We are doing a disservice to youth over the last 20 years to not teach them to drive a manual transmission vehicle

[easyrider]

I like my fake manual paddle-shift 6 cyl. Outback, but I can assure you that most people in India, Europe and the rest of the world would rather drive an automatic if they knew what it was and could do so. They may deny or justify it, kind of like people that live in miserably cold in winter and hot and humid summer places that say "I could never live anywhere that doesn't have 4 seasons..."

You might be on to something regarding four seasons. I use to like all four but now I'm only liking less than three.

Bill

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I certainly grew up leaning to drive a stick, and my first 4 or 5 cars all had a manual transmission. My first truck was a 62 Dodge with a three on the tree..

But all my more recent cars and trucks have been automatic. Last time i had a rental in Germany with a manual, i forgot to shift a few times and wondered why the engine was racing... then it comes back to you...

Pretty sure my 35 year old son has never driven a stick shift..

 

[MabelP]

Both our cars are manual. I didn’t realize the car and myself were oddities (me, for knowing how to drive a stick!). Twice, I’ve pulled into a parking garage and the attendant mentioned my ability to drive a manual transmission. I had no idea that was passé.

 

[jp10558]

Our kids all know how to drive a manual transmission because most of our cars were manual. We had a conversion van for vacations that was automatic, but our Ford Tempo, Ford Bronco, Toyota truck, and my 1997 Mazda (which I loved but traded in for our current Avalon) required them all to learn.

In Europe, you better know how to drive a manual transmission car. Even the big SUV's we used to get to/from excursions were manual transmissions. You never see that here in the US. Our granddaughter is 17 and moving to Washington state to dance there. She is losing out on a very important life skill.

Our daughter-in-law, who was born in 1984 never learned to drive a manual transmission because her parents didn't own one and saw no need. She married our son who has a 2002 Nissan Maxima, a six speed, and he tried to teach her. She couldn't get the hang of it and gave up. You need to learn young!

I say has a Maxima because he still has the car. It sits in his driveway and is running rough for lack of use. He stopped driving it after getting his Infinity SUV with the 7 seats. He loves his new car and drives it exclusively to/from work. So his Maxima is sitting in the driveway for 3 years. He drove it to our house and realized it's not good to leave a car just sit unused. (Gee, you think?)

I told him to get the Nissan fixed and use it to drive to/from work for the low gas mileage. He says it is not worth enough money to put a lot into it. I wonder what it would take to get it running again. It's such a fun car to drive. I drove it quite a bit before I had a car seat insalled in my car for my granddaughter (she is 9 now). I loved driving a manual transmission again. Rick could use the car to teach all of the grandkids how to drive a manual transmission.

I assume most everyone over 40 can drive a manual. Is that a wrong assumption?

Yes, most people my age can't drive a manual and I'm 43. My mom can't drive a manual. In the US there's no reason to learn to drive a manual, and for most people's trips to Europe where they rent a car, it's worth the double price to get an automatic vs trying to learn for what might be a once or twice in a lifetime event. I don't know how to shingle a roof either for instance.

It's also IMO like teaching cursive vs typing. Or TBH how to make change, though that is still useful for flea markets I guess, or learning math. There are skills that just become unimportant over time, and driving a manual is one of those IMO.

 

[rickandcindy23]

My dad wouldn't let me drive his automatic 1960 Ford Ranchero truck until I learned to drive the 1964 Ford Falcon manual transmission. When I mastered the Falcon, then learning the Ford Ranchero was easy. It even had power steering, but the 1964 Falcon station wagon in turquoise was not power steering. I think my arms would be much thinner had power steering not been invented.

@davidvel Our son and daughter-in-law have been married a long time, so the car wasn't "old" when they first got married. That car is very low miles because our son road the bus downtown to work every day for years and years. And my own 2003 Toyota Avalon is not old to me, but it is an automatic. I assume you are being sarcastic or humorous, but not sure about it.

