|
|
| Author |
Message |
| 12 new of 111 responses total. |
lynne
|
|
response 100 of 111:
| 
Aug 3 17:34 UTC 2003 |
Diesel? Yuck. Might as well go live in Europe. Oh wait--I already did.
|
gull
|
|
response 101 of 111:
|
Aug 12 20:24 UTC 2003 |
Both of my current cars are stick shifts. I do find driving a stick
fun, and the simplicity and lower maintenance is good, but it's not so
much of an issue that I wouldn't buy an automatic transmission car.
I do think it's good to learn how to drive a stick, so you aren't
limited in what you can drive later.
|
gull
|
|
response 102 of 111:
|
Aug 12 20:24 UTC 2003 |
Oh, I forgot one benefit of owning a stick shift car: Friends never ask
to borrow it.
|
dcat
|
|
response 103 of 111:
|
Aug 12 20:55 UTC 2003 |
Actually, a friend has expressed interest in the '88 Civic in my parents'
garage (originally they were going to give it to me when i got a licence, but
that hasn't happened yet); she refuses to even consider getting an automatic.
|
russ
|
|
response 104 of 111:
|
Aug 13 02:13 UTC 2003 |
Re #101: I've got one automatic transmission car with over 160,000
miles on it, and I've never had to do anything to it. I've never
had a manual go over 100,000 without needing a clutch.
|
gull
|
|
response 105 of 111:
|
Aug 13 13:46 UTC 2003 |
My Honda hasn't gone that far yet, and my Vanagon's probably already had
a clutch job (though I don't know for sure), so I can't comment for sure
on that. But my dad put 114,000 miles on a Ford Fairmont and it still
didn't need a clutch when he sold it. On the other hand, our Ford Crown
Victoria's automatic transmission blew up at 90,000 miles, requiring a
rebuilt transmission that was a lot more expensive than a clutch job
would have been. Our Ford Club Wagon needed a similarly expensive
transmission rebuild at about 100,000 miles, and it never was quite
right again after that.
|
lynne
|
|
response 106 of 111:
|
Aug 13 14:35 UTC 2003 |
re 104: What do you *do* to your manual cars? We had an Aerostar minivan
that took all kinds of abuse (including two kids learning stick on it) and
didn't ever require a new clutch. It had 160K on it when everything else
went and my parents gave up. My Corolla has 106K and no sign of trouble
yet. I'm a bit prejudiced, though--I've always figured that simpler is
better because there are less things that can break on you, and more to
be done about it if they do.
|
scott
|
|
response 107 of 111:
|
Aug 13 14:52 UTC 2003 |
Cars are so reliable these days that usually the body rusts out before the
transmission or even the engine can wear out. At least that's the way it
works here in the Midwest... in California I've seen all sorts of seemingly
antique cars, some even with bare metal, and very little rust.
|
gull
|
|
response 108 of 111:
|
Aug 13 18:36 UTC 2003 |
We had a stick-shift Aerostar as well. It was the van I learned to
drive stick on, in fact. We never had to put a clutch in it, but I
don't know how many miles were on it when we sold it.
Driving technique can make a big difference in how long a clutch lasts.
So can the type of driving you do. Stop-and-go driving, especially in
hilly areas, wears out a clutch much faster. So does slipping the
clutch excessively during gear changes, using the clutch to hold the car
on hills, or driving with your foot resting on the clutch pedal.
|
arabella
|
|
response 109 of 111:
|
Aug 20 08:05 UTC 2003 |
Hmm, my '96 Ford Contour has its original clutch, at 145,000 miles. A
heck of a lot else has been replaced, and replaced again (notably, 4
waterpumps in a one-year period). My mechanics say Contours are a pain
in the ass to fix, and they insist on breaking a lot. And they don't
make them anymore... But I do hope to find another manual transmission
car when I'm ready to replace my poor old gal.
|
russ
|
|
response 110 of 111:
|
Aug 22 01:27 UTC 2003 |
(Looks like I missed a response...)
Come to think of it, my experience is somewhat limited. I
replaced the clutch in the light-second Dodge twice, IIRC.
(Never because it really needed it, but because something
else was being done and it made sense.) Then again, it
*was* a sports car, and turbocharged (think serious slip
to take off fast, because torque didn't really start to
appear until 2500+ RPM; building boost fast for a launch
needed about 3000 RPM). My first VW died due to lingering
mechanical damage from its first owner's abuse, and never
made it to 100K miles (never needed a clutch). My Jetta is
still short by over 19,000 miles, though it's still going
nicely (save for a fuel pump going flaky right now).
I guess I still have to see about clutch lifespans.
|
gull
|
|
response 111 of 111:
|
Aug 22 13:23 UTC 2003 |
There *are* cars where the automatic transmission happens to be more
durable, due to flaws in the design of the manual transmission, but
they're relatively uncommon. One example is the VW Vanagon. The
automatic is robust and can be rebuilt by almost anyone with no special
tools. The manual transmission has a design flaw that causes the 3/4
slider hub to crack and break after about 100,000 miles, and requires
special tools to rebuild.
|