Auto Or Manual

[Crossy]

In response to this thread let's have a poll http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=102244

Did you buy an auto or manual box? why?

Are you happy with your choice? Reliabilty, performance, blah, blah

I've not put in a choice for Diesel or Petrol, we're talking gearboxes here

"Large Estate" means CRV, Fortuner, Sportrider etc.

Owners in Thailand please.

Easy eh?

[bino]

I inadvertantly clicked the null vote button when I tried to cast my vote... d*mn!

Was for "Car Auto".

I deliberated long and hard, as I have always preferred a manual transmission for the enhanced control and "fun to drive" factor. Chose the automatic after considering the traffic woes of Bangkok where I would be doing most of my driving, and have been well pleased with my choice. The car performs well enough and is fun to drive with the automatic transmission.

The GF's car is a 5 speed, which fills my craving for shifting gears whenever I drive it, and reinforces my choice of the automatic transmission when stuck in traffic.

The car was new when I bought it, so reliability wasn't an issue for me, because it is covered by warranty, and I'll upgrade the car when it is about 4 years old, the warranty has expired, and everything starts wearing out.

On the other side of the coin, I doubt I would buy a used car with an automatic transmission, because of the many hours it would have sat in the Bangkok traffic. (unless the car was the typical "little old lady" rare find with very few carefully driven miles and complete impeccable service documentation!) Strangely enough, automatic cars seem to have higher desirability / selling price in the Bangkok used car market.

Edited January 22, 2007 by bino

[dvk1951]

Ford Ranger 4x4 with 5 speed auto. Have had a lot of auto trans in my life but this is by far the best I have ever experienced. It is very difficult to discern when it is changing gears. Wonder how the new Nissan 5 speed auto will compare.

[okey kokey]

Auto every time, never had a problem in the years here and back home, the new Auto models are

Made to last, who wants to manually change gear every minuet especially in city driving

Less driving stress with an auto, yes there may have been problems with the

Older automatics but my Vigo Auto is a dream to drive, may be some people are living in the past…? And remembering their old autos…?

[Gary A]

It's hard to beat an automatic in the city where it is all stop and go. My car is an automatic and my pickup is a manual. We live out in the boonies and I definately would rather drive the pickup. If not for my wife I wouldn't even own a car OR an automatic.

[bdenner]

Auto DMax. Great in the cities and has some useful functions on the highway, one being in the hills where on the third touch of the brakes within a certain time frame it drops down a gear if you haven't already done so to assist with the braking.

Edited January 24, 2007 by bdenner

[svenivan]

Automatic in the car (Toyota) but bought a 4WD with manual (Toyota) because I need 4WD and going slowly on a real bad and steep dirtroad in rainseason I want manual.

[Crossy]

Well, at 41 'real' votes and 2 nulls, it's overwhelmingly 'auto'. Seems everyone has an auto car and there's twice as many autos as manuals in the other categories except 4x4 pickups (about equal) and 4x4 large estates (4:1, must be all those auto Fortuners).

Edited January 24, 2007 by Crossy

[pal78]

Manual Car here. Driving in Bangkok mostly. If Taxi drivers can manage it.... come on. Actually after a week or so your legs get used to it and it becomes virtually automatic. Modern clutches are so light anyway that it's hardly an issue.

I have always driven manual cars, and although I can see the appeal of the auto for city driving, ultimately I like driving. What's next, automatic indicators, automatic steering? I like to do my own driving.

In Ireland automatics are for old people and boring executives. One difficulty here is finding a car with manual transmission that still has the higher end safety features. Often the manual versions are very poorly kitted out!

[Crossy]

In Ireland automatics are for old people and boring executives. One difficulty here is finding a car with manual transmission that still has the higher end safety features. Often the manual versions are very poorly kitted out!

That's pretty much why I didn't buy a Fortuner, you can't have all the nice bits (leather etc) with the diesel engine and manual box Actually you can, but they have to rip the car apart and put in the flash bits, rattles here we come.

[undercover]

Im quite happy to leave all the gear jamming to those testosterone filled six packed, Im no wussy, I was born with a clutch pedal under my left foot and a manual shifter in the palm my hand types.

I must admit to being an auto man, from the moment I first slipped the T shift into drive I was as hooked as a sex tourist to a beer bar.

[pop3]

A manual box, are those things still around ? NO WAY MISTER, stress an agro, pumping a clutch all day ! save your energy for pumping the women.

Edited February 3, 2007 by pop3

[ThaiLife]

Well I think the day’s of the old mundane and boring ‘square boxed ‘pick up’s may be coming to an end, every where you turn your head along any Soi,…. oh no not another box on wheels, you see the same color and designed pick ups every day, now some thing comes along that’s a bit different from the crowd it may not suite everybody’s tastes or specification ….. The Triton Plus

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w201/Ti...FileHold007.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w201/Ti...FileHold008.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w201/Ti...FileHold008.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w201/Ti...FileHold002.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w201/Ti...FileHold001.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w201/Ti...FileHold016.jpg

TL