How smooth is the ZF 9 speed auto today because earlier vehicles with that transmission had major issues. However, some automakers still use this transmission and they say that they’ve been retuned.
Well I did hear about the recall for those transmissions because of the neutral dropping. But ZF is very well-known for reliability in their 6-speed and 8-speed transmissions. I would probably stay away from the 9-speed for now until they fix it. I generally don't like the idea of going past 8 speeds. 9 speeds is just overkill honestly, let alone 8.
I’d avoid the 9 speed, I know that ZF is currently working out the bugs with that one. With that being said my opinion is that the ZF 8 speed is one of the best autos made today.
If you plan to keep the vehicle a very long time and hope to put hundreds of thousands of relative trouble-free miles, I would avoid these 9 and 10-speeds AT, if you can, even from Toyota until we get much better data on long term issues. Having more gears just means more complexity and you can’t expect them to last as long as fewer gear transmissions. Even some of those still have issues.
The 9 speed is known for problems I'd be wary of them.
That’s what the put inside the fiat 500X, WORST AUTOMATIC ON SALE!
Seen them miss-shift and have issues with bellow 90,000 miles.
unlike the 8 speed, the 9 speed is a joke.
