Right now, since my Acura is out of commission, permanently I believe, I am driving a 2004 Subaru Forester XT. I have noticed what I believe is a shift flare where RPMs rise suddenly upon upshifting. It is something you can feel and hear.

This got me wondering. Which automakers and models have the worst transmissions? Transmissions seem to be the achille's heel of many automakers and wondered which ones experience the highest frequency of problems.

My Vote: Saturn VTI

 

I know that on the automatic SHO's if you drive the car even remotely spirited, the transmission will fail. Meaning it won't shift smoothly, it may not go into higher gears or it will slip when changing gears.

All the more reason to drive a 5-speed

 

2G TL's & CL's

 

The 5-speed manual in the 2002-2004 WRX is utter dogcrap, the above mentioned era of Acura/Honda transmissions is a dark stain on that company's reputation, and if you've ever driven an old 911 with worn shifter bushings it feels like stirring paint in a bucket with a stick.

That's just down to the shifter bushings though. Those transmissions are actually pretty good if set up right. Late '90's - early 2000's Crown Vic electronic automatics leave a lot to be desired now that I think of it.

 

i would have to say 1999 - 2003 honda trannys

 

1999-2003 Honda/Acura 5-speed automatics. It took several of our forum members almost getting hurt, and one who was so upset with Acura's (non) response that he went to the press, to see action from Honda. Our forum played a role in reporting the issue to the public. I remember when the issue started, as do other AZ OGs.

 

Honda automatics connected to the F, H and J series engines.

 

include 97-01 prelude auto tranny's as well..

they have a terrible reputation too.



luckily i have an SH 5 spd

 

Hence my H series mention

 

did the NSX auto and S2000 autos fair well?

 

 

Honda 5AT trannys in general make me nervous.

S2K=MT only.

 

i would have never guessed...

not a big fan.. jokes on me i suppose.

 

Not having driven to many cars I will say that my 2000 tl is the worst one I've driven.

I can't even drive it in D5 around city speeds, weird things will start happening.

Like someone else had mentioned, I've heard that the wrx transmissions were pretty bad.

 

NSX automatic is very reliable, thats about all it has going for it though.

 

I'm not too fond of the automatic transmission in the Nissan Frontier I have at work. It hunts for the right gear to be in around 45-50 MPH. If you're off the throttle it's in 5th. If you even slightly tap the throttle it down shifts which is not very smooth. It's so annoying I usually have it out of overdrive unless I get on the highway.

 

G35 Sedan&Coupe, and 350z's 6speed. They aren't smooth. If you ever drive one, you can feel that they grind gears.

I haven't tried the G37 Sedan&Coupe or 370z in 6 speed yet. Who knows it might be the same.

 

This man speaks truth.

 

Older Chrysler automatic transmissions had problems as well. Not sure if they still do though.

 

I've never been a fan of the single clutch automated manuals. I got to drive an M6 last summer, I think it's got the SMG single-clutch auto. It was fun when gunning it, but I couldn't get it to accelerate smoothly from a stop. Low-rev gear changes weren't pleasant as well. I think the dual-clutch autos are a bit better with gear changes, but I haven't driven them.

I drove a 2006 Altima auto that felt the need to go from first to second at 1500 revs, no matter how much throttle Wasn't very smooth.

I've also heard that most non-Nissan CVTs suck donkey balls

My 92 Cavalier had a 3speed automatic. 30 mph and you're in top gear. Not fun.

Moral: Play it safe, buy yourself a real MT. 3 pedals and shift knob and all that stuff.

 

All Honda/Acura AT's from 1999-2003



Plus the Torqueflite in my old Chrysler Cordoba. I think it was a 3 speed auto, and it was terrible. Eventually blew it out.

 

I had a Dodge Intrepid on which the transmission failed at 625 miles.

 

My '02 RL has a bulletproof transmission

 

By bulletproof, do you mean you take care of it well?

Most people with these troublesome ATs haven't had a problem with them as long as they change the trans fluid every 30K or something like that. Those that follow Honda's recommendations, or space them even further apart are the ones that have the problems.

