Ok what can you tell me about automatics. Its looking like the wife wants to change her current 2007 Nissan Note for something else. I quite like the Note but she hates it and for a quiet life I have agreed to see what’s out there. She has some mobility issues (awaiting a hip replacement) and was talking about an automatic. The car will be our 2nd car and only used for the school run/shops 90% of the time so just need a cheap run a bout and wondering if a 6/7 year old auto is worth considering or are 2nd hand small autos a risk/pricey to sort etc. Never had one so no idea about autos. Thanks in advance

Wouldn’t have a VAG automatic as I’ve seen too many go horribly wrong.

Mercedes automatics are great – I have three over 25 years old with over 150,00 miles apiece and have driven a couple of late 1990s Mercs with fewer miles and they are all fine…

I love automatics: so relaxing to drive!

I’ve driven a Hyundai i10 with an auto box, there’s one parked outside at the moment, which I drove home after driving an auto Nissan Juke from Cornwall to Bristol, and the Hyundai is a much better car to drive!
It may be just that particular Juke, I’ve driven others which were more engaging, but it struggled on the motorway and A30 to just get up and go, I had my foot hard down and it was barely getting to an indicated 80!
The little Hyundai just flew up the hills out of Bath, and is just a very willing little car, and the auto box seemed to shift very smoothly.
As someone with an arthritic left knee, often driving around three hundred miles a day, I’ve really come to appreciate auto boxes, and modern ones are far better than they used to be, the DSG boxes in VAG cars are very good, she might like to check out the Citigo, Mii and Up!, I’ve driven a few of each, they’re great fun to drive, and surprisingly quick!

Most VAG DSG horror stories seem to be old now. There are loads about so I’m assuming they’ve improved – but no real evidence. Just be wary of people screaming on the internet – no-one ever posts to say their car’s fine.

If you want an easy car to drive, get an Auris or Yaris hybrid. Impossible to drive roughly, very reliable (no actual gearbox, the torque is varied electrically) and of course economical to boot. And light easy steering too.

If you mean a REAL automatic, not one of these new fangled self shifting manuals then the ‘box is usually the last part of the car to pack up IME. They’re also lovely to drive once you get the hang of hardly touching the accelerator (or brakes) round town.

Cheers folks, guess an auto is worth throwing into the mix then. Who knows what she will end up with, her favourite car she has had was the one that gave us the most bother, a Renault Modus!

The VW Up is an ASG gearbox not a DSG. The VW Up is a great car from the test drives we are having. Really annoying as we want an auto but the ASG box has horrible reviews

Mercedes automatics are great

Really? even our 7 speed CLK320 who’s box failed at 68K miles?
New valve body & electrics pack cost nearly 2K to fix.

I’m always impressed with the Honda Jazz auto when I drive one and my brother in law who has a GT3 loves his daily witch is an auto Jazz.

Mazda are one of the few manufacturers at the moment to make proper reliable torque converter auto’s in smaller cars. I have a dsg in a Fabia 1.2 110bhp hatch. It’s ok at the moment but it will go back in a years time so couldn’t really comment on longevity. Plenty of horror stories about them and Fords powershift.

Modus n note share a lot of parts.

Avoid acctuaded autos live the corsa go full auto or cvt

The car will be our 2nd car and only used for the school run/shops 90% of the time

Nissan leaf

he car will be our 2nd car and only used for the school run/shops 90% of the time

Gonna need an off roader then

our 7 speed CLK320 who’s box failed at 68K miles?
New valve body & electrics pack cost nearly 2K to fix.

Ouch!

Ouch!

Ouch indeed. I didn’t get any sympathy from Mercedes either even though I mentioned that a car costing around 35K when new shouldn’t have a gearbox made of plastic. Fair enough it was out of warranty but bloody hell, 68,000 miles!

As someone who recently bought a second-hand automatic, one important thing to note is that there’s three major types of automatic, which all behave differently. “automated manuals”, which is a standard manual gearbox with the computer controlling the clutch, is horrible to drive. Stick with CVT (literally no shifting) or dual-clutch (super-fast shifting).

