Corolla v Civic v Hyundai/Nissan moeds

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, among other sites, indicates the 2008 Corolla is available with either a manual 5-speed (five forward gears) tranny or an automatic, 4-speed (four forward gears) tranny. Generally for diverse driving (e.g. some kind of cross between city and highway driving), the more gears, the better the odds the engine has of running at optimal fuel efficiency.

Though I probably should have qualified this somewhat. For one, with other makes, there are some automatic four-speed trannies with variable yada that can do as well as or better than manual five-speeds.

The bigger point to me is that it's worth checking the MPG for both the auto and manual versions of a particular model and year before just assuming the manual tranny will do better than the auto.

Lastly, as others are saying and MPG aside, I think manual transmissions tend to be cheaper to maintain and are less prone to breakdown.

Reply to
Elle
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Actually, an automatic transmission can easily go 200K miles with no repairs or maintenance other than perhaps one change of fluid. 200K miles of city driving on a manual will require at least one clutch change. For highway driving, you could go longer on a clutch.

Reply to
SMS

Actually, you're speaking in possibilities and outliers. I am talking about averages. I can say that, anecdotally, reports of serious problems with auto transmissions are much more common in this newsgroup than reports of serious problems with manual trannies. Fact is the engineering of an auto tranny is far more complicated than that of a manual. This of course translates to a greater propensity for problems.

I would not generalize like this. Clutch wear depends on shifting style as well as stops and starts. I do not do all city driving but it's been almost all suburban driving, with some city and highway. My 91 Civic is on 204k miles on its original clutch.

Reply to
Elle

A good analysis, but real world consumption figures show the Prius lower than the EPA rating, much lower in cold winter weather. On the up side for the Prius here in Canada there are Gov. rebates for low consumption vehicles, which drop the price of the Prius significantly, the Camry hybrid quite a bit and even the Corolla slightly.

Reply to
Josh S

LOL, it actually was Elmo one talking about outliers, claiming that 125K miles to be the norm for an automatic transmission. Maybe it's the norm for Ford or Chevy (actually I don't believe that either), but definitely for Toyota and Honda.

A Canadian study on longevity (11-20 year old cars) showed the following as the five non-luxury vehicle brands with the highest percentage of vehicles (based on number originally sold):

Saturn Toyota Honda Mazda Volkswagen

Of course you don't know how much was spent to keep these going that long, how much oil the engines consumed, or how much was spent on repairs in years 1-10, but there's no reason to believe that these owners were willing to spend more on repairs than owners of more poorly ranked vehicles.

Reply to
SMS

I was not aware that they were in common production for those cars. Are you quite certain? Most of the Civics I'm aware of had automatics or standards.

In any event, not all manufacturers have a lot of experience with them. If you want to jump on board with a manufacturer's early ventures into a technology, be my guest. Experience has shown that to be less than advisable.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

lots of discussion here, my additions: at this point, it's clear that side airbags are a significant addition to safety, i'd tend to make them a must. diseases of japanese cars, toyota and honda included, tend to be more age related than mileage related. as such, "easiest" way to own them might be to buy new or maybe one year old, then sell around the time of the "big service" where you have to change the timing belt. repeat as necessary. as pointed out, the depreciation on toyota or honda is pretty low, so a good deal on a new one is as cheap as a bad deal on a one year old. either way, it'll depreciate less while you own it than other makes, so a little more expense up front ends up saving you over the long run. if you are more into keep it until it rusts away, as with the 12 year old Camry, that's obviously less of an issue. in which case, you might want to consider a hyundai along with focus, mazda, nissan, because the cost of entry is less for them. hyundai quality has come a long way lately.

Reply to
z

But is bigger better? That extra 4 cubic feet of passenger space does little if it is not in the hip room when you want it. Of if the trunk space is more in volume but the trunk lid is too small to fit a decent sized carton through it. .

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

That's a good point. I find the Corolla to have much more usable room. It's a lot more cramped than a Corolla. You can carry five people in a Corolla and not be too uncomfortable, but not in a Prius which is really good for only two adults and two children. Still, if you're using the Prius as a commute vehicle, and have a larger family vehicle for trips with more people, it's fine.

Reply to
SMS

Well, that gives the nod to Honda--with its Safety for Everyone campaign, where every car gets every safety feature that was available at the time the car was introduced. Where the manufacturer does not put more safety features into the higher end cars and fewer into the lower end cars.

(There's a big discussion about run-flat tires on the Odyssey, though; for years, many argued them as a safety feature, but since Honda has since made them optional and not mandatory, I think that shows the lie that people told themselves about it being a safety feature.)

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

My real world consumption figures for my Prius in NJ is a reliable 50+ MPG in the winter and 52-55 nowadays. Blocking the front grille slats in the winter keeping the engine warmer goes a long way. So my real world consumption figures for my Prius in NJ is higher than the EPA rating. Tomes

Reply to
Tomes

Grille blocking enhances the Prius' mileage significantly. Tomes

Reply to
Tomes

For reference here are my facts: My '95 Concorde now has 140k kms on it. The engine runs perfectly, gets the original fuel mileage, goes 8k on a liter of oil and the auto shifts as new. The only repairs on the engine were a set of plugs at 95k, and replacement of the rubber parts on the engine external , associated with the fuel and PVC system, in '06. Engine service is oil changes at 5 to 8 k, always twice per year, plus a few air filters. The only transmission service has been oil changes every 50k plus a flush at 120k. A friend of mine has a '94 of the same car going strong at 210k. I've read the design was for 200k miles (300k kms)

This is not unusual, but typical of this engine transmission. Transmission failures from '94 on are usually due to lack of adequate service.

Oh I should mention that although I often drive on severe winter roads to the ski hills, the body is rust free and stil shines lovely. The body has had no special treatment, just washed with Turtle wash and wax.

Reply to
Josh S

On a Goodyear test in the UK for 5,000 miles on run flats, they changed those tires every 50 miles. Kind of useless for highway drives in parts of NA I'd say.

Reply to
Josh S

I'd think that Toyota would know that and have a thermostatic louver rather than risk having people block it when too warm.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Actually, this mileage is related to less transmission slippage, not gear selection. I have seen some automatics that were close in mileage, but I would like for you to point out one that surpasses the manual.

Clay

Reply to
Crabman

Current generation Honda Civic.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

You're lucky because I have yet to see one that doesn't have any rust in my area.

"Josh S" wrote

Reply to
Ghislain

The only one I see that get better mileage is the CNG version.

Clay

Reply to
frijoli

Nope. Look again.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

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