I kind of miss the fact these are becoming hard to find. My first car was a manual and I enjoyed driving it. The list of cars where this is an option seems to have become very limited. A search for threads on this topic showed a few - almost all between 1999 and 2005!
I would. Last three cars I bought were sticks. I enjoy driving them, even in city traffic. That said, I am enjoying my wife’s car with its lane centering and adaptive cruise control, and I don’t know that the latter could work with a stick with drastic changes of speed, so I’m not against the idea of an auto.
You really have to justify buying a car at all, especially if you live in a city (and in the middle of nowhere you might need a utility vehicle, not a car). Certainly a non-electric car that would have a manual transmission. Of course that may be the cheapest option.
I drive my Bimmer Z4 in the summer. It has a six speed manual, and I enjoy driving it.
Yes. Hell yes. I may actually well too, though in 2023.
I think this '21 Dope thread was the most recent one.
There are still quite a few vehicles available with manual transmission according to Car and Driver.
I drive a stick and enjoy it. One factor that likely is helping drive decline of the stick is the rise of automatic transmissions that are said to get significantly better mileage.
Me too. Except there’s a looooong hill (uphill) when driving to my workplace, and it sucks when traffic is backed up on it. I wait until there’s a lot of distance between me and the car in front of me, and then I put it in first gear and drive up toward it as slowly as possible. Lather, rinse, repeat. A few times the car behind me has gotten annoyed and honked at me.
As I currently own and drive a car with a stickshift (a 2012 Ford Mustang), and enjoy it, I’d certainly consider buying another. But, I suspect that, when it comes time for me to replace the Mustang, there may be very few options that feature a stick, and having a stick is fairly low on my list of priorities.
If it is a fun, sporty car, just for you, then yes, get a stick. It’s not a practical car, so what does it matter if it has a practical transmission.
If it’s an economy car, or basic transportation, then no, probably not. Once practicality comes into, then an automatic of some variety is going to give the best mileage, and easiest resale.
A friend was planning to buy a manual Tacoma last year, but ended up getting the automatic in the end, really for the practical reasons: Toyota sells something like 10-20 times more automatics than manuals, so it’s better sorted and more reliable (supposedly); resale is much better with an automatic; and the things he wanted to do, towing and offroading, are better with a torque converter automatic anyway.
Ironically, his wife right now is trying to decide what to replace her 10 year old manual Mini with. She wants either another manual, or an EV.
I wouldn’t get a manual for my daily driver but I’d like a stick for a weekend ‘fun’ car.
Fair enough. My Google-fu was weak since a quick search seemed to uncover mostly much older efforts.
I do parking brake hill starts in cases like that. Makes it pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Driving through the Bavarian Alps when I was learning stick really helped. I remember getting nervous one time that I stalled the car four times in a row and missed an entire cycle of lights. The car behind me didn’t even honk once. Got it first shot on the next cycle.
(But, yeah, if it was stop and go on a hill, that’s get annoying.)
Here’s a Motor Trend article that I think I linked to here on the SDMB a few months ago, listing every manual-transmission car for sale in the U.S. in 2022. It’s not a big list, and it’s dominated by foreign cars and sporty cars.
Could you elaborate a bit on how to do it?
I owned cars with a stick from ‘89 to ‘01. After drive an automatic in city traffic for the last 2 decades, I wouldn’t go back.
I drove sticks for many years (early 80s til 2019–most of them Jeep Wranglers]. Sadly had a stroke in 2019 and wasn’t sure how it would affect driving a stick (not to mention getting up an down into the Wrangler). So I went to a Cherokee and an Automatic. Was nice. Just got a new automatic Cherokee Trailhawk. I still might to back to Wranglers down the road, but not sure I would go back to a stick. I’m really pampered with the remote start.
If you can find one in a performance car.
Advances in the performance of automatics have eliminated this option for some cars. The new C8, or eighth generation of the Corvette doesn’ even have a manual transmission option, it has an 8 speed auto with paddle shifters but no manual.
This brings up another good thing to consider, @Dr_Paprika, how are you doing health wise? Any plans to get arthritis in your knees, arms, or hands? If you plan to keep the car a long time, and your older or in poor shape, then an automatic is probably best.
The same information can take you to a different conclusion, though. If you’re good now, but probably won’t be in a few years, get a fun manual car while you can enjoy it, and just plan to get rid of it if it becomes painful to drive.
^^Good points.
Drove a 2007 Kia Rio with a stick and it drove just fine. I would’ve driven it for several more years if it hadn’t been stolen.
I would’ve considered a stick shift in a new car if any happened to be available at the dealerships I visited.