I've been cruising this site for the last month, reading up on the pros (what we all love) and cons (those things that happen) of owning an H3. I've always owned a truck or SUV until my husband and I bought an Audi together to replace our 2 SUVs that quit within a couple months of each other. Being a poor graduate student, you learn to deal with sharing one car pretty well.

But now graduation and a lucrative career are on the horizon! And it's time to get something I want again. I'm looking at a 2007 or 2008, and it's a toss up between adventure and luxury packages.

My number one question that I don't see discussed too much on here: Which is better? Automatic or Manual? And so far, which seems to have the fewer problems? I understand that occasionally there's an issue with getting the manual into 1st and Reverse. Is that common?

Thanks all! Hope to be talking about my own H3 very soon.

 

If you are thinking about a stick shift just because its cheaper then its a no brainer to go with an automatic. There is bound to be no stick shifts available on the lot, unless that changed with Hummer being shut down and there are some left over. They will have to order it for you and you will have a lot less bargaining power, I originally was thinking about a stick shift but I bought mine right when they came out in 2005, it would have cost me more to get manual instead of an automatic despite the 2K price difference as they would not negotiate. I never heard of anyone having trouble putting their h3 into any gears but I would say that could and would happen with any car, I have seen it happen in other cars.
Luxury package is definitely a better way unless you do plan to go offroading a lot, and not just sunday stroll through the woods but real offroading. The luxury version is still very capable of going offroad for most. Plus u get the premium sterero, heated leather, etc.
As far as which one would have less problems I doubt you will get an answer here as it would be extremely difficult to establish since just about everyone here has an automatic. There is many fewer stick shift cars out there its bound to be less heard of if they had an issue.
Finally if you ever going to try and sell you Hummer, an automatic is going to have a much better value retention then a stick shift, plus the leather, premium sound, etc. Stick shift will be hard to sell.

 

Surprisingly if you look into Carmax.com you see a lot of manuals, and most of them 1-2k cheaper than autos. Although tempting, because I love driving stick, I think the point about an H3 auto having a higher resale value is the defining factor. That and the fact that we're doing a 3k overhaul on the clutch on the Audi (clutch, transmission, cat), which makes me now cringe at the thought of manuals.

 

Manual transmissions are MUCH tougher in general than autos; you often times hear of 2,3, and 4 autos' replaced when the same car with a standard is on the first trans and often times first clutch.

With that being said, 5spds are sooo much fun. They are way better on fuel. And they keep things interesting. Dunno about resale, but most people will jump on an H3 5spd just like a jeep 5spd.

The cons? Offroading with a 5spd sucks. And I mean really sucks. For me anyhow. Constantly changing gears, knowing which gear to go with for certain situations, riding the clutch when going slow, etc. All a no-go for me. I would take an auto over a standard for offroading any day. But for economy and cool factor, a stick. Which is why I have an auto hummer for offroading, and a few 5spd cars/trucks laying around for when I want to do other things. If you can afford a few cars with different trannies, thats the way to go :tu:


As far as luxury package vs adventure packages; you can get both. The adventure package has bigger tires and push button lockers. I think thats it? Pretty sure you can get the adv pack with lux pack though.

 

I would not look at Carmax values, even though they are somewhat accurate, more helpful would be knowing what each car actually sold for. I was more looking at it as buying from the dealer so i guess I did not take into account you might be looking elsewhere, also the fact that they are not making any new hummers might have an effect on inventory and price. I would say now they will not negotiate at all as they know they will all go anyhow. Buying from a person might be a better way to go, or a used car dealer ? I would still stick with a manual.

 

I've got the manual in my H3. If you've used the search function you found the thread where I discussed the problems I was having shifting into 1st and Reverse. I've found out how to combat the issue though. When having the problem I'll press the shifter towards the gear and slowly let out the clutch and it slips easily into gear and starts rolling.

For off-roading, I don't have a problem. I enjoy being able to choose a gear when I am in 4low, although, can that also be done in an automatic? Is there a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd you can shift to?

I have always enjoyed driving a manual. I like having more control over the car and having that connection that you don't have with an automatic. The manuals I have driven regularly have been a Pontiac Fiero GT and a GMC Sierra.

I thought I was going to get better gas mileage than what's rated for the automatic on the highway since I had the 5th gear, but last week I traveled to Florida and averaged 17.4 mpg which was entirely highway driving except 4 of the 270 miles.

 

OMG Pontiac Fiero SE was my first car, also in stick shift that was such a long time ago. I agree that driving a stick shift can be more fun but I would say more for sports cars rather then an SUV or family car. My first 3 cars had manual transmissions when I was younger but they were also small sporty cars, Fiero, Probe GT Turbo and Dodge Stealth, since then all automatics, and if it comes to commuting to work its much easier, lots of traffic in NJ and stick shift would be a pain. Unless I was buying a sports car I would stick to an automatic for sure.

 

I've done some off-roading in a Jeep, both stick and auto. Both can be fun. However, I've got to say that city driving around here is a nightmare with a stick, especially in rush hour traffic. It's a pain going from 1st to 2nd to neutral to 1st to neutral for an hour (which is what I do in our Audi).

So considering this will be my primary source of transportation I'm leaning towards auto, but we'll see what a test-drive in a manual does for that decision.

 

I love how you said a poor graduate student who bought herself an Audi , one could only hope to be a poor graduate student like you and ur hubby :P

 

a. YES, you can chose which gear it goes into. And the way the auto-stick ratchets thru the gears, it will stay in that gear and not be bumped into a higher or lower gear w/out holding in the button.

b. Wow 17.4 mpg?? 270 miles?? How fast were you going? I regularly drive the truck on the highway for 800+ miles, and I regularly get 19mpg going 70-75mph with 2 adults, 3 kids, and a ton of luggage. This is with a stock 40k mile nasty air filter too. I'm doing the airdoc and k&n filter soon, and hope to breech 20-21mpg highway.