repair cost (auto vs man transmission)

What do you think? late 80's , early 90's models

Thats like asking what a car will cost to repair, in a sense. What model, whats the diagnosis, whats the actual problem, availability of parts, particular shops labour rate, etc.

May want to cold call a couple of shops with your particulars. I've seen the NVG4500 manual cost mucho bucks to fix, and I can almost guarantee a new Allison auto will knock the crap out of $5 grand all depending upon the problem. So, there you go.

I think manual transmissions rarely go, but clutches frequently do.
So this could be cheaper depending how your drive...When an automatic goes you usually end up getting a rebuild.

Yup - it does come down to Car and you daily driving habits.

But in general its slightly to cheaper to work on Manual because the parts that goes are cheaper.

i believe manual are cheaper as the things that usually need replacing are are the clutch/flywheel. in an auto it's much different

general consensus of this thread: depends on what you need to fix

But manual trannys can be expensive to fix as well. Take for example, replacing synchros (designed to wear out): cheap to buy, but labour will end up costing you an arm and a leg.

At our tech school they will take in auto. transmissions from the public to work on but refuse manuals. Why you ask? Because a manual takes a lot less skill to rebuild.


If the transmissions needs work, the manual is typically cheaper to fix than the auto. However, over a lifetime of 200,000KM you'll typically go through a clutch, and when you add that cost into the picture it would come a lot closer to the cost of an auto.

Originally Posted by TrevorK

However, over a lifetime of 200,000KM you'll typically go through a clutch, and when you add that cost into the picture it would come a lot closer to the cost of an auto.

I tend to disagree. If you drive as it should on most jap. cars - clutch will not need replacing. I am at 257k on original clutch and its working perfect. Clutch is totally under your control. You determine by your daily driving habit how you use it

Yup, but in general clutch will tend to wear out before that other components.

Until the prime minister at the time (Trudeau) waded in with expert reports.

There was a heavy media campaign at that time to treat transmissions in the same fashion as engines, regular visits, service etc. Transmission shops opened up every second block and little old lady's complained that they spent more on their tranny's than on buying the car! That all ended with a few court cases showing that large transmission chains had a 'policy' of fraud.

In Canada our cars rust out well before the mechanicals are worn. Hence there is a large export & traffic in our wrecks to southern climes were automobiles last 20+ years. We ship them down as individual pieces, engines, tranny's, starters, alternators etc. You can buy a wreck tranny and have it installed usually under $1000 and expect full service for the life of the design and most of the wreckers (these days they call them re-cyclers) will offer a bit of warranty and some offer 3 month to a year for a few extra $, but garages get 3 months all the time.

A manual transmission is not complicated, gears to drive the rear wheels. The clutch assembly is like your brakes, it's made to wear... so depending on how hard you are on the clutch, it can last the life of the vehicle.

Automatic transmissions are more complicated and need to be serviced more regularly and could be costly to repair. Installing a wreck tranny is the workaround when serious repair is needed.. it just doesn't pay to overhaul this kind of transmission.

Bare in mind that, some cars have been designed with faulty transmissions and the manufacturer needs to be brought to task on this. Also some vehicles (BMW comes to mind) don't have a lot of wrecks available, and rebuilds can be $5G's so I stay away from those.

Originally Posted by ah802

In Canada our cars rust out well before the mechanicals are worn.

In Alberta our vehicles don't rust.

I believe this is a problem in east/central Canada.

Auto tranny flash $200+
Manual tranny flash $35(for do it yourselfer), $80 for shop.

If you do it once a yr, it add up very quick.

Originally Posted by TrevorK

In Alberta our vehicles don't rust.

I believe this is a problem in east/central Canada.

They rust more than cars from Arizona.... Florida cars rust from the top down... salt air. 8 years in Ontario and rust has done it's damage.

Originally Posted by Focus

Auto tranny flash $200+
Manual tranny flash $35(for do it yourselfer), $80 for shop.

If you do it once a yr, it add up very quick.

$200??

I paid $75 and that was at a dealer!

Originally Posted by DISH

$200??

I paid $75 and that was at a dealer!

A fluid change is different than a flush (Which also involves changing the filter and pan gasket).

Owned 3 autos and 8 manuals over the years. Been lucky with the short time I had the autos but from friends who had to do repairs on theirs including mechanices it came to 3000ish each time and was not a home project.

My manual repairs have been clutches every 150k for about 500 so I'm happy with them. Haven't had to do any gear changes though.

I'm a firm believer in manuals, had three kids learn on them and they're much safer in the winter for slowing down.