Corolla v Civic v Hyundai/Nissan moeds

www.fueleconomy.gov , 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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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. .

 

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.

 

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.)

 

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

 

Grille blocking enhances the Prius' mileage significantly.
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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

Current generation Honda Civic.

 

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

 

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

Clay

 

The only one I see that get better mileage is the CNG version.[/QUOTE]

Nope. Look again.