Barnabas

I'm pretty much smitten w/ the xB and plan on getting one very very soon (hopefully). Only question left now for me is to decide whether to get an AT or MT. Power and all that doesn't really matter too much to me. I haven't driven an MT before and I tend to get sleepy behind a wheel so I was thinking that MT would be better. Only problem I can think of this is higher maintenance cost. How long can the stock clutch last with regular driving? I can do the labor myself I'm sure since the xBs seems to be pretty easy to work on. Thanks alot for all the information on the forums. Really good stuff.

rbloedow

Replacing the clutch is only something I would recommend for someone who knows what they're doing - it's take a LONG time and is very labor intensive.

A clutch, if taken care of properly, will last well past 100k miles. If you're a n00b or just ride the clutch all the time, don't expect it to last long - 40k - 70k. The amount to maintain it is typically about the same as an automatic transmission - especially since you need to do more transmission maintenance on an automatic (Fluid drains and/or flushed every 30k miles).

Not to mention that you're more likely to have an automatic transmission fail as the miles get racked up ;)

its_ikon

i would try and learn on a friends car. parts won't be that bad on replacing the clutch, but the labor is. scion is not a bad car to learn stick on. it won't keep you up if you are tired. if you are on the freeway you basically leave it in 5th gear and it will feel like an auto then.

Barnabas

The thing is the car I currently drive (92 Accord) has never had any problems. Only thing I did was replace the radiator. I probably haven't even replaced the transmission fluid in a very very long time. Basically I don't take very good care of my car and it's running fine and appraching 200k miles. So am I just lucky or are most autos not so forgiving to bad maintenance? I'm kinda hoping my car will die soon so I'll have an excuse to buy an xb. lol