Would you buy a stickshift car in 2022?

In My Humble Opinion
222

Put me in your camp! There’s very little I enjoy more coming up to a turn at a good clip, banging off a couple perfectly executed rev-matched heel-and-toe downshifts, and getting back on the gas gradually once the suspension has settled. Or doing the same on my supermoto, but juuust letting the back step out as my knee grazes the pavement, then feeling the rear hook back up as I exit with the front wheel just skimming the surface.

Or for that matter, in an area where I have a lot of interest but less practical experience, getting a steep turn just right in a small aircraft, or that one time I was just almost sort of able to take all the controls of a helicopter and maintain a hover (for certain values of hover). Or getting the sails set just right so we can squeak by our competitors when I get to crew in the weekly race series here.

I just have this affinity for mechanical object that I can manipulate to make them move. The more complicated the better. I understand that a lot of people don’t like that experience, but I’ll never really get why.

223

I think I posted this already–I’m fine with a stick, but if you are planning on having knee trouble (like rupturing your quad tendon) one pedal driving in an EV is awesome…

224

Hells yeah, I would. In fact, if I do get a new vehicle this year, I’ll be actively looking for a standard shift 4WD Jeep. Stick shifts are fun. How else I’m suppose to pretend I’m a race car driver when I’m running down the street for groceries.

225

There was a time many years ago when manual transmissions outnumbered automatics by a fair margin. The typical gearshift was not the floor-mounted stick we typically see today – except in sports cars and other upscale cars – but was a stalk on the steering column, and those were usually three-speed. Anyway, back in the day, you weren’t allowed to take a driver’s test in an automatic. You had to show proficiency with a manual transmission, including all the tricks like starting on a steep incline. To this day, much as I have no use for manual transmissions, I still feel that you’re not a fully trained driver if you can’t drive a stick.

226

While I share your sentiment in my overblown personal sense of purism, I would rather those who are not good at driving a stick use an automatic. That is unless they could be banned from the road altogether. But as a compromise I’d be fine with their driving skills limited to automatics.

227

If you’re buying used they’re still cheaper, IIRC. So few people want a stickshift (or know how to drive one, for that matter), they end up languishing on the lot forever. So if you are willing to take the stickshift a used car dealer will be motivated to cut you a deal just to get it off the lot.

For new cars it’s the other way around. For most new cars that still offer a stick, you often have to order the premium trim in order to get it. Stickshifts have gone from being the cheap base option to being a niche sporty option for enthusiasts, and car companies have to charge a premuim for the in order to justify offering them at all. IIRC the Nissan Versa is the only car on the market in the market in the US that still offers a cheap base model with a stick.

228

My daily commuter is an automatic for all of the reasons her but if I could afford a fun car for going up in the mountains or a power trip I would definitely consider a stick shift.

Of note: coming down Pikes Peak to not overheat my brakes and challenge myself, I put my Lexus into shift mode and changed gears manually on my way down. Damn it was fun.

229

IMHO, anyone incompetent at driving a stick shift but who is issued a driver’s license anyway should have an explicit restriction on their license, similar to “must wear corrective lenses”. If they’re caught driving a stick, it would be the equivalent of driving without a valid license. But I don’t think such restrictions exist, at least not here.

Speaking of restrictions and endorsements, I’m licensed to ride a motorcycle, too, but it’s been so many years that I’m not even sure I remember how to operate the gear shift! I could probably figure it out but it would take me a few minutes! :smiley:

230

They should also have warning notes in their online dating profiles.

But then I’m a woman who has only ever owned MTs (including my current 2020 BMW coupe), and who tracked previous daily drivers a few times. I don’t really care if someone prefers an automatic, but I do kinda judge men people my age who actually can’t drive a stick.

231

We live in entirely different worlds. I don’t know a single person who knows how to drive a stick.

232

You’re right about “different worlds”. I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t know how to drive a stick shift, and in fact most of them have owned their own manual-transmission cars in their driving career. I’ve had two – my beloved Beetle, and the Datsun 280Z. Also used to enjoy tooling around in a friend’s MGB – lots of fun on a warm summer afternoon with the top down!

Today, for me cars are all about practicality, so I’d never consider a manual, especially because of the likelihood of being stuck in stop-and-go traffic. I also have to wonder how those insisting on manual stick shifts feel about EVs!

233

I currently have 2 manuals, but I wouldn’t buy a new car with one today. There are so few models with manual transmissions. I don’t want a manual transmission enough to limit myself to whatever tiny percent of models come with a manual transmission. One other reason is that the manuals now seem to be in the cars which are aimed at the sport/racing driving audience. If I just want a regular car, there’s none that have a manual. I’d have to get the GT-Sport-Turbo-Drifter-Fast-And-Furious model to get it with a manual.

My cars are 20+ years old. One thing I like about a manual in an older car is that a transmission repair is typically just changing the clutch. With an automatic, a repair means swapping in a new transmission, which is $$$. I’ve already changed the auto transmission in my car once, and it’s starting to act up again. If it gets too bad, off to the junkyard it goes. If I were to buy a manual today, it would be because it was I was buying a car that was 10-15 years old. In that case, I would prefer a manual to an automatic.

234

Maybe use a stickshift to control the fake engine sound generator?

