stoplight, level surface, and having the car out of gear with my feet resting.

 

[IndyIan]

I think that's issue with some automatics, they just don't do what you want and so you are fighting them all the time. Some people don't care about using more gas or the mechanics of always doing a triple downshift, triple upshift to maintain adjust their speed up 5 mph... Other people can't stand that.
I probably wouldn't mind an auto with flappy paddles that actually control the transmission in a responsive manner, and will hold a gear with the TC locked at reasonable rpms...