The honestjohn reviews tend to mention if the car has an automated manual box with brutally scathing comments, but have a test drive and spin it around town, a decent automatic will pull away smoothly and the shifts will be almost imperceptible, whereas a bad automated manual box will feel like a learner is using the clutch.

The Jazz has CVT and is lovely. Hyundais have dual-clutch as far as I can tell, the i30 at least is nice in auto. Avoid pre-facelift 2008/3008 as they’re automated manual and horrible.

We’ve had a ’07 Jazz for about 8 years now and the only work it needs is a once-every-three years fluid flush. If the book says that has been done on schedule then it should be driving well.

BMW auto box on the X3 is lovely. I assume the same auto box is used on other cars in the range

I don’t like dsg boxes – very juddery/on-off/hard to control low speed maneouvers. Especially tricky on parallel parking on slopes, or low speed maneouvers on uneven surfaces.

Auto box in my bosses 5 series estate – lovely!

Really? even our 7 speed CLK320 who’s box failed at 68K miles?

What do you mean by “even”? serious question.

Experience of Merc auto limited to my one C Class sport estate. 5k on the clock when I bought it (ex demo) 130k now (2011) absolutely flawless. I would buy another but each time I go and sit in one they dont feel any nicer than my 6yr old one.

162k miles on our Volvo auto. ‘Sealed for life’ design that isnt on any service schedule which is why most older volvos are scrapped, ive flushed it twice myself (the specific oil is £200). A manual would get the best from the nice 5cylinder revvy engine but it is great for stop/start and long distance touring.

I remember calling a customer with a citroen c crosser,
With a very rare DSG gearbox. Internal Fault that couldn’t be repaired.
Yes sir I did say that correctly it’s £11000 for a new gearbox including fitting!!!
He actually laughed and thought I was joking!!!

no-one ever posts to say their car’s fine.

I’ve got a Peugeot 207 automatic (4 speed torque converter) which I enjoy driving. It’s fine in automatic mode for general use, if it gets icy switch to icy driving mode, for twisty country lanes switch to sport mode. If I’m feeling nostalgic I can even switch to manual mode 😀

Some of the solenoids went but an independent automatic specialist fitted new ones for about £400.

My advice would be to find your nearest automatic gearbox specialist if you need any work doing on the transmission, far better than most of the main dealers who don’t tend to know much about them.

one important thing to note is that there’s three major types of automatic, which all behave differently. “automated manuals”, which is a standard manual gearbox with the computer controlling the clutch, is horrible to drive. Stick with CVT (literally no shifting) or dual-clutch (super-fast shifting).

You forgot torque converters, which are the ‘normal’ kind that have been around for decades.

I don’t like dsg boxes – very juddery/on-off/hard to control low speed maneouvers.

This seems to be a matter of technique as many people don’t have a problem.

I’m not sure how technique would matter? In auto mode (which is what you would use for low speed manoeuvres) I can’t see how it is hard to control? Every DSG car I have driven has been totally smooth changing, not a hint of juddering. I wonder if it is a specific car/engine combination that is a problem, or people are driving a faulty car and think that they are all like that. I must have driven at least 50+ over the years (mostly Audi and VW, rather than Skoda and Seat) so have tried a reasonable spread.

What do you mean by “even”? serious question.

Because someone said, ‘Mercedes automatics are fantastic’ (or words to that effect)
Ours wasn’t.

I wasn’t actually expecting Merc to foot the bill seeing as it was out of warranty but a bit of goodwill wouldn’t have gone amiss. All I got was a ‘tough luck’ letter back from them.

My stepsons 5 series BM autobox failed as well at around 110K, that cost him £1200.

For balance my sons Astra manual box failed completely & it cost £650 including a new clutch.

I sold my old Passat at 235K & if it had any problems it was before I bought it at 94K, same clutch, same exhaust, same battery!

