Shiftable Automatic?

[Cosmo]

Transmissions: I don't agree or disagree. Just sharing this guys information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OSDw-uyP98

=Cosmo

[MtnDon]

Good video. Great explanations.

[booyah]

Booyah- the mazda 5 comes in a manual and seats 6 with 3 rows!

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You are absolutely correct, we had one for a few years (bought new in 2007)
great car, but not rated for any towing.
Add in that I wanted AWD, ground clearance, and didnt care for the microvan look of the mazda, and the kia was the best option

That said the mazda 5 was a good car, we had 150,000 miles on the clock before the wife even knew where the check engine light was :-D

[woodywrkng]

I drove, and towed my teardrop, with a 2008 Scion xB with a manual transmission for 3 years. They made these basically unchanged through 2015. Rock solid Toyota drive train, and more room inside than you can imagine. Plus, people think you're weird for driving one.

[Camp4Life]

Don't get the shiftable automatic, it's not the same at all. After decades of only owning manuals, I bought my first automatic 2 years ago. Still wish it was manual, but we needed a pickup truck, and they don't make manual half-tons. Could have gotten an old 3/4 ton diesel in manual but we wanted a new vehicle that gets decent mileage for a truck. My F-150 does have manual mode so I can switch the gears myself, but it's not the same and I actually hate using manual mode. Find yourself a car with a manual transmission or you'll still regret it years down the road, trust me

[PKCSPT]

After looking at many cars and some sticks I ended up with an automatic. It's a a buick Encore with only 17,000 miles on it, 2015. Price was too good to pass up. Nice car, hubby says I can use his truck when I go camping since the Buick is an automatic and he can drive it. I don't want to put a hitch on it till 50,000 miles since it isn't rated to tow anything. Neither was my beetle so I am not too worried, i just want to get through most of the warranty first since as soon as I do put a hitch on some parts will not be covered under the warranty. It does have the shift able automatic so if I need to keep it in a lower gear while towing I can.
Thank you all for your tips and suggestions.

Oh, the beetle had an estimate of over $8000, and I know once they tore into it there would be more. We walked away so as sad as I am I am not complaining.

[TimC]

dancam wrote... "As an fyi fords had major problems with their 'dual clutch' transmissions aka the automated manual. Stay away from the focuses and fiestas with them. I think the dodge darts had issues too. Very basically the transmissions had issues that made the cars nearly undrivable for many people and the dealers couldnt fix it. Shaking, shuddering, not shifting, not going, stalling. Imagine a computer that cant use a clutch pedal, lol."

Not to be disagreeable, but, I have a 2012 Focus hatchback and have no problems with the transmission. Does it shift differently than an automatic? Sure. Not problematic though. I had no problems before Ford's recall for the "problem" and no problems after. I know three others in my area with the same model in 2012s and 2013s, no problems. I think the issue was way overblown as is the norm these days of fake news.

I don't know about the Dart version.

[jonw]

I've had two Mazda CX-5s (a 2014 and a 2016 that I'm still driving and plan to keep for a long time) that have a 6-speed automatic that is shift-able. I've taken several cross country trips towing my teardrop (750 lbs.) and it has performed flawlessly. Most of the time when towing I just leave it in auto. For long or steep downhill stretches I shift to manual to downshift for some engine braking.

It's also a great reasonably priced CUV (compact utility vehicle) for around town and non-teardrop trips and highway driving. For towing just make sure you get one with the 2.5 engine (Touring or Grand Touring), not the 2.0 Sport model, and I'd recommend the AWD vs. the FWD version.

I'd recommend the CX-5 over the Mazda 5. Less seating but better ground clearance and engine power. And it is unclear how much of a future the Mazda 5 has...

[dancam]

dancam wrote... "As an fyi fords had major problems with their 'dual clutch' transmissions aka the automated manual. Stay away from the focuses and fiestas with them. I think the dodge darts had issues too. Very basically the transmissions had issues that made the cars nearly undrivable for many people and the dealers couldnt fix it. Shaking, shuddering, not shifting, not going, stalling. Imagine a computer that cant use a clutch pedal, lol."

Not to be disagreeable, but, I have a 2012 Focus hatchback and have no problems with the transmission. Does it shift differently than an automatic? Sure. Not problematic though. I had no problems before Ford's recall for the "problem" and no problems after. I know three others in my area with the same model in 2012s and 2013s, no problems. I think the issue was way overblown as is the norm these days of fake news.

I don't know about the Dart version.

Yes, not every single car they sold that the problem, they also fixed it at some point, not sure when. But the number of their cars with those problems i mentioned is less than 100,000 but over 10,000 in north america. Thats huge. Some of the problem is that the dealerships sold these as automatics without explaining the difference. The video posted above explains why driving them like an auto destroys them. They did not sell a lot of these in north america so those numbers that had their transmissions rebuilt are huge. Many shops that i know of stock the rebuild kits as a regular item, guys i know say they have had up to 4 of these powershifts in for service at the same time before.
Just because it didnt happen to you and 2 of your friends doesnt make it fake news.
Takata airbags killing people isnt fake news and is a serious problem but they dont kill someone every time.

Anyway, glad to see the op found a car! Hope it works out well for you.


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