Can you drive stick?

[Lex]

We've been car shopping and I discover once again that the world has passed me by. No dealer can locate the car we're looking for anywhere in New England with a manual transmission. The manufacturer indicates that they do make them but dealers don't them because no one buys them.

I've always had standard transmission cars and my wife has had them for most of her driving career. I hadn't realized that almost no one drives them anymore and fewer and fewer people know how to drive one. And I never imagined how difficult it would be to find one to buy.

So I wondered. I've started polling friends and neighbors and I decided to ask here, too.

[PA Girl]

I learned on a standard. While my family did have one automatic (Dad's car) I was not allowed to drive it because my dad wanted me to learn on a standard. (My dad started teaching me to drive around 12 yo, that is country living for you.)

Later, when my parent's got me a car, it was a standard and I had to take my test on that car. All my friends were allowed to take their grandma's automatic sedans, not me.

Another thing I was forced to learn was to drive a standard on extreme hills, stoping and parrell park. Hours were spent, in tears, up and down the narrow streets of the eastern PA coal region - parking, stopping, parking, stopping on the steepest hills.

We often talk about getting a Jeep and if we do, we want a standard so our son can learn on it down the road.

But to answer the question, no, we don't on a standard vehcile.

[JT]

Lex, My pick-up and Honda del sol are both 5 speeds. When I taught my then 16 y.o. son to drive I insisted on him learning to drive a stick, much to his dismay. He couldn't understand why I was so adamant about it. I said it could be a matter of life and death at some point. Maybe he goes to a party with someone else driving and that person gets all f'ed up. It would be good to know how. Besides, I told him that it would be hard for him to have his arm around his girlfriend, hold his beer, and roll a joint all at the same time when driving a stick. His first vehicle was a Mazda B4000 pick-up with a 5 speed. Today, 10 years later, his first consideration on a new car is that he wants a manual. My wife drives an automatic, but drove TR 4's and VW's in the past.

[jmq]

Its bums me out that I never had the opportunity to learn, cuz they look like much fun to drive.

Lex - have you looked at VW or the mini Cooper? A manual VW diesel would get crazy good mileage.

[toni]

I first learned on an automatic, but when I got married our first car was a standard. My husband taught me how to drive stick(yes, we managed to stay married!) by driving around the family vineyards, back and forth up the rise-neighbors eventually came out and asked if we lost something 'cause we just kept driving the same pattern

I've read that when parents are buying their kids cars now they're prefering sticks because they figure they can't text and drive at the same time.... but maybe that's not so true.

When we bought a trans am a number of years ago we had to special order the standard version-everything we found locally was automatic-which is sad since it was a sports car. I'd prefer a standard, though will agree that on some of the hilly area stoplights are a pain.

[greyhoundmom]

I drove a standard for 13 years. It is fun but does get old after that many years. I'm glad I know how.

[John LMBZ06]

Well, the LMBZ06 in my name stands for the type of car I drive. I use that name on this board so that I did not have to remember a new name and just use the same one I use on my car board. My car only come with a manual shift tranny. I do not like automatic transmissions. I do not like the paddle shift automatic ones either. It is a control issue. I do not want the car to decide to shift when I am half way through a corner. I also do not like the slight hesitation you get with an automatic. I bet with the type of car you are getting there could be a resale value issue and that may keep you from trying to find a manual shift if you do not plan to keep the car for a long time.

[lust4life]

I was taught on a standard and my family would have had it no other way. Always enjoyed it and came to realize years later that sometimes that is the only option available. I have found it hard to find cars with the option, it's a dying art.

[augie]

Like a lot of kids, I didn't have a lot of $$$ to put into my "basic transportation" cars. One of the features I enjoyed about "sticks" was that you could push start them when the battery was too low.

When I was in school I used to back into our driveway because even the slight slope down towards the road was enough to get my car up to speed sufficiently that I didn't need to enlist my roommates to help me push it!

[pipanale]

My first few cars were sticks and I F*&#ing hated them all. Nothing like rush hour traffic in a stick. My wife bought her first new car in 1004...a stick. She wept when it has 180K miles on it and I made her buy a new car.

I hate driving stick.

That said: Everyone should know how to do it

[AquaGirl]

My dad made me learn on a stickshift (remember the Chevy Vega's of the 70s)? I think he went from smoking 1 pack a day to maybe 3 packs during that timeframe. I am glad I learned it as it has come in handy. We don't have a stick shift car now and won't own one to drive in Washington, DC area traffic. However, we have had a stick shift rental car on some of the smaller islands, so its good to know how to drive them.
Augie's message cracked me up! My hubby (boyfriend at the time) drove a 56 Chevy in high school and college. Something was wrong with the gear shift, so it wouldn't go in reverse. He had to park on a flat spot, so he could back up the car. He would open the hood, move the gear into reverse, quickly close the hood and jump in car. One leg would be out the driver door pushing the car backwards. Ahhhh, the good old days - LOL.

[PA Girl]

My dad made me learn on a stickshift (remember the Chevy Vega's of the 70s)? I think he went from smoking 1 pack a day to maybe 3 packs during that timeframe.

HA!

Maybe my mom should have taken up smoking when I was learning. Instead she would lay in the backseat, crying, as my dad barked instructions at me. I am not joking, she wept with her head under a coat.

My dad is Prussian German so even the gentlest of directions come out in a way that makes one snap to attention.

I have no idea why my mom even bothered coming along. Why didn't she just stay home? I need to ask her this question.

[iowaguy]

Interesting topic, Lex. Figures you would be one of the last to want to practice this fading skill!

My parents had a string of VWs and other German cars so I learned to drive on a stick shift in the 70's. I voluntarily kept up the tradition of driving a manual until about the mid-90's. When I begrudgingly got my first automatic I thought "how boring," but to be honest---I've gotten over it. I've moved on. Now that people call me on a cell phone while I'm driving, I'm not sure I could concentrate as well on changing gears with a stick.

Regrettably, none of my 3 daughters know how to drive a manual transmission, but maybe they'll never need to know.

[Jo Ann - VA]

My Dad was a state trooper and he was strict about driving. His rules were:

1-Learn to drive on a stick shift. We live in VA and there are lots of steep hills. He would make you stop and start over and over again until you mastered the clutch. He was not a patient person so I actually dreaded driving lessons.

2-No license until you are 18

He said he saw too many teenagers hurt or killed and he thought 16 was too young to drive. So, all three of us had to wait until we were 18 to get our license. It was pretty funny when my brother's dates would come pick him up.

[JT]

Iowa Guy said:Now that people call me on a cell phone while I'm driving, I'm not sure I could concentrate as well on changing gears with a stick.

Sorry, Pal, but either way, stick or automatic,it's a bad combination. I've been rear ended twice while I was stopped at a light by someone DWT on a cell phone. One time I was hit so hard that my stereo came out of the dash. The second time my Honda Civic was turned into a Honda Accordion.Both times, the guy that hit me was driving an automatic. /b]