My girlfriends car is a 1.4 16v woefully underpowered polo with 6spd dsg. Its great at everything except getting fast quickly which is okay because speed is for #twowheelsnoengine

I suspect the low power makes it struggle under acceleration and it makes the changes a little unpredictable.

I just wish they’d make the brake pedal smaller so when i forget theres no clutch i didnt take bites out of the steering wheel.

remember calling a customer with a citroen c crosser,
With a very rare DSG gearbox. Internal Fault that couldn’t be repaired.
Yes sir I did say that correctly it’s £11000 for a new gearbox including fitting!!!
He actually laughed and thought I was joking!!!

Chris it’s time to replace the berlingo …. I was looking at an auto esg6 on the 1.6 hdi with between 10-30k on clock for the wife ……how are they looking on reliability /being common and repairable ?

I do like a good auto box. Thy have come a long way since slush boxes, most impressive I’ve driven recently was the 2.0ecobooat I got in California – it seemed to do exactly what I would have done in a manual….

Unlike the Hyundai in Canada which seemed to have forgotten it was a gearbox

As someone who recently bought a second-hand automatic, one important thing to note is that there’s three major types of automatic, which all behave differently. “automated manuals”, which is a standard manual gearbox with the computer controlling the clutch, is horrible to drive. Stick with CVT (literally no shifting) or dual-clutch (super-fast shifting).

Isn’t a DSG an automated manual?

CVTs are okay but they’re being ditched by Audi in favour of DSG as they are more efficient.

Torque converters have been around for years and the technology is tried and tested.

I think it’s a case of trying a few out to see what suits you best.

Isn’t a DSG an automated manual?

No. That’s an oxymoron.

Manual means you change gear yourself, automatic means it does it for you. Old tech automatics used torque converters and hydraulics and whatnot, DSGs use physical cogs and clutches similar to a manual, but not the same. And they clearly aren’t manual, cos they’re automatic.

Also worth noting that Toyota and Lexus hybrids have a system that drives like a CVT but works differently, varying torque by electric means instead of pulleys and bands.

The G/F’s Merc A170 Auto ‘box developed a sensor problem that effectively wrote the car off at 10 years old. Well known problem with the CVT gearbox.

Mainly, however, slush-boxes are well proven and highly reliable.

I ditched a nice DSG equipped Mk6 Golf a few years back as I started stressing about an inevitable failure after a few months of ownership.

I’m now enjoying manuals again!

My Focus is my first DSG car, i would never go back to a manual one now despite the increased service costs. Plus its giving me well over 45mpg (its a smelly diesel).

Isn’t a DSG an automated manual?

No. That’s an oxymoron.

Manual means you change gear yourself, automatic means it does it for you. Old tech automatics used torque converters and hydraulics and whatnot, DSGs use physical cogs and clutches similar to a manual, but not the same. And they clearly aren’t manual, cos they’re automatic.[/quote]

So what’s an “automated manual” then? I’m only asking as it was mentioned in a post above…

Just curious…

So what’s an “automated manual” then? I’m only asking as it was mentioned in a post above…

Just curious…

Citroen fit one in some versions of the C4 Picasso/Grand Picasso. Basically a normal manual ‘box but with a ‘box of electronics’ that does all the gearshifting & clutch actuating for you.

Painful to drive at first, but once you realise that rather than driving it like a normal (torque converter type) auto i.e. just keep your foot on the accelerator & away you go, you learn to anticipate the gear changes & then briefly lift off as the ‘box changes gear (like what you’d do when driving a manual, lift off as you dip the clutch). Makes for smoother changes.

Still an oxymoron. Call it a single clutch auto or something.

Thanks Gary_C, useful info.

you learn to anticipate the gear changes & then briefly lift off as the ‘box changes gear (like what you’d do when driving a manual,

I’ve always done this since the 1st time I drove an auto, in the mid 80’s-90’s maybe, still always thought auto’s were a ‘waste of revs’. Unless I do the above, I’m thinking, ‘ok, change up ya git’.