Our son never thought twice when booking a rental car in Bologna for his drive. He was surprised it was a manual transmission but he knows how. Once you learn, it's like riding a bike, you don't forget. But his Lamborghini probably is a stick. I never thought about it or asked. I have actually never been in that ridiculous car.

 

[DeniseM]

I learned how to drive a stick on the farm on a tractor! I was around 12 and I had to stand up to depress the clutch. Please note that I was going about 3 miles an hr. in the orchard pulling a canvas to harvest almonds. Transferring those skills to my first car was easy.

 

[buzglyd]

When I was a teen, if your car was an automatic, your manhood was questioned. I have 3 sisters and they all grew up with manual transmissions. My older sister wants to give the BMW A try because she hasn’t used a clutch pedal in decades.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Both DH and I can drive a stick and owned cars in our youth. We taught our DD to drive a stick because she wanted to drive her Dad's vintage sports car.

We reserve manuals in Europe to save money. More cars available to us. However, manual in the UK will never do again. Trying to shift left-handed is unnatural for us. It is a miracle we didn't get into an accident!.

 

[TolmiePeak]

So what is worse. Kids who can't drive manual transmissions or can't write in cursive?

 

[moonstone]

All through my early childhood my dad had a WV Beetle. Back then (the early '60's) it was common (at least in our family & the neighbours') to let a child ride in the front seat when just 1 parent was driving. We lived in a very small town with very little traffic. Dad used to let me put my hand on his when he was shifting gears. I did that for ages then one day he said you know where the stick needs to go, when I say ok you change gears. He put the clutch in and said ok, then I shifted! I was probably about 8 or 10 years old. I did that any time just he and I went anywhere until he sold the car and we got an automatic. Many years later an old boyfriend had a Dodge pick-up with 3 on the tree. Since I was usually the designated driver, I learned by trial and error how to drive that. When I started going out with DH he had a 66 Mustang that was a standard. I picked up using the floor stick shift quite easily and DH was impressed. We drove different standard mustangs until we had kids then we bought a standard transmission pick-up truck. For many years, all while our kids were small, my daily driver (and tow vehicle for our camper) was an '85 Ford F-350 Crew Cab with a 4 speed standard transmission. I drove that big sucker shopping, to appointments, shopping, taking kids to friends or practices and even while I was pregnant with our 2nd & 3rd kids. I loved driving it, and felt very safe on the highways. I used to always back into parking spots with it as it was much easier to see if anything was coming when leaving the spot. I actually had a man who was sitting in his car waiting for his wife watch me back into a spot at the grocery store (with 3 kids in car seats in the back seat) in 1 easy movement, perfectly centered in the spot, no in and out to re-position, get out of his car to applaud me! When he looked inside and saw that it was a stick shift he said he was even more impressed.

DH & I taught all 3 of our kids to drive standard with an old car we had during the time they were learning to drive, and they still could drive it if they had to, but all have automatic transmission vehicles. We sold the 35 yr old F-350 a few years ago and now drive a manual transmission Nissan Cube but also have an automatic (only because standard wasnt available) mini-van and Smart car. One thing that is stopping us from buying a newer vehicle is that there are very few available with manual transmissions any more.


~Diane

 

[davidvel]

When I was a teen, if your car was an automatic, your manhood was questioned. I have 3 sisters and they all grew up with manual transmissions. My older sister wants to give the BMW A try because she hasn’t used a clutch pedal in decades.

Glad your sisters' manhood could not be questioned!

 

[keno999]

I learned how to drive a stick on the farm on a tractor! I was around 12 and I had to stand up to depress the clutch. Please note that I was going about 3 miles an hr. in the orchard pulling a canvas to harvest almonds. Transferring those skills to my first car was easy.

Both my tractors are manual.

 

[rickandcindy23]

It's more fun to drive a manual.

I remember in high school, one of Rick's friends dared me to drive his brand new 1971 Ford Bronco stick. He was very impressed.

 

[slip]

I learned to drive a manual when I was older. My son really got into manuals when he started to drive and we had a hard time finding the car he wanted with a manual.

