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Yes because here you can't get a driver's license without learning how to drive a manual transmission. All your lessons and final driving exam are always in a manual transmission vehicle. (Portugal, 28 years old)
However I know many people who switch to automatic after they're done with their exam because they don't want to deal with it. I've always heard that manual is for people who like to drive and auto is for people who just need a car to get from A to B.
41, can and have been driving manuals exclusively for the last decade. I only learned about 15 years ago when I picked up a beater Datsun 720, but once I went manual I was hooked. Every car I've bought since has been a manual. Keeps me awake and engaged while driving.
My brother always use to tell me that driving manual is just driving with extra steps. Lol
USA, 33, daily drive a stick.
Bought my first car with my own money in 2013, a 2014 WRX, it only came in manual. I've been driving it since.
36, Canadian, 10/10 would recommend. Winter driving is way more fun with manual, and it can be a lot easier on gas if you're in the mood.
37, Eastern PA. I CAN drive a stick, but I don't like to. It's another distraction I don't need while driving. Can pay attention to all the other idiots on the road when not worrying what gear I'm in or when to shift.
Yes Midwest, U.S. 40y
US late 20s. Yes I can and every car I've owned for the last 8 years has been manual
I go out of my way to find them.
I am 17 and don't even have a driver's license (I already could). However I don't want that in the first place. I don't feel comfortable about being in control of a heavy vehicle moving at relatively high speed. I know I'd drive over a pedestrian the first month because I got lost in my thoughts and completely forgot to pay attention to being in a damn car.
Or just fall asleep. Being in a train, bus, or even just playing a bus simulator on my phone immediately makes me sleepy. Sleeping driver is not a good driver.
Additionally there's the high prices of gas to consider, low prices of bus transport, and for me as a student non-existent prices for trains.
Why pay extra to create additional traffic and kill people?
Iβm 26, from the US and I learned manual when I was 22. I live in Mexico now and im glad I learned because manual is still very common here, and thatβs what Iβm driving now
Italian, 45 here. Always driven manual.
When I was 15 my grandfather took me out into the woods to teach me to drive stick in a 30,000 lb dump truck. I had never driven anything bigger than a golf cart before. My space to work with was a clearing maybe three times the size of the truck. I did not learn to drive stick that day.
All my cars, bar one, have been manual transmission, as is my current one. To be honest, as I'm lazy, I do prefer auto, but it's easier to buy a car with manual transmission here in the UK, as you have more options.
Big yes! Mid 20s and currently daily drive my miata
Nope, I'm scared to even use the paddle shifters on my auto
The car won't let you break it. Give it a try.
Yes, 29 from Belgium. I got my first automatic transmission in January. Everyone around me drives a manual
From India, late 30s and I drive manual. I learned to drive less than an year ago in a manual that I own. Manual cars are cheaper and I bought one since I believe switching from manual to auto would be easier than the other way around. I don't feel comfortable driving an automatic; and it is only recently that I realised that ALL of my friends and family drive automatics! I live in a large crowded city with terrible traffic problems and I sometimes wonder if driving an automatic would be easier.
Late 20s and in the Midwest US. I daily drive a manual 1994 Mazda Miata.
35, Canada, and manual is my preference although my current car is an automatic.
I learned to drive on an automatic, but bought a manual for my first car and got my ex to teach me how to drive it. It was important to me that I be able to get into pretty much anything and drive it. After driving an automatic exclusively for the last year, I miss having that level of gearing control, especially on hills and corners.
I'm in my 30s grew up in FL and I can
Yes, 40, Germany. And I actually do.
Yes, almost 40, USA. I don't currently own a manual, but used to. It was a great way to save a few thousand on a car and it's a lot more fun to drive. But very few cars in the US have a manual option these days.
I'm 42, and can drive manual, but I've had an automatic the last 5 years.
My son is now learning to drive, but he will most likely not need to drive a manual ever.
I'm 19-20 and I'm from the eastern part of the US.
In a car, I have about 8 hours of experience and could do it in a pinch, although I'd feel unconfident with it.
On a motorcycle, I have about 20 hours of more recent experience and I feel fairly comfortable with it.
American, Mid 30s, and all cars I've owned so far are Manual Transmission.
The shitposty part of me wants to call it a giant stim toy
Yes. If I hadn't learned to drive manual while getting a license, I wouldn't have been able to drive them legally, which I figured would have been unnecessarily restrictive.
That being said, I prefer driving automatic, since you don't really gain anything from driving manual anyway these days. Also I don't own a car and drive maybe 4 times a year, so it's really whatever.
Nope, never learned. I'm 31 in the US. Never had the need to learn as I was raised with automatics only.
30 years old. US. I can and do drive a stick shift.
Really hard coming from a family with only automatic cars. Very few people have stick cars, and even fewer are willing to teach you in their own car.
Can't even rent a stick shift to practice on. Your best bet is to sign up with a driving school that offers stock shift lessons, which I almost did.
Instead, a buddy of mine was kind enough to let me practice for 2 hours with him in a beater he had. Then I went and picked up my brand new WRX. Stalled like 12 times on the way home. But I figured it out!!
I'm 36, I live in the UK, and I've driven a manual car since I was 17. I've only driven an automatic twice in my life and I'll probably never own one.
Yes, I'm from the UK so pretty much everyone here can even if they own an automatic. It's not seen as a big deal here, it's just normal.
I prefer manuals, I won't be buying an automatic until my leg falls off.
France, early thirties, I can. Automatics are still pretty new on the market, most people I know cannot operate one. It's easier of course, but kinda throws you off at first. My wife owns one and it's great for traffic and keeping a low fuel consumption, since the thing is made to shift gears exactly when necessary. The tradeoff is no sportsy driving, of course, but I can live with that for some time.
Late 30s, learned to drive in NL and now live in SE. Initially learned about transmissions by running around on four wheelers. I drive a manual car every day. There's a lot of fun and connection to driving manual, though I see the ease and efficiency of the automatic transmission as well as the general trend.
I drive a manual transmission to work every day. [20, US]
I can operate manual gear shifters in other contexts (namely bikes), but I've never driven a car with one.
I'm from the UK and after driving one about 100 metres I refuse to drive an automatic car, it's one of the main reasons why I don't want an electric car either. Automatic cars are horrible twitchy things that just aren't enjoyable to drive and you can't change gears to anticipate a change in the road before you're already on that bit of road.
Yes, Italy, 36 (since I'm 18).
30, german, yes I can, no I do not. I drive a hybrid, so no manual transmission.
Currently learning, it's useful for a lot of the light industrial jobs here
First time I drove anything but a manual was driving the shitty trucks of the Swiss army. It felt weird and wrong, but then again driving with standard issue boots makes using the pedals a bit harder sometimes, so it's probably good I didn't have to use the clutch.
These days I mostly drive rented cars so it's whatever is available, who cares.