 

Aman, the 1st gen RL shares the same transmission/engine family as the '91 - '95 Legend. Very reliable drivetrain with the exception of headgaskets in the early years.

4 gears, slow shifting but very reliable.

 

One of the worst transmissions I ever had the displeasure of experiencing was the 5-speed Jatco automatic fitted to the Land Rover Freelander. Even when new it wouldn't shift smoothly and I saw many of them crap out around or before 30,000 miles. It was the perfect match for one of the most vile, hateful vehicles Land Rover ever made.

 

Although, I can't really speak for my car since I dont really know how it was maintained when my parents had it, but there are a lot of people here that did the regular maintenance for the transmission and it still failed. Ask fsstyms(or something like that) I believe he's been through like 3 or 4 transmission, and I'm sure he's one to take care of it properly. I've been lucky and it went bad once. I feel it going again with the problems I'm having but its been like that for about 10,000 miles so maybe what I'm doing is causing it to prolong the problem

 

As I expected no one has mentioned Ford or GM trannys.

 

Didn't know that In that case, happy motoring

From what I've seen/heard, Honda/Acura recommended maintenance isn't enough. What I meant was the people who did more to take care of their transmissions than Honda said were the ones who don't have problems.

I've heard of owners doing 3x drain and fills something like every 30k miles, which I think is way before Honda recommends it. They also change the trans filter more often than Honda deems necessary. I don't know what it is in the 2Gs but my 7G Accord has a "lifetime" filter. I'm still gonna change it.

fsttyms1 (how the eff do you spell that) tracks his car and is nearing on 400k miles I think, which might have to do with how many transmissions he's been through

 

Not sure about Ford but typically GMs make very reliable automatic transmissions. From talking to auto instructors at my old college, the automatic transmissions in the old Taurus were terrible. Same goes with many Chrysler transmissions (I drove a late 90's early 00's Stratus that flared in almost every gear) and even the 4AT(?) in my dad's 04 Camry has flares from time to time.

The worst manual transmission I've driven was an old VW Bug and the stock non-Hurst 4G F-Body. Could not find reverse for the life of me in the Bug (it has a manual lockout similar to on the STi) and shifting the F-Body was like rowing an oar through a bunch of rocks when it came to the long throw and the feel.

 

My parents had a 95 Jeep Grand Cherokee and an 01 Dodge Durango that both needed the transmissions replaced. Surprisingly my old 98 Accord V6 (brother's now) is still on the original transmission at 120k.

 

Usually that is due to worn out parts. VW shifters feel pretty solid feeling when you aren't fighting 40 year old plastic bushings and a rotten shift coupling. When they are worn you may as well be rolling dice to decide on the next gear.

 

True dat. Was pretty embarrassing though, my boss knew I would have a hard time, which is why he watched and laughed

If it matters newer VWs (90's+) have a nice feel to them, both the manuals and automatics. The DSGs are amazing though.

 

1st gen smart car: absolute trash.

 

My 95 legend tranny went out and I nearly got killed on the freeway. You would think Acura would work on that issue, lol.

 

I've seen quite a few 4L60Es take a shit in my day. Probably because they have been used in every damn application.

 

Yes, in terms of performance, the Smart ForTwo was the worst I have experienced. I am embarrassed to admit but in looking for a replacement for the Acura, I looked at the Smart and found myself turning green with motion-sickness with all the rocking and jerking. How this thing ever made it to production with a transmission like that is beyond me.

 

LOLOLOL! Sorry to poke fun at you man but really? No S2000 automatics.

And Ken is right. My post above specifically mentioned 5AT Honda/Acura trannies. The 4AT Honda trannies from the 90's were bulletproof.

 

My worst(s) are FC style rx7's once bushing go out good luck finding the right gear... next was a 95 cougar 4.6L tranny never actaully gave out but in O/D it would shake the shit out the car like if there was bad mounts but that wasnt the case, replaced t/q conv. not change all mounts no change at all... so I drove it like that said fuck it!

And now my current one is a F-150 with the same symtoms as the cougar had but I refuse to spend all that money so at the end there is no help plus it had 200k+ on the clock.... lmao

 

Go ahead.. I thought we already established that