New to me auto.

No. Something else cropped up and I sold it on. We didn't have the internet in those days, so it could have proved impractical anyway.

Got it from a specialist with a pretty large stock. They had some Tips at a higher price than PDK. Depending on spec, etc.

Mine's a 2002.

If I didn't have a company car, I'd probably get a nice Cayman or 911 Coupe as a daily - but with a 520d Lux as a daily, on which I pay silly amounts of tax, I reckon I'm best sticking with the pre-facelift 986.

I do use mine as a daily. Being retired and being lucky to now have a fair bit of disposable income - different when working with mortgage and family etc - I decided on a third childhood and a 'sports car'. Initially looked at an MX5, but decided because of not doing a vast mileage, an older Boxster might be nice.

The original Tip was excellent when hammered, but seemed not so happy pootling around town. Drone from the exhaust and continually changing down when not needed. Like a dog straining on the lead. Which might suit some, but really annoyed me. Because if I'd wanted a car which was only ever going to be hammered, I'd have got a manual. Whole point of the auto was to be nicer to drive in heavy traffic. Of course it could be mine was faulty in some way. Didn't know anyone else with a Tip to compare it with. And if you asked on a Boxster forum, you'd get the usual replies about changing it to a manual. ;-)

You'll be saddled with a mortgage again if that 'box goes t*ts-up, Dave. ;-)

Just as much likelihood of the engine in your Jag blowing up and costing you a fortune for a new one. If you could indeed find one. ;-)

Re: Complexity, have you seen about the hyped Infinity VC-Turbo engine. So much mechanical linkeage stuff to make that work. May work brilliantly asnew, but imagine the engine getting older with some slack here and there.

As I've said before, everything wears out. And the older simpler engines (etc) some on here seem to like so much rather sooner than is the norm today. As well as needing far more frequent servicing and maintenance.

And back to autos. The once popular CVT belt driven designs seem to have all but disappeared. Despite being suitable for small engines. I'd guess because of their generally short life. It would seem a self changing synchromesh box with auto clutch is where all the development is going these days.

Possibly - but ZF TC autos have hit back with the HP8 and HP9 - both of which are as good as a twin-clutch, IMHO.

I think we'll see some more planetary arrangements as in the Prius as hybridisation really kicks in.

Nope. XJ/XKE V12 engines are still easy to come by and not at all expensive. But they very rarely fail anyway if maintained properly. The worst thing that can happen generally speaking is a failure of the distributor (between the banks) bearing and that's only terminal if you fit a new one without clearing out the old one's debris from the sump.

Jags/Bentleys/Rollers = cheap Porsches/Mercs/Beemers = ruinously expensive.

Be very interesting to compare the same car fitted with the best of both. I'd guess the epicyclic to win on refinement with a slight penalty in performance.

You'd have to define expensive. Talking about one in perfect condition. Not an untried Ebay special.

But you expect a gearbox to? ;-)

That's another ting best done without. A distributor. The source of many a problem. And very rarely works to spec.

The belts were quite expensive.

There is a big difference between an auto box and Toyota's PSD.

The PSD is simply a differential with a non unitary ratio. The axle diff has spider gears where the PSD has sun gears. In the axle diff either pinion takes the place of the sun/ring gear and have the same number of teeth 1:1. The output speed is the speed of one input x the gear ratio + the speed of the other input. It's not cheap as it requires 2 motor/generators. Simple series hybrid is far cheaper.

Unless you have a big V8, an auto box with a single stage epicyclic isn't a very useful device. It only has 2 speeds + reverse and needs a band brake and clutch. Add a 2nd epicyclic and you get a 4 speed (3 + OD

• reverse) but need 5 clutches/brakes + 2 one way sprag clutches and an overrun clutch. Save some money on the clutches and it becomes a 3 speed. The 8 speed has 4 epicyclic sets and 5 control clutches/brakes.

Sounds like a f****ng nightmare.

Best find a car with a nice 3 speed manual box, then. With a clutch that can't wear out too. If more gears are a nightmare to you.

And never get a manual with an overdrive. ;-)

I know. That's why I said 'as hybridisation kicks in'.

It's by far the best way to blend all power and charging sources.

We had an 1800 Victor that had a very 'free' auto box. It was the complete opposite of the 2000E Corsair auto that felt like the torque converter was full of treacle. ;-)

The auto 1300 Mk1 Escort was ok if not underpowered ... again, (as you say) a bit like my Uncles auto 1500 VDP Allegro. ;-)

For the most 'Swiss Watch' of autos was my Wife's Honda C50 LA motorbike. Full auto with 3 speeds via 3 centrifugal clutches. The first would take you from no drive to the range of 1st gear, then the second clutch would kick in governed by road speed, followed by the

For some non 'geared' weirdness the CVT on my 250cc scooter is pretty effective. At tickover there is nothing. Give it some revs and the revs just sit there but the speedo doesn't ... till you reach the upper limit of the CVT and then it's just down to engine revs after that.

My first ever powered transport was a Honda P50 that was a single speed twist-n-go and 0 to flat out (27 mph on the flat) was pretty quick. Shame that was it for the rest of the journey. ;-)

It's funny ... I've never 'chosen' an auto on any of my vehicles but seem to have had a few.

Cheers, T i m

Vauxhall used GM boxes which were head and shoulders above the B-W that Ford (and others) used. Often wondered where/why GM lost the plot and got overtaken by ZF.

The weak point tends to be the fluid cooler/warmer that is built into the main rad. When this leaks the result is expensive.

Neighbour had this happen to his Toyota landcruiser. A new box from Toyota was more than car was worth so he spent £4,600 at an auto specialist over near Eastbourne who rebuilt it with new and refurbed bits