I’m bad about pressing the left side of a brake pedal (reaching for the clutch) when I drive an automatic. The problem is that I’m already pressing the big pedal with my right foot and when I press HARD with my left, I almost throw myself (and any passengers) into the windshield…it isn’t pretty! :smack:
I really prefer manual, but now am stuck with an automatic dodge Grand Caravan momvan in automatic because it is effectively impossible to find a manual van in the US. I would absolutely kill for a manual VW Sharan, but I would have to actually do the dog and pony show of buying a used one in Europe and importing it. 
I have always driven manual as it’s the norm in the UK. I dislike driving automatics. And for Simple Linctus’ benefit, I am a *great *road driver. And a woman.
The closest thing to a minivan with a manual transmission that you can buy in the US is the Mazda5 Sport. And it’s a mini-mini-van and the rather basic ‘Sport’ trim level…
I saw the results of a scientific study a while back that proved women were better at driving ‘stick’ than men! Their smaller feet played a role, but women also have better eye-hand co-ordination in general and tend to learn a bit faster…
Of the nine cars I have owned, all but one were manual transmission. For that one automatic that I owned, no manual transmission was available. I hated that car–it was a pig on gas and insurance and I never felt in control of the vehicle. I bailed on that one within two and a half years. Luckily I suffered no economic loss when I traded it in.
Manual transmissions being relatively rare in the US, resale has a much larger bid/ask spread vs an automatic. With so few buyers in the US market for a used car with a manual, the dealer takes a big risk taking one in on trade. Therefore, the dealer won’t offer as much money for a manual. However, because of the relatively tight supply of used cars with manual transmissions, the dealer can command a premium selling price.
One other side benefit of owning a vehicle with manual transmission–just about nobody ever borrows your car because so few can comfortably drive it.
I really, really want to get a new car just to be able to drive a stick again. Can’t justify it other than that, and it’s really not that easy to find a manual transmission car with heated seats (I use them like 9 months out of the year). Would love a Focus ST, but Elantra GT would be the cheaper option.
Husband and I both prefer stick shifts, and with an exception or two have always driven them.
He’s got a Scion XB manual, and I have a Mazda2 manual that I got for a steal because no-one wanted the stick shift. I also haul a horse trailer, and I have a 6 speed 4WD F-250 diesel (long bed & crew cab!) for that. Love that beast of a truck 
When we bought the truck, I had a helluva time convincing the sales guys to 1- talk to me not my husband, 2 - believe me when I said I wanted the unfancy work truck with a plastic floor, 3- believe me when I said I wanted a manual. “You mean automatic…” “No, I mean a stick shift, yes with the clutch and everything…”
I’m going to have to keep this truck for a long time, I think the new ones only come in automatic now 
Sticks are just plain fun to drive. Stick: because you’re not there to drink coffee or answer your phone or fool with the radio. You’re there to drive (and you like it!).
Both of our current Nissans are manuals, as is my daughter’s Honda. When the girls were younger and we needed a minivan, that was an automatic. Never liked it. Been preferentially owning sticks since 1979.
Every car I ever owned (until my recent fiasco) has been a manual transmission. I taught my daughter to drive on a manual, and she owns one today.
In 09 I was in the market for a new car, and my son had turned 16. He car shopped with me, and I ended up buying an automatic since he had no interest in learning on a manual. Three years later and he still isn’t driving, has no interest whatsoever.
I prefer a manual. My cars have been about half of each.
The only reason I don’t any more is that Pepper vMill doesn’t and can’t, and there’s no point in having a car she can’t drive.
Whden we vacationed in Ireland, automatic transmission was an expensive luxury, so I had to drive.
I made sure the last car I bought, 07 Ford Escape, was manual. It’s going to be really hard to find one the next time I need a car I’m sure, but I’ll look for one.
My current car is the first one since I was 16 that is automatic. It wasn’t really my first choice, but when my Acura died I didn’t have money to get the car I wanted and I needed something fast.
I have not decided what I’ll buy when next I do. I always liked driving an standard, but it has kind of been nice not having to shift.
Humans, when driving a stick, generally select a gear that provides an alacritous response to accelerator input without having to downshift (unless they really want to accelerate hard). Automatics generally select the highest gear that won’t lug the engine, with the goal of maximizing fuel economy (and they’ll downshift at the slightest provocation so as to provide the desired acceleration). The upshot of this is that a stick almost never gets as good a fuel economy during city driving as an automatic version of the same car.
Sticks used to get better highway fuel economy, but even that’s not true anymore. Manufacturers nowadays tend to design a manual transmission so that the top gear still provides decent acceleration, at the expense of fuel economy; for the automatic, they’ll design the top gear for optimum fuel economy during highway cruise, and set it up so that it will downshift the moment you try to accelerate.
In spite of all that, I still like manuals. My first car was an automatic, but after that I bought my mom’s Acura Legend, a manual. A few years later, a Nissan Maxima, also a manual. That was about a decade ago, and the Maxima is no longer available with a stick. Next spring I’ll be replacing it with an Infinity G37, also a manual; I believe 2013 is the last model year that the G37 will be available with a stick.
Raises hand. 42 years old *and *female, wondering if my gender is well represented in this group.
I currently co-own (with my husband) a black, manual-transmission Saturn Ion Quad Coupe – with the mini suicide doors! likee My first car back in '88 was an automatic (Honda Civic), but I soon replaced it with a '74 VW Beetle. I’ve also had a 2WD and a 4WD Nissan pickup, and a slew of beaters, both auto and stick. The 5-spd MTs were my favorite, even the crappy ones that I had to slam into reverse and my '89 Toyota Celica (first sunroof). I am the backseat driver that will lecture someone for riding the clutch, and if you’re riding *my *clutch, it gets heated.
As a cycle commuter who shares the road with human drivers, I think you are being generous here. I’m a bit more pessimistic toward the judgment of human drivers.
I vastly prefer a manual.
I’ve driven manuals exclusively for 40 years, until last year. The car I wanted didn’t come with a stick and, frankly, I’m tired of driving a stick in bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic every single day. Call me an old sissy if you want. Now that I drive an automatic I can talk on the phone and eat while driving, just like everyone else on the road.
Most of Spain. Some brands are starting to have automatic at the same price as manual, trying to push automatic, but manual is still a lot more common. You should have heard my coworkers’ rants about the automatic rentals we got changing “at the wrong time”…
The car I’m picking up tomorrow and the one I’m trading in are both manual, as are my brothers’ and sister in law’s cars, and the car of SiL’s brother.