Long story short, I just graduated and my dad is offering to buy me my first car for college life in the big city. I have had near to zero experience with owning vehicles and wish to hear your opinions between the pros and cons of owning a Manual or Automatic car on just about any criteria you can bring up other than the general ones of performance and such. Thanks in advance
well you have to think about the differences: Manual pros:fun to drive, cheaper to fix transmission, better gas mileage cons: easier to break, wears down faster Automatic pros: lasts longer, don't worry about shifting, hard to ruin car cons: expensive to fix transmission, gas mileage, you can get distracted easier... so there you go I drive a 2008 5-speed Elantra so I hate driving automatics now but it's all up to you
Manuals in general get better gas mileage, take a litte more skill to use (ie, can't be texting and shifting at the same time). They are pain to drive in stop and go traffic, but I think they are more fun to drive overall.
I won't buy an automatic until my knees give out. Also, I find you have much more control in the snow with a manual. Plus, powershifting feels great.
Manual. I learned on a manual, and I don't ever want an automatic car. I think it's great for young drivers, too. It teaches them to be more attentive to driving itself.
Pretty much what Deceptikitty said. Keep in mind that it will be hard at first to master shifting but once you get the hang of it, you will have no problem driving a manual. Edit: I've also heard that it's much cheaper to buy a manual than an automatic. Not sure if it's true, but someone apparently told me that the car dealer slashed the price of their purchase when he requested his car be a manual.
Okay, I am all for manual but here's the thing. Is your dad buying you a new or used car? Many used cars are automatic and it might be harder to find a manual. Also what is the "big city?" I live in Chicago and have driven manual here. It sucks with the stop and go traffic. Not saying you can't, but it's harder.
Auto is less hassle in the big city, and onthe texting comment , texting and driving is not safe period don't do it
Here's the deciding factor: if it's any kind of a performance car, you better be driving a manual. Otherwise what's the point?
Get a manual and make sure you get a decent European or Japanese car, rather than some lumbering and softened American trash where more thought went into the cupholders than the car. It is you first car, so make it a fun one rather than one which you hate since if you are going to get it into some scrapes- and you will- you might as well have fun doing so.
Kind of depends--is this going to be an older or newer car? Many of the pros/cons switch when talking about the newest cars. Take for example, a brand-new Challenger SRT8: The manual costs more. The manual has worse mileage. The manual has worse acceleration. If you like shifting etc, and want to project the "real men drive stick image"---there you go. And if you autocross or anything, it's a no-brainer. But the latest automatics are so good, they can and do outperform a manual in many categories now. (of course, depends on the car---but few cars today (at least from those I pay attention to) get better price, mileage, AND acceleration from a manual. For a 2010 Camaro SS (yellow of course), the manual is cheaper, but the auto is faster and more fuel-efficient. Maintenance cost is pretty variable---if you're skilled and easy on the clutch, a manual will be cheap. Automatics typically cost a ton for even little things. But if you ruin a clutch every 10,000 miles...
my manual stick shift celica, handles beatiful,its anoying sometimes on the city, but being I mainly use it on highway this days, its not all that bad. I manly like it for the fun it is. but that is mainly a taste of preference. my sister will tell you my celica is archaic just for the stick shift. either transmision is fine, as well sometime we miss teh point that a car is to get you from point a to point b
I've never driven a manual simply because I don't know anyone who does who can teach me. I do know that manuals are cheaper than automatics.
