i was reading consumer reports and for 2003 there is a full black dot for major transmission problems, does anyone know what this problem could be? im looking at an 03 gpw to buy and i just wanted to know what kind of problems i might face

 

There are a couple of things for the S that could cause the rating. One is the clutch buzz that some experience. This is just the disc casing noise between shifts, not really bad many just live with it until it is time to change the clutch. Another could be Diff failures, there have been instances where the diff failed, but this is usually attributed to an owner launching the car and genrally beating on it. Or if the diff fails without being driven hard it could have been from the wrong fluid being used. Some dealers just put the same stuff that they put in CR-Vs and this causes the diff to die sometime down the road and could be improperly attributed to a deffect in the diff. Another possibility is the rear axle nut not being tightened down to the correct torque value, this caused a noise in the rear. Which some owners could report as a tranmission issue, no big deal just tighten it back down to the correct torque.

I think any 03 you find now will have had the above clutch buzz worked out if it ever had it. Those other two aren't transmission issues but might have been incorrectly reported by readers as such.

 

ok great i appreciate the help