Clearly you didn't read the article. The vehicles they identified were Model years 2011 through 2019. High-gear-count automatics were very widely available throughout that time period. Many were even relatively new designs, which one might expect to have reliability "teething" issues due to that fact. And yet none of them made the list.

But perhaps I'm mistaken, and you've got evidence that the majority of 2013 Chevy Traverses have 110k+ miles (where its unreliable 6-speed tends to start failing); while almost no 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokees do, which is why its 8-speed seems "erroneously" reliable in comparison. Or that most 2014 Infiniti QX60s are over 92k miles (where its transmission tends to fail), while comparatively few of competing BMW X5s or Audi Q5s of the same year have reached that mileage level, and thus their 8-speeds haven't developed the same bad reputation. Perhaps everyone who's bought a car with an 8-10 speed auto in the past decade has immediately thought "oh my this thing is going to fail, I better just put it in the garage and not drive it at all."

Feel free to bring such evidence forward, as I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be interested to see it.

 

Statistics lie and Liars use statistics...

I dislike the Honda shift buttons regardless of gear count or reliability,
Pull down for reverse, press down for drive, unclear in the dark or while actually looking behind while backing...

 

This 1000%

I have NEVER seen an issue from one ever from any brand car.

 

Ford FWD V6 trans of any type
Any Chrysler 4cyl trans
Any GM transmission outside of the trucks
Any Nissan transmission 10x so for the CVTs
See above
Any CVT from all brands outside Lexus
Most Mitsubishi units, the V6s in particular
Most Hyundai 6 cyl FWD trans
Audi non-ZF trans
DSG trans that are not the PDK
Any BMW non-ZF trans

Those are what immediately came to mind in response to your question.....did I mention Nissan CVTs?

 

Thanks for the reminder of all of those I have changed.......this list is most of the worst offenders.

 

I'll throw the Aisin 6 speed auto (that went with the 4.3s) into the mix.

It shifts exactly the same as it did the day I got the car almost a decade ago, buttery. I did a transmission fluid exchange about at 120k just as preventative.

If it's rock solid for 150k, you'll get another 150k out of it.

 

Stay away from Anything stamped 'Jatco' which is a lot of the Nissan CVT and Renault CVT's .
I never liked CVT's cause they always felt like they were slipping, and they were LOL !

I don't trust the GM or Ford 10 speeds. Grenades are good descriptions there. So many people were screwed with that whole ford windstar mini-van trans fiasco and those little ford fiesta's in the late 90's.

GM tried to mess up Allison transmissions. Allison is a real good HD transmission.

I agree with AJT123 'Aisin' makes very good transmissions. Always look for those listed on the sticker of a vehicle.
Aisins have shown up in strange places. Isuzu used them, Mitsubishi did way back in the day with the Pajero & Montero.
I have a Mini Countryman 2018 model with Aisin transmission . Who would have thunk it !
Alot of Toyota's and Lexus have Aisins' Can't go wrong with one of those.

Of course the ZF8 HP transmission. Great transmission, able to handle high horsepower and built in many flavors to handle all kinds of torque. Many different automobile companies build those,
I have them in a Jeep Gladiator ( makes the 3.6 V-6, not suck) !
and Dodge Challenger Scat Pack ( 485 HP and 475 FT LBS torque) Great match ! ZF8 HP is a strong transmission, shifts well.

I think the Mercedes Nag1 ( W5A 580) the five speed is a good transmission. It can handle a lot of torque and shifts good. I have one in a 2016 Jeep wrangler Rubicon, and it has been rock solid. Just a 5 speed auto. A lot of people don't like those but they are built pretty strong. Hard to change the fluid in. The had put those in Challengers and Chargers and high horsepower Mercedes also.

If you go back before the Dodge Ram's had Aisins, NAGs and ZF's , best you could get was a 48RE Chrysler product.
'4' gears, '8' for 800 foot pounds torque, RE means it was electronic controlled shift from ECU not RH which were older ( 'Hydraulic' controlled),
48RE was a strong transmission, but you couldn't let the fluid go or get burned and don't modify the engine with out improving the transmission also.
A lot of owners modified the Cummins 5.9 and it could produce so much horsepower and torque. Modified engines would shred a 48RE in stock form. That is what hurt it the most.
That caused many a failure to occur, you couldn't abuse it. Rebuild shops put in higher volume pumps and stronger torque converters, and other items I can't remember, then you were good to go.
But it only had 4 gears.
Its something how transmissions have come a long ways. There are a lot of good ones out there , but there is also some junk, unfortunately ,
Weeding through the junk is tough,
Best of luck

 

Grenades? Hardly. We had a '97 Windstar growing up, the transmission was fine. Now our '95 Jeep Grand Cherokee needed two transmission replacements over its lifetime. The 5-Speed auto in my '03 Explorer was overall pretty reliable, developed a bit of a stumble at about 14 years old, but it lasted 18 years till I sold the car earlier this year. Haven't heard of any issues with the 10-Speed other than maybe hunting for gears. GM's 9-Speed had more issues.

 

The RE series is insanely strong if you upgrade the fluid flow issue, they are actually 727s that Chrysler slapped an OD unit onto to provide a "4th" gear and added converter lockup with as well. The issue was they never increased the fluid capacity and whenever you were in "4th" the trans was essentially running nearly empty due to the amount of fluid needed to engage the OD unit and would overheat. The pumps were also super stressed from this as they were not up to task.

The coolest thing about the 46/47/48RE/RH is that they are have the same casings so you can take a truck with a 46RH and build it up to a built 48 level and upgrade the fluid capacity and you have a trans that you can put behind ANY Chrysler engine from 1950 to current that can withstand obscene power and the RH doesn't require a computer to control it. The only failure point is the reverse clutch band exploding at 750+ LB/FT input but once upgraded you are clear for over 1500. I have a built 46RE in one of mine, very reliable but very primitive vs the 8 speed Audi ZF totally different feels.

I also have a supposedly unreliable trans in the form of a 42RE in my 00 Jeep that has made it to 300k even with massive abuse and the first owner allowing it to run out of fluid to the point of stalling a bunch.

 

Everything you said Striker223 is spot on !
727's Yes ! I couldn't remember the model number.

Yeah my old 1998 Jeep TJ has the 32RE . Just three speed, 142 K and shifts like a champ. Keep that fluid clean,
Good stuff !
1500 FT LBS torque AWESOME !
It was good to read your post ,
Best regards

 

I think this posts paints with too broad a brush. BMW uses Aisin transmissions that are solid, so I wouldn't say any "non-ZFs". Nissan hasn't had problems with their 7-speed auto in vehicles like the Armada. Porsche's PDK has had issues and doesn't allow for repairs in some cases, just replacement.

Regardless, it definitely pays to do your research on any model you select. It's kind of wild how many expensive ticking time bombs there are out there.

The JATCO 7-speed auto, however, was very reliable in the Infiniti G37. It had some wonky programming when first rolled out but that was addressed. The CVTs they make are totally a liability as you mentioned.

 

Ford's RWD transmissions seem to be solid these days. The 6R80 that I have in my F-150 is absolutely rock solid. I've heard good things about the newer Ford 10R80 which is also being used by GM. Their HD transmissions have been class leading in reliability for the past decade(GM's Allison is strong in stock form but can't hold up as easily to a modified engine).

RAM finally pulled their head out of their *** and started outsourcing their transmissions to ZF and Aisin and so I haven't heard much rumbling about Chrysler transmissions in the last decade or so.

 

Whatever is used in Acura's is pure trash and I've always had to replace my transmissions in every Acura i've owned that got over 80K miles.