235

I love EVs and have owned two, a Chevy Bolt and a Tesla Model Y! But the EV for long-term ownership for me isn’t on the market yet, which is to say they don’t make a small, very sporty convertible EV yet. I’m very closely watching what Porsche does with the coming Boxster EV.

236

I don’t know what they’re doing with the car, but I do know that it will empty most bank accounts and then some! :smiley:

237

If I could get a manual car for cheaper than an automatic, I might still do it. Really, switching gears is an automatic action provided you are uninjured. And I like paying attention while driving. I sometimes feel like I’m the only dude in town not texting while driving. That’s not the only reason someone at a green light leading a long line of cars manages to do nothing for fifteen seconds. But it’s gotta be up there.

Fifty years from now, people will look back at the Internet the way we look at smoking today. How can all the information in the world make people stupid? Your grandkids will be shocked they let pregnant people use it. You’ll have to use it outside the nursing home, on a patio a designated distance from the building.

238

This is a good reason to for kids to drive a manual. Having to shift all the time makes it just about impossible to use their phone while driving.

239

You should try driving a Model T sometime! :stuck_out_tongue:

Here is how you get a Model T going. Move the parking brake lever (to the left of the seat) to the halfway position, start the car (my Model T has the fancy shmancy electric start, so I push down on the start button on the floor), adjust the timing and throttle levers until it runs smooth, push and hold down on the LEFT pedal to engage low gear, keep adjusting both the throttle and timing levers as necessary, once you get going move the parking brake all the way forward, now let out the left pedal to engage high gear. Continue adjusting the throttle and timing levers as you drive, and if you have to stop at a red light, push the RIGHT pedal down to engage the crappy transmission brake (that’s all you get for braking) while simultaneously pushing the LEFT pedal halfway down so that it’s in between low and high gears, then adjust the throttle and timing levers while you’re stopped. To get going again, release the RIGHT pedal (brake), push the LEFT pedal and hold it down to engage low gear, adjust throttle and timing levers as you accelerate, and once you get up to speed release the LEFT pedal to engage high gear. And of course you keep adjusting the throttle and timing levers to adjust for road conditions, going up and down hills, etc.

I imagine all of the folks in this thread who prefer an automatic would consider this to be an absolute nightmare. Personally, I think it’s a lot of fun.

(Reverse is the middle pedal, by the way)

I’m one of those who loves a stick shift. I can’t explain why. I just really enjoy driving a stick shift. I really enjoy just driving around in my Jeep, my old Beetle or my MGTD. My F350 is more of a utility vehicle, but I enjoy driving it as well. My only automatic is a Buick. It gets me to work and back but I think it’s boring.

I also really enjoy my motorcycle. I drive it into work whenever the weather is nice.

I also really enjoy driving in deep snow. I like the challenge.

240

My first vehicles were manual transmission by choice - well, my VERY first one, the not-lamented Fiat, was a “gift” from my parents… because, back then (early 1980s), there was a small but significant decrease in gas mileage, plus higher maintenance costs, in cars with automatic transmission.

I don’t know that I found it more “fun”, but it was sort of nice to really be able to control the gearing, in oddball situations. As noted, though, there were plenty of times where it was a true hassle.

About 15 years back, my husband was driving kids on a Boy Scout trip somewhere. In our Honda Civic. Arguably the least cool vehicle on the road, barring things like minivans.

This was well into the trend of fewer and fewer cars with manual transmission, and the boys were totally impressed with it. “This is sooooo cool, mister Z. You should get FLAMES painted on the outside!”.

He smiled and nodded, inwardly thinking “on… a… CIVIC???”.

That same Civic went into vehicular hospice in late 2020, when it failed inspection due to exhaust issues that would have cost 5 times the car’s value to fix. It was 22 years old. We turned our “new” (14 years old) car (a CRV) over to my son, bought ourselves a new car, and donated the Civic to the local school district.

So a bunch of auto shop students got to work on an increasingly-rare configuration. We later found out that the school fixed the exhaust system, and a few other things, and resold the car - to a friend’s son who was an independent car dealer. It’s quite possible that thing is still on the road.

:::shudder:::

We had a Ford Expedition Max rented for our recent eclipse-viewing trip. Huge, heavy car. Ought to be pretty decent in snow.

That thing got STUCK. In 8 inches of snow, at the top of the driveway at the rental house. Turns out, they are front wheel drive. So you really need to have the right vehicle configuration.

The time I had an all-wheel drive car, and snow to deal with, I figured I’d be okay. I grew up in Pennsylvania, and knew how to drive in snow (VERY CAREFULLY). The snow wasn’t all that deep - 3 inches or so at that point, and I was on a main road. Approaching a traffic light, I eased off on the gas well in advance, and began braking very slowly and carefully. I think I was pumping the brake pedals as they tell you to do.

And I slid right on through that red light. Thank GOODNESS there was not a car coming from the cross street.

So… I’ll drive in (moderate) snow if I have to, but I have a health respect for it and will avoid it if I can.

241

My just-turned-17yo son drives a 6-speed manual as his daily driver and my 19yo son drives a 6-speed manual as well, although he isn’t as proficient as he doesn’t drive much, period. But both boys drive manuals so maybe, just maybe, there’s hope for the future.