Getting a vehicle with a manual transmission was great advise in 1990

I saw the statement above in a "first car for teen daughter" thread on another forum (and copied/pasted as spelled). It was a response to the advice to get a manual car for the daughter so that there would be less likelihood of her car being driven by others, loaned/borrowed, etc.

I'm an advocate that anyone with a driver's license should be able to operate a manual transmission - at least well enough to get home in an emergency. Others believe that since manual transmissions are so uncommon these days that it is a waste of time. What say you? 

I have two daughters. One (21) has been driving a manual since day one and is very competent. She's a "car person." The other (19) hates driving and does it because it is a necessary part of life. She can get a manual car moving and could get home, but it wouldn't be pretty. 

We have 5 cars, all with manual transmissions.  My 15yo daughter has declared that she doesn't want to learn.  The real problem is that she's worried she can't.  I think we'll get her past it, which will allow me to buy something useful for towing my motorcycles that I can borrow back from her as needed.  :)

Honestly, I think it will give her street cred to be able to drive one.  I'll bet most of her classmates have never been in a car with a manual.

mfennell said:

We have 5 cars, all with manual transmissions.  My 15yo daughter has declared that she doesn't want to learn.  The real problem is that she's worried she can't.  I think we'll get her past it, which will allow me to buy something useful for towing my motorcycles that I can borrow back from her as needed.  :)

Honestly, I think it will give her street cred to be able to drive one.  I'll bet most of her classmates have never been in a car with a manual.

We're in the same boat. Most of our vehicles are manual. When the younger daughter got her permit, the only auto vehicle we had was our E350 15 passenger/camper van. She started in that until I happened into a beater auto car from a friend. My wife has some health challenges that may move her into an auto at some point as well.

My older daughter absolutely milks the "street cred" of being able to drive a manual. 

I taught my daughter (19 at the time) to drive a stick on my heavily modded R53 cooper S. She absolutely loved it! Now she's shopping for her first car and really wants a stick. They are hard to find though. But I fully support her getting a stick. 

There's one problem though.

Her friends all want her to teach them to drive a stick.....on her car. I know she'll want to, but I told her how much a clutch costs, and the more learners there are on her left pedal, the more likely she is to be in for a repair bill. 

As someone that loves manuals, has 3 of 4 cars currently as manuals, I think it's a niche thing today.  Almost any car you see for sale online is more than likely an auto with obvious exceptions.  Auto seems to be the default for new sales anymore.

Even I enjoy the Crosstrek for simplicity some days.

DrBoost said:

Her friends all want her to teach them to drive a stick.....on her car. I know she'll want to, but I told her how much a clutch costs, and the more learners there on on her left pedal, the more likely she is to be in for a repair bill. 

A very valid point. We have a Mazda 3 that we bought new in 2010 for my wife. We gave it to the older daughter when she turned 17 (she'd already been driving a manual for a year at that point) and she did exactly what you point out. As a result, I put a clutch in it at about 130k IIRC. I re-acquired that car from my daughter recently - now with 200k and fairly rough. I gotta figure out a plan for it. 

Both kids learned stick, one did very well the other could get a stick home but it would be ugly.  As someone who learned in a stick(1970) and until about 5 years ago drove them exclusively I am seeing why the automatic is so popular.  When I don't have one I miss it but when I have one the auto appliance still gets more use.  

So to answer your question no.  I would recommend learning to use a clutch for those who enjoy driving though.

I think learning to use a manual is cool for the street cred, and it does get you access to a few models that are only offered with a manual like the Civic Si and Type R, but I wouldn't consider it a required life skill.

Most people can probably get through their entire lives without learning, and that's okay–manual transmissions are great for fun driving, not daily driving.

That said, if my kid wants to learn someday, I'll gladly teach her.

Both of my boys (20 and 17) own manuals.  My daughter (17) doesn't want to learn manual and I'm fine with that.

So was investing in Apple in 1990, what's the point? 

I drive a stick because I have to. It's not fun, it's not "a more  engaging experience", frankly it's annoying as berkeley 99% of the time being stuck in stop and go traffic on hills with people trying to stop in my trunk. 

That 1% of the time where it actually does get entertaining doesn't come close to making up for the rest of the time for me. 

RevRico said:

So was investing in Apple in 1990, what's the point? 

