Quote:
Originally Posted by Freiheit
I feel your pain. Vehicle search engines are about 20 years behind some of the car technology. And it doesn't help that BMW creates manual transmissions with automated modes - most every bipedal hominid out there thinks that anything that doesn't require shifting by hand is an "automatic transmission". I've even gotten into heated debates with a very gifted mechanic friend (think: future Ridler award winner) who insists my DCT is an automatic transmission.
If anyone tells you DCT is automatic, remind them that automatic transmissions have torque converters and valve bodies (or at least electric solenoid systems in place of a valve body). Of course, the SMG had an electro-hydraulic gear selection system, dammit....
I just wish some search engine builder would step up and add that all important third option to the transmission selection, something that would gather up DCT, SMG, and whatever Audi and the rest offer, into one label. Call it "automated manual"?
Many of the otherwise skilled salesmen think that anything without a clutch pedal is an "automatic", so whomever is the "internet sales manager" for a dealership ends up selecting automatic in the online sales filing. There's also that very thin portion of the sales force who recognize the difference, and are just as frustrated with that lack of a third option as we are. Do they put manual, because thats what the car really is? (and wave off all those shoppers who don't want a stick shift ) or do they put automatic to attract the anti-clutch pedal folks (while incurring the wrath of us purist demigods for seeming so stupid that they don't know what DCT is?)
I'd also be happy if the search engines allowed selection by exclusion. I'd really like to be able to search for anything but white, or anything but silver, or anything but red, for certain cars. I'd like to shop Ferrari's and exclude red, because they look so good in black, blue, etc. Can't. I'd have to manually go in and select every color but red and by the time I'm done I'm tired of shopping. Some sites will allow boolean terms so I can put "-red" in the keywords and that usually gets results, but what if the car is black over tan, and the ad copy states "includes factory-custom red stitching"? I'd never see the car.
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Well,
you and the other BMW enthusiasts here know the difference between an automatic transmission and DCT. I don't think the 99% of the public including salesmen really care unless they are also enthusiasts.
I've seen "automanual" as an option on one of the search engines can't remember which though.
I like the exclusion idea. Anything to make searches moreI hear stories of forum members waiting more than a year to find their car. I see a few that I'm interested in but not at the price they are asking.
You're looking at Ferrari's? Nice! I've searched M4s, M6s, etc... Keep coming back to the E92's.