Team-BHP - Has anyone successfully overhauled/rebuilt an automatic transmission here?

Automatic transmission repair still seems to be at a nascent stage in India, with very few success stories. The few I've read on this forum seem to be around big, global model cars.

I'm considering buying a used auto hatch at an approximately 5-7L price point, but searching here seems to throw up mostly horror stories of repairs gone wrong and dealerships asking more than half the price of the depreciated car for a replacement transmission.

I thought the Honda TC box in the brio/3rd gen City was a good candidate, but a BHPian I know had to junk his car because a replacement clutch kit was not available

AMT I feel the bugs are still not ironed out yet. With a lid of posts here which seem. To be mostly reverse engineering and people trying different things to keep them alive with no Documented service manuals and replacement parts.

CVT - still yet to find a decent positive experience.

I understand an automatic will be more expensive to maintain, and a rebuild will be expensive, but are there any that can be repaired successfully within a lakh or so? Or are my expectations too high?

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenhorn (Post 5746275)

I thought the Honda TC box in the brio/3rd gen City was a good candidate, but a BHPian I know had to junk his car because a replacement clutch kit was not available

Just curious to know, which car was it? Maybe he could have got a gearbox from any salvaged vehicle.

Honda is your best bet when it comes to automatics and probably only bet if you want a reliable CVT, but if you are facing issues with availability of spares then there is only one answer; Maruti. You can land an A-Star for peanuts or even a Ritz automatic if you are lucky but those gearboxes are not as ‘nice’ as the ones in the Hondas.

The Honda torque converter AT is bullet-proof, unless the previous owner had done something wrong with it, or it was just bad luck.

If you have a budget of 7 lakhs and are worried about the cost of AT replacement, why not just spend a handful more lakhs and buy a brand-new car with a long warranty? It will more than pay for itself over time.

Amaze CVT = total value for money
Cheap EVs like the Tiago, eC3, Punch
Exter AMT (Hyundai AMTs are the only AMTs I'd ever consider)

If you still want to go used, buy an AT through one of the organised players who are more selective about their cars, offer convenience & some warranty period.

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenhorn (Post 5746275)

I thought the Honda TC box in the brio/3rd gen City was a good candidate....

I'd still bet on a Honda. As GTO said, the gearbox might have packed up owing to improper usage or maintenance, one of the most neglected stuff is replacing the ATF and using the right type (read: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...nsmission.html).