Vauxhall Easytronic

Sounds just like how most automatics work. But with it being electronic shifting, it always wants to be in the optimal gear that it thinks it should be in, for the prevailing conditions (road speed, engine load, throttle position).

Oh dear.

NEVER EVER let the person selling it dictate the length of the test drive. If they do, walk away.

Just think...if you'd not have let yourself be bullied into a drive to the end of the road and back, you'd have found this out.

My question really is - do you know / are aware if the problem with accelerating is a problem with my car or is a feature of Easytronic in general. If it is not a general problem then we might be able to go back to the dealer otherwise we are stuffed and probably end up doing a part-exchange back to the same dealer (Car Giant).

Thanks

There is no current 'isssues' with the EasyTronic that I am aware of, though your particular car may have a problem, it would be impossible to say without trying at least one other car.

It is just a computer working a manual box (a la Smart) which do have large delays as it actually changes gear.

As an aside, other than the short test drive, how was the Car Giant buying experience, and did you wangle any discount?

Tim..

As Tim says, this sounds like normal behaviour for this type of gearbox. If you are driving at a steady 30 mph, the box will be in 4th for good economy. Press the accelerator and the box knows it must change down to 2nd for good acceleration, but to do this it has to de-clutch and so there is a brief delay (maybe 0.5 - 1 second) during which the car actually decelerates, before accelerating as required. My wife's Fiesta Durashift EST also does this, but has the huge advantage that the dash display shows the currently selected gear (even in Auto mode) so you can see what it is doing.

Logically, there is no other way the gearbox can behave, even if it seems disconcerting.

Really you have three options:

1) Sell it back to the dealer, perhaps making a fuss about the poor test drive in the hope of getting a better deal 2) Live with it 3) Use the manual mode instead - it's worth playing with this anyway, since it can be very useful in some circumstances (eg driving down a long hill)

Tony

(Apologies if this is a duplicate post - Google Groups is playing up...)

What - slows down before changing up? Not on any I've owned.

That's the case with every auto.

Same here, even on my 20yr old shitbox.

Hi Tim,

Thanks for reading my post. The slowing down we experience feels like the car is indeed changing the gear but it is painfully slow in doing so. The fact that the car decides when to change makes the experience very unpredictable. My wife has driven Renault Clio and Daewoo and says she didn't have problems with accelerating. By reading the posts, it looks like the gear change lag is a common problem with Techtronic cars.

We found Car Giant very professional. They were very adamant about the prices and they didn't move it at all. It is a very corporate sort of a set up so we could not haggle at all. But we felt very safe buying from them(regulated by FSA). The staff were helpful and very professional.

Drawbacks - 1) Test drive is extremely short - it is a predetermined route and does not last for more than 5 minutes.

2) Cars are bought as seen - you get no extras (like some dealers give full tank petrol).

We also found the price to be very reasonable - Our car Vauxhall Corsa 1.0 Eco Club Easytronic which is 3 years old and had done just 10,000 miles( was previously owned by a disabled person) cost us £3999/-. We searched quite a bit but could not find anything cheaper for the features that were on offer.

John Smith ( snipped-for-privacy@Y.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

You are aware that's NOTHING to do with the car buying side of it, solely to do with the administration of their (probably expensive) finance, right?

Doesn't sound very helpful or professional to me.

You bought an automatic car, and you are moaning that the car decides when to change gear! What the hell did you expect an automatic to do?

Of course you could haggle. They asked £3999, if you offer £3950, and walk out of the door, I can assure you that they will indeed haggle! How far you could take it I dont know, but its a pretty safe bet that they wont lose a deal for the sake of £50 (maybe 100, maybe 200)

You are the one spending the money, do it on your terms. There are plenty more dealers out there!

You are the one spending the money, do it on your terms. There are plenty more dealers out there!

I expect that your old shitbox is a torque converter/epicyclical sort of arrangement, which do have constant power if set up right. As one gear slips out of engagement, the next gear slips in, with a slight overlap so that there is no gap in power transmission.

AAUI, the easytronic is a manual gearbox/clutch arrangement, and there has to be a pause while the clutch is disengaged. As there is a pause in the power, the car will slow down, unless it is travelling downhill.

That's a good thing?

Well, that means there's comeback as far as the finance side of things goes.

That would cause me to walk away. If it was me, I'd just go whatever route I liked, spend about half an hour driving it, and if they kicked up a stink, I'd kindly explain that they may well get a sale if I could properly test drive the car, and I'd walk away without shadow of a doubt if I couldn't. Unless it's got dual controls, they can't stop you once you're behind the wheel!

Didn't look very hard - loads about - a fair few 04 platers between £4k and about £4800 with low mileage and same spec. A good 18 months or so newer for the same or not much money, with not significantly more miles (highest is 22k).

Now then. Was it bought as a "Network Q" deal from a Vauxhall dealer? If so you have 30 days to take it back and exchange it. Not happy? Then use that part of the "deal" to your advantage. Dave

Ah.......... Just read the rest of the thread (been down the pubbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb) A 5 min test drive on a predetermined route? You have just been "tucked up" by a professional. Dave

My only experience of these single clutch abortions is the BMW SMG - and it changes gear very quickly accompanied with a thump. ;-)

Does see, to be pretty good at his job, doesn't he!

Salesman "You'll drive it where I say, you'll pay what I say, and you'll take it on my terms, now hand over the money!!"

Customer "ok, there you go sir, thanks. Would you like me to polish a few cars on your forecourt before I drive off?"

Never before has anybody admitted to such a blatant case of bending over and taking it up the arse!

FSA does not affect the finance itself. It only ensures they follow set procedures when selling you insurance backed products such as finance protection.

Alan