Verified answer

Over drive button is basically a button that allows you to shut off your top gear more than anything really, and the reason why there is an over drive button is because when you are driving on the highway towing a camper or boat behind you, you would way rather have it in the second highest gear usually being third or second gear in auto, and have the engine work at a higher rpm, than having it at a higher gear and lower rpm because that is actually very stressful under towing situations. That is why all pickup trucks would either have an over drive button or a tow button of some sort if they are automatic. Mini vans and some cars have them too just as a fancy feature incase you want to tow or sometimes just to sell. And obviously some cars actually have 5 speed or even 6 speed automatic gear boxes, usually with the 6 speed you're talking about nice cars so they'd have a section where you'd be selecting the gears rather than over drive. With the 5 speed tho, the 5th gear isn't really meant for anything more than keeping your car going the same speed on the highway with the engine working at low rpm so you save fuel, and in that case if you do have any more stress than whats the very basic (driver and maybe a passenger) then you would turn the over drive off so you don't blow your transmission (at family road trips with trunk full of junk and all 3 kids in the back seats....) And so thats why some nicer cars will have over drive too.

A honda civic on the other hand, has absolutely no need for over drive NOR do they even have the gear itself. Its really a very basic automobile.

I work in an auto repair shop and I get asked this type of question all the time. I just go through the following check list with them to help them decide. Is all the maintenance caught up on your Honda? Timing belt, water pump, all your flushes, etc. If not, how much will that be to get it all caught up? What other problems does your car have besides the transmission? Are they little problems you can live with? i.e, do you have any little rattles or simple things like a window crank is broken or something. Can you afford car payments for something different? See what you can afford and look around for vehicles in that price range. They may or may not be much better than what you already have. A lot of our customers just go ahead and fix what they have. They would rather put $2000 into something that they know rather than spend 3-5000 (or more) buying someone else's headaches.

If you have a four speed automatic,the fourth gear is overdrive.This option is called "Grade logic", the shifts occur automatically;of course.To confirm this,write down VIN# and ask dealer to de-code it for you.

There's no overdrive "button". Just floor it and hope your engine doesn't blow.