You are missing one of the sweetest shifting manual gearboxes in the business, better acceleration and sharper throttle response. The only issue is that the driveline can lurch at low speeds/RPM in first if you're not careful with the clutch/throttle.
Fuel economy is much of a wash, the Honda automatics do very well for fuel economy.
Seriously, getting more than 300,000 km out of a clutch is extraordinary. It all depends on how you drive it and how kind you are on the clutch, you and your wife must do a lot of highway driving or be extremely gentle on your clutches and take off driving downhill all the time
If you get more than 160,000km out of a clutch, that's pretty good.
While Honda Automatic transmissions are reliable, I would still expect servicing costs for an automatic to be higher over the life of the vehicle, and when you factor in that you have to pay a $2,300 premium up front for the automatic, a cost to replace the manual clutch 10 years down the track doesn't sound so bad.
- HZ
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