I was never big on driving, it's just a necessity. I'm not a big car guy and I find driving a manual to be a big PITA so we always had automatics.

I don't think anyone had been disserviced when they can't drive a manual. If they are interested they will learn. Just another preference people have in life.

 

[slip]

It's more fun to drive a manual.

I remember in high school, one of Rick's friends dared me to drive his brand new 1971 Ford Bronco stick. He was very impressed.

When you live in a city where there's a light or stop sign every other block, that manual is as fun to drive as a root canal.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Indeed. Many/most cars in the future probably won't have transmissions at all.

Gas=go
Brake=stop

Coming from someone who can drive stick easily - once you've driven a 3 ton truck with a crane mounted on the bed up gravel roads all around the foothills, you never forget.

Consumer BEVs have radically simpler and much more reliable single speed gearboxes. Basically they don't really have multi-speed transmissions that are even remotely similar to ICE vehicles. They will last the lifetime of the vehicle in other words (with no gear oil changes). I am in my early 50's and drove manual transmission vehicles for most of my life up until 2008 when we switched over to automatic or CVT only vehicles since our kids were getting to driving age. CVTs are the most reliable of the legacy transmissions really. My daughter never learned to drive a manual and has zero interest. My eldest son still drives a 6-speed manual 2017 Chevy Camaro 1LE, he like me is an auto enthusiast type. My younger son has always driven automatics and currently drives our 2013 Honda Accord hand-me-down that has a CVT (a gearless transmission really). He has zero interest in ever learning to drive a manual - and will go EV as soon as he can afford to do so. I switched over to full size pickups in 2012 and have driven pickups ever since, when I'm not driving our Tesla MY LR that has no need for the added complexity of a legacy multispeed transmission. Would I ever buy a manual car again? I doubt it, my knees aren't what they used to be and I don't really miss rowing the gears enough to really consider it at this point in my life. I'll likely go purely BEV within the next few years.

Bigger picture over the next 5-20 years - as self driving tech improves and TaaS takes hold (Transportation as a Service), people simply won't drive any longer. They will be transported via self driving cars or public transports. Last night we went out for errands in our Tesla, and over 26 miles, the car drove itself without any interventions of any kind, except for parking at the very end at one destination since the restaurant we went to for dinner doesn't have a defined parking lot - it's a waterfront restaurant with a grass overflow lot. For the other errands, the car even parked itself without any intervention. If you'd told me even a year ago this was possible - I'd have said no way no how. This tech is much further along than most people realize.

 

[Sandi Bo]

Learned to "drive" on a motorcycle, easily transferred to driving a manual. Definitely have been in situations where I needed to drive one and grateful I did (my brother was in an accident and I needed to drive his truck). You just never know. Most expensive car I ever maintained was a manual, but that's more likely because it was a Triumph Spitfire. Someone did try to steal that and was unsuccessful, but they did a number on the steering column.

But I don't know if my kids can (drive a manual) - I bet my son can. My brother still teases my daughter about knowing how to roll down windows manually (she had the most basic of cars in high school, no power windows).

 

[Luanne]

I've been driving for 57 years. I did not learn on a manual. The cars used for our driver's training was a manual and my mother's car was an automatic. I really wanted to learn to drive a manual as then I could drive anything. My dad had a manual and I really, really tried to drive it, but trying to learn to drive and trying to learn to drive a car that required you to double clutch was just too hard. So I drove an automatic for 5 years. I got my first manual when I graduated from college and my younger sister had to teach me how to drive it.

I had a manual for many years. When I finally went to an automatic I really kind of liked it. Neither of our daughters can drive a manual.

 

[jp10558]

CVTs are the most reliable of the legacy transmissions really.

