Club 80-90 Forums

Hi there any thoughts on manual or auto gear box 2.1litre petrol which is more reliable etc is there any history about know problems thanks in advance.

I love my auto gearbox. It is very reliable and easy to use. When I am enjoying driving my van, the less work I have to do the more I enjoy it. The downside of course is that autos use more fuel to cover the same distance, and these vans are already very thirsty. My engine is a 2.1 DJ converted to LPG so the lower price of fuel lessens the impact of low MPG which means I get the price equivalent of about 32 MPG. It has been said that the T25 auto gearbox is the best gearbox Volkswagen ever made.
I hope this helps.

Auto's are a joy to drive - especially in traffic jams. They do reduce mpg slightly but your mpg's gonna be cr@p anyway No (perceivable) loss of power.

Only downside is if they go wrong, no bugger will work on them and unlike a manual gearbox which may give you 10,000 miles warning that it's going to go breasticles up by wineing at you or losing one of the gears, the auto will just 'break' leaving you instantly stranded and as far as I'm aware you can't tow them very far either so it's a flat bed recovery jobbie......

Loved mine despite it stranding me on the M6 Northbound on the friday night of a bank holiday weekend and costing £300 to be recovered but that was my fault for not having AA or RAC cover

Thanks bobster and 1964 manual it is so...

ladybird wrote:1964

Don't misunderstand me, I still think the auto is great; just if it does break you are up a creek without a paddle..

1664 wrote:

ladybird wrote:1964

Don't misunderstand me, I still think the auto is great; just if it does break you are up a creek without a paddle..

1664 to 1964. That's inflation for you. Oh, and if your gearbox goes kaput it matters not a jot whether it's manual or automatic; you're up the same creek.

Yes, but a manual might wine at you for 10000 miles before it finally goes kaput

A whiney box is one thing.. quite often they can let go without warning.. especially when 3rd/4th syncro hubs crack and jam it in gear..

Any "old" vehicle is gonna have some issues.. the key is keeping on top of any small thing.. regular sevicing by someone that knows about them (if you dont)... dont forget thet any T25 you are looking at is at leat 20 years old and more likely to be 23-27 years old...

Auto's drive really nice, considering they havent got huge power and are a 3 speed.. so dont be put off by auto.. I'd have one..

Got 2.1 auto.
Love it.
It'll break one day, but so will everything on old vans - if that's the only thing that's putting you off ffs try not to think of all the other things that'll break first!
Would prefer it not to go tomorrow though....