Advantage to purchasing a manual car?

Question

I have been looking at purchasing a manual vehicle, such as a Honda Civic. Main reason being, I can save a decent amount of money on a manual vs an automatic transmission. What about gas mileage? Do modern manuals still get better gas mileage than automatics?

What are some other pros or cons to purchasing a manual?

Additionally, I should add that I do not know how to drive a manual. I am not worried about learning how to drive manual if I do purchase one, but am worried about possibly ruining the transmission while learning? Is there any reason to worry about that?

Answer 1

Pros:

- You're in control. You can make better decisions than an automatic transmission, and can shift much, much faster than an automatic transmission can, if you wish to take your technique to that level. For this reason:

- It's a heck of a lot more fun!!!

- You may get a slight insurance discount. The idea, I think, is that your average car thief can't drive a manual.

- Manual transmission repair costs are typically half that of automatic transmission.You can Google some stats of your own.

- People don't want to borrow your car if it's a manual. :)



Cons:

- It takes a while to "really get it right." You'll be doing OK initially after an hour or so, but getting the hang of it takes a couple thousand miles, less if you do a lot of city (vs. highway) travel. How good you get at it is entirely up to you.

- You may never get over a moment of... concern... when you're stopped on an incline with a car mere feet behind you. See, for the first couple thousand miles, you're going to slide backward a bit.

- People will want you to move stuff with your truck because it's a manual. :)



If you get a manual transmission, do this first. On a flat surface - preferably a mostly-empty parking lot:

a) press the clutch to the floor and keep it there.

b) start the vehicle and put it into first.

c) do NOT press the accelerator, but release the clutch very, very, very slowly until the vehicle begins to move

d) pat yourself on the back; you've mastered lesson one. :) Now you can move on to using the gas pedal. Don't be discouraged; first is the hardest gear to get down!

Answer 2

I can no longer think of any advantages.

Modern automatics get as good a MPG in testing and better in the real world than a manual.

If you cannot drive a manual transmission damage is expensive as are clutches.

Transmission damage is the biggest item charged to renters who rent manuals.

If you want to drive a manual get some proper lessons.

I have seem a clutch destroyed in less than a mile. The driver should have known better.

Here in Europe we have a different test and license to drive a manual.

In traffic a manual is a lot more work and your left leg gets a real workout.

Answer 3

On some cars manual transmissions last longer. Hondas are in that group. For most American cars it is the opposite. The difference in gas mileage is little. Performance is another issue sometimes. Manual 4cyl Toyotas and Hondas will run a long time.

Answer 4

Modern manuals actually get slightly worse mileage, generally speaking. But the difference is negligible, maybe 1 or 2 mpg or so on most vehicles.



The only benefit worth mentioning is that in the US, a stickshift is the best anti-theft device you can have. So few people now can drive a manual that anyone trying to steal your car will say, "f*ck it."



One con, though, is "clutch foot," when driving in heavy traffic. The need to constantly screw with the clutch in stop-and-go traffic can wear your left leg out pretty quickly if you aren't used to it.



Driving a manual is not that hard. With a weekend of practice you'll be good enough.

Answer 5

Nowadays manuals and automatics get about the same mileage. As for ruining anything while learning, if you are taught correctly that shouldn't be a concern. The worry more would be about burning out the clutch not ruining the transmission (unless you are doing really stupid things like shifting without using the clutch), but again make sure you get someone to teach you the proper techniques, it's not that hard

Answer 6

yes a manual would give you better gas milage because with an automatic you usually get around 20% slip. Dont worry, its easy enough to learn

Answer 7

you have to learn to DRIVE a manual car