Automatic vs manual car - which is cheaper to maintain?

AdrianHi

In general manual will be cheaper all round. If you were going to buy something like the afore mentioned 5 series it pretty much has to be an automatic if you ever want to sell it again, same goes for just about nay Mercedes.
If your going to buy a V8 auto is mandatory and on an engine like this slapping an auto on it makes hardly any difference to the already considerable fuel consumption.
Also depends on how you drive. I know people who spend most of their time on the motorway where on some cars the auto is about the same as manual on fuel.

Many electronic clutch manuals are poor (e.g. the Toyota effort) but there are some real gems like the VAG group (VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat) DSG automatic gearboxes. The more recent versions of the DSG box can be slightly better on fuel.