They haven't been for me. I've had 3 CVTs for more than a year, and one for a year. The one for a year is fine, the one I had for 3 years was fine, the 2 I had longer than 3 years had issues. These were all Subaru. One needed some solenoid fixed at 9 years I think. That wasn't too bad. The other at 6.5 years and 55,000 miles apparently went bad and had to be replaced. I have never had any other automatic fail at 55k. That's insane. Maybe at 14 years old and 175k or something. Then google Nissan and their CVTs. My follow on car from that Outback has been documented on these forums, but I'm back to a traditional auto this time. It is surprising how rough shifting a 10 speed auto feels after many years of CVTs, OTOH I really hope I get over 55k on this 10 speed. I think my odds are good. Maybe I'm a little soured on CVTs from this.

BIgger picture over the next 5-15 years - as self driving tech improves and TaaS takes hold (Transportation as a Service), people simply won't drive any longer. They will be transported via self driving cars or public transports. Last night we went out for errands in our Tesla, and over 26 miles, the car drove itself without any interventions of any kind, except for parking at the very end at one destination since the restaurant we went to for dinner doesn't have a defined parking lot - it's a waterfront restaurant with a grass overflow lot. For the other errands, the car even parked itself without any intervention. If you'd told me even a year ago this was possible - I'd have said no way no how. This tech is much further along than most people realize.

That's great, but from what I can tell, even Tesla doesn't claim level 5 or full autonomous driving. I've heard enough overhyped things from tech companies that I'll want to see this more available before I think self driving tech is really here. Not to say I don't want it - I do. I could do more errands if I could take a hotspot and work instead of driving. Longer trips would be easier if the car drove and didn't get tired etc. This Pilot will be my second vehicle where I say I really hope by the time I need a new car BEVs will be up to my needs. I guess it'll be the first where I'll realistically say I hope self driving is here by then. That said, you're the first and only person I've heard say that anything like you've stated was possible. I'll wait for some news reports I think.

I'll also say while these driver assists are helpful, as long as the law and the manual say I can't rely on the car to drive me like I could another person, all the tech is kind of useless for what I need / want.

 

[DrQ]

Learned to "drive" on a motorcycle, easily transferred to driving a manual. ...

That's where I learned to work a manual transmission.

Our car got totaled in a storm and the only affordable replacement was a used 1980 Chevy Citation. It had a manual transmission and I was able to make the transition from the motorcycle to the car without an issue.

There was a good reason why that late model car was on the used car lot at a cheap price, though. My parents had a knack for picking crappy cars, they gave us their 1974 Chevy Vega when we got married and then when our other car was totaled, steered us into a 1980 Citation by making up the difference of the insurance payout and the cost of the car. It was 1981, I was in college and we had just had our DD. I know they were being generous with their hearts in the right place, but man that was an awful car. When you see lists of the worst cars ever, the Vega and the Citation both figure prominently in the lists.

When you live in a city where there's a light or stop sign every other block, that manual is as fun to drive as a root canal.

Add in some hills too. (Lafayette and West Lafayette Indiana)

 

[WinniWoman]

We rented an automatic when we were in Scotland, even though my husband and I both know how to drive a manual.

We hadn’t driven a manual in many years and we figured we had enough to get used to driving there with driving on the opposite side of the road, the wheel on the right side of the car, all the roundabouts and unfamiliar signs.

 

[bizaro86]

We rented an automatic when we were in Scotland, even though my husband and I both know how to drive a manual.

We hadn’t driven a manual in many years and we figured we had enough to get used to driving there with driving on the opposite side of the road, the wheel on the right side of the car, all the roundabouts and unfamiliar signs.

Yeah. I can drive a manual here easily. I've done it in Europe once for a day and wouldn't again. The other side of the road was OK, but my brain had a hard time operating the gear shift with my other hand.

 

[free2travel]

how about the CVT (Continually Variable Transmission) No gears at all.

our 2nd car has CVT. We're most definitely not fans

 

[Luanne]

When you live in a city where there's a light or stop sign every other block, that manual is as fun to drive as a root canal.

Or in a city where there are hills. I burned out a clutch driving in San Francisco.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Or in a city where there are hills. I burned out a clutch driving in San Francisco.

I can see that happening. I had a tough time learning to be on a hill going uphill at a stop light and then having to move forward without going backward. "More gas!" my dad would yell.