I drive a stick because I have to. It's not fun, it's not "a more  engaging experience", frankly it's annoying as berkeley 99% of the time being stuck in stop and go traffic on hills with people trying to stop in my trunk. 

That 1% of the time where it actually does get entertaining doesn't come close to making up for the rest of the time for me. 

I'm curious why you have to drive a manual? If you don't enjoy it, why not move to an auto? Work vehicle maybe? 

Kids tend to be different.  My oldest was very interested in learning to drive manual, helped me rebuild a Mazda 13BT engine, and is currently dailying a RAM 1500 with the Getrag 6-speed.  The youngest just wants the car to work and knows how to put air in the tires.  He has no interest in learning to drive a manual.

My first car was automatic but I learned manual with friends. As I got more into cars I wished my first car was manual so that my practice was more consistent. I still know how to drive manual but I'm a bit rusty. 

Honestly I think it's still good advice. The number of people I know who can't drive a stick but wish they could is much much higher than than those who can but don't want to.

Mrs. Hungary can't drive a manual and very much wishes she could.  When we only had manual cars, she hated driving them (she's always worried she's doing something wrong).  But when we're on adventures that require one of my manual vehicles, she hates the fact that she never is able to drive.

Before I drank (16-years-old) I lived in farmville USA and had to drive long distances to get to friends houses (20-minutes to an hour between houses wasn't uncommon).  Generally we'd all get to gather at someone's farm on a Friday or Saturday night and party.  Knowing how to drive a stick let me drive drunk people safely home on many MANY occasions.  The first time shocked everyone, as I didn't have my license yet, and I kind of became a DD from there (which I didn't mind at all).

Both my kiddos will be getting manual cars as their first cars (the eldest, my Mazda.  The youngest, my Toyota).  What they do from there is 100% on them, but I will have given them the opportunity to learn (and who knows when they'll need it).

Good times.

There aren't many automatic motorcycles. The boy will be fine.

I love manuals for hobby vehicles, but our fleet has gone slushbox for daily drivers. A big reason is they are nearly impossible to sell when we are ready for something new. And, there aren't many newer vehicles to choose from anymore either. 

We even have one with a (shudder) CVT.

I'm amused at the number of posts about one kid enjoying, and one not, manual shift.  My story exactly.

Funny that over here in Europe I have the opposite problem.

You can get all new cars easily as auto, but the used ones are still mostly manual.

Since most of my driving is currently in the city, stop and go traffic gets exhausting.

Planning to teach both my kids how to drive a manual. If nothing else, it should give them a better sense of how the car works.

RevRico said:

I drive a stick because I have to. It's not fun, it's not "a more  engaging experience", frankly it's annoying as berkeley 99% of the time being stuck in stop and go traffic on hills with people trying to stop in my trunk. 

I'm the opposite. I find it satisfying 99% of the time.  My VW with a Euro shift linkage is a pleasure to shift. 

I may be weird.

When I got my license we only had a manual car so my brother and I both learned.  My two oldest boys also learned on manuals and have manual cars.  My daughter says she does not want to learn, and we have a few autos, but she will learn.  

My 18 year old started asking me to let her learn to drive my Miata so that is going to start soon.   We will see...

I was pretty lucky.  I learned to drive a standard first on grass in my granda's pasture, then on a gravel road, and finally on real asphalt.   The first two are way more forgiving of awkward clutch releases because the tires slip a little instead of the clutch.  I was also lucky because I learned car control on gravel and dirt roads where the slides are a lot slower than on a high grip surface.   

If you insist on teaching your kids to drive a manual, I assume you are also teaching them to tune their carburetor, gap their points, pry off their hubcaps, put a spout into an oil can, and change their flat tires.? These all used to be required knowledge to drive a car, but have mostly faded away because of modern technological advancements. I am not against any of it, or learning to drive a manual, but I don't think it is necessary either. 

pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:

If you insist on teaching your kids to drive a manual, I assume you are also teaching them to tune their carburetor, gap their points, pry off their hubcaps, put a spout into an oil can, and change their flat tires.? These all used to be required knowledge to drive a car, but have mostly faded away because of modern technological advancements. I am not against any of it, or learning to drive a manual, but I don't think it is necessary either. 

Yep.