Uh-huh.bloke wrote:- My RELIABLE TOYOTA (right, Rick...??) automatic transmission with only 80K miles bit the dust about a year after a complete transmission servicing by a shop that is beyond reproach.
'94 Camry--the Redhead's car. We traded it with 190,000 miles. Automatic transmission was fine.
Current Lexus RX-330 has 150,000 miles. No problems.
Current Subaru Outback has 118,000 miles. No problems.
Buddy's Mercury Transporter (or whatever), traded with 394,000 miles. And, yes, the transmission had finally given out.
In the mileages listed above, replacing a clutch half a dozen times would be typical for urban drivers. The cost of replacing a clutch in a modern front-drive transverse drive-train is significant--usually requiring pulling the engine/transmission combination and separating them on the bench. Been there, done that.
Back in the old days, the GM Turbohydramatic 350 needed rebuilding every 75,000 miles. But it was cheaper to rebuild it even in constant dollars than it is to replace a clutch in most modern vehicles. When I was a mechanic, I could R&R a Turbo 350 in 45 minutes. Not any more.
Everything in recent vehicles is far more reliable than it used to be, with appropriate care. But clutch plates are wear items just like brake pads, and replacing them usually requires replacing the clutch and resurfacing the flywheel, and all of that requires removing the transmission from the engine.
But it is not true any longer that automatics are fuel or power hungry. They all provide computer-controlled lockup torque converters that let the torque converter convert torque for startup and then lock up for economy. They also can be controlled to maintain the engine at the preferred RPM's to achieve the best economy.
Both of my trucks have manual transmissions, so I'm not biased. I'm just reporting what I know.
If you like driving a stick, buy a stick. But don't be smug about it.
Rick "recognizing that not many of Bloke's vehicles are particularly recent" Denney
