When will we see the last manual?
Discussion
The proliferation of smart-auto double-clutch 'boxes appears to be leading to it being the default choice. We saw them start to appear as options on supercars and then as the standard on supercars, followed by being an option on white goods and now seemingly standard with most manufacturers' performance models.
Are we really heading for a time when if you ask for a manual gearbox when ordering your car that it'll be a huge cost option and the salesman will look at you as if though you're a child molester?
Are we really heading for a time when if you ask for a manual gearbox when ordering your car that it'll be a huge cost option and the salesman will look at you as if though you're a child molester?
a lot of this is also driven by the EU emission test regime, much easier for a manufacture to get a lower g/km from an auto than a manual due to the way the test is performed - manual cars have their gear change points mandated at set speeds in the test, auto's (obviously).
this than creates a problem as the same car with a DSG or the live vs. it's manual version are then in two different tax bands.
As an example, Audi's S4 with DSG is 219g/km with manual 234g/km so from Band L (£260.00PA) to K (£445.00PA) as well as 33% vs. 35% Benefit in kind change.
this than creates a problem as the same car with a DSG or the live vs. it's manual version are then in two different tax bands.
As an example, Audi's S4 with DSG is 219g/km with manual 234g/km so from Band L (£260.00PA) to K (£445.00PA) as well as 33% vs. 35% Benefit in kind change.
It's happened with trucks already. 5 years ago all the trucks where I work were manuals, usually 12 or 16 gears with range changes and splitters.
Now our fleet is all auto. Much more user friendly and easier to drive. Coupled with cruise control you can just sit back and watch the scenery go by.
Now our fleet is all auto. Much more user friendly and easier to drive. Coupled with cruise control you can just sit back and watch the scenery go by.
thinfourth2 said:
Yes a gearbox that costs more, has more moving parts, is harder to fix and more likely to assign the car to an early grave in a quest to be green.
Exactly what I was thinking, in much the same way a lot of early Mondeos were scrapped due to the clutch being expensive and other newer diesels are being scrapped due to fuel pumps give it a few years an we will find people scrapping 2004> VW/Audi on the basis they will not pay £5k to replace the gearbox.Indecently my father recently purchased a Audi TTS and went for the manual version not DSG and had to wait longer for delivery due to more dsg being available.
aka_kerrly said:
give it a few years an we will find people scrapping 2004> VW/Audi on the basis they will not pay £5k to replace the gearbox.
This has been happening for years already.Audi and many others won't sell parts, only complete Auto Gearboxes.
IIRC the box alone is £4,000 (guess how I know) my wife's car had done 170k so simply wasn't worth fixing.
Whilst you could argue 170k was beyond its design life, everything worked it was a nice car and did 43mpg.
Throwing a perfectly good car away - Yep that's the green way.
redgriff500 said:
This has been happening for years already.
Audi and many others won't sell parts, only complete Auto Gearboxes.
IIRC the box alone is £4,000 (guess how I know) my wife's car had done 170k so simply wasn't worth fixing.
Whilst you could argue 170k was beyond its design life, everything worked it was a nice car and did 43mpg.
Throwing a perfectly good car away - Yep that's the green way.
Looking for a new car for the wife and i can see us either going for a brand new one with warranty etc or a 2 grand snotter which we throw away when it goes wrongAudi and many others won't sell parts, only complete Auto Gearboxes.
IIRC the box alone is £4,000 (guess how I know) my wife's car had done 170k so simply wasn't worth fixing.
Whilst you could argue 170k was beyond its design life, everything worked it was a nice car and did 43mpg.
Throwing a perfectly good car away - Yep that's the green way.
The current wife mobile is worth 4 grand and it needs a new turbo costing a grand
Great 25% repair costs make loosing 30% on a new car seem sensible just for the warranty
With a grands worth of snotter you bin it for any major bills
Meanwhile my distinctly ungreen 14 year old landrover which runs purely on biodiesel keeps going and has another 5 years before i need to replace the chassis which will give it another 30 years plus unless they ban it for being ungreen and i have to replace it every 6 years with a brand new car.
Someone should take some eco weenies and beat them over the head with a dictionary until they understand the word sustainable which they so love. Binning a car at 6 years old is not sustainable
Great 25% repair costs make loosing 30% on a new car seem sensible just for the warranty
With a grands worth of snotter you bin it for any major bills
Meanwhile my distinctly ungreen 14 year old landrover which runs purely on biodiesel keeps going and has another 5 years before i need to replace the chassis which will give it another 30 years plus unless they ban it for being ungreen and i have to replace it every 6 years with a brand new car.
Someone should take some eco weenies and beat them over the head with a dictionary until they understand the word sustainable which they so love. Binning a car at 6 years old is not sustainable
if you think about it, this is the same as has happened to white goods.
domestic stuff used to last for years, these days it's mostly 3-5 max, then scrap and replace.
yes, current fridges are more efficient in electric consumption, but in terms of the life of the fridge, it's got to be questionable.
domestic stuff used to last for years, these days it's mostly 3-5 max, then scrap and replace.
yes, current fridges are more efficient in electric consumption, but in terms of the life of the fridge, it's got to be questionable.
Interesting comparison. We had to replace our fridge recently; the old one was about 20 years old. I don't know how long the new one will last, but I bet it's not 20 years. The new one uses less than half as much power, but I don't really have a feeling for the environmental impact of creating and then decommissioning fridges in comparison to their electricity usage.
Besides, DSGs are worse from that point of view, because at least modern fridges are more efficient to run. They don't just fudge the test results to make them look more efficient.
Besides, DSGs are worse from that point of view, because at least modern fridges are more efficient to run. They don't just fudge the test results to make them look more efficient.
Edited by kambites on Thursday 18th August 11:36
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