learner driver automatic?

valiant85

hi

im in my 20s and its essential i need to drive now as public transport is really not good in my area,thing is ive been reading up about automatic cars and not being good at multitasking and nervous i really think it would benefit me to learn automatic but everytime i mention it to anyone im met with the same comments about automatics being massively expensive to fix,high fuel economy,not relible,restricting,ive heard it all basically and its putting me off the idea.

now im not ever likely to get a driving job and im not a massive car enthusiast i just basically need it to get from a to b but i would be buying maybe a small 10 year old car to begin with (new driver and all...) vauxhall corsa or renault clio has my eye so what reliability can i expect from an automatic this age and what is your experience with automatic's?are they as bad as people make out in the uk?

plenty of informed advice welcome thankyou

goldspanners

if you dont have a disability then just go for the full liscense. it becomes easy after a few lessons. you arent mutlitasking, your driving. theres more to driving than just steering and changing gear. so if you really doubt your capabilities of doing 2,3,4,or even 5 things at once then i doubt you would even pass a manual test and if for some reason you did i doubt you would be safe on the roads. you should veiw drinving as one thing, not several

Inactive

My advice would be to buy a Jap branded Automatic, Honda, Toyota etc. not a Vauxhall and certainly not a Renault.

A Jap branded automatic will be reliable, more reliable in fact than many French manual cars.

Why not have a few driving lessons in an Auto and see how you get on, quite a few driving schools have Automatic cars.

jd87

Sorry if you've heard it a million times before but it's only because it's true: Unless you have a valid reason to need to learn in an automatic (eg. disability) then just learn manual! It seems impossible to everyone at first but you will soon learn how to do it. Thousands of people every year, from all walks of life with all different kinds of ability levels manage to master a gear stick. I'm sure you can too.

morag1202

I think that if you pass your test in an automatic then you are not entitled to drive a manual. Goldspanners gives good advice, at least learn in a manual, then you can have both options. I have driven an auto and I hated it because I didn't feel 100% in control of the car.

Inactive

morag1202 wrote: »

I think that if you pass your test in an automatic then you are not entitled to drive a manual.

Correct.;)

goldspanners

morag1202 wrote: »

Goldspanners gives good advice

also correct

Inactive

goldspanners wrote: »

also correct

:rotfl:

Even if his keyboard is playing havoc today..

dieselhead

I would give different advice and say that you should try both, I drive both manual and auto cars on a regular basis and to honest see advantages to both. For a good drive as a petrol head I love a manual car but being sat in stop start traffic with an aching clutch foot I can really see the benefits of an automatic.

I would probably suggest that you find a driving school that has both, but give a manual a go first, if you really really can't manage I would swap to an auto as a backup plan. Simply as it will radically reduce your choice of second hand cars especially for the sort of age you are going for it may be more trouble than its worth.

I would echo the advice above though and if you do go for an auto look at at the Japanese models one of the first cars I drove regularly was my grandmas 15 year old automatic nissan micra it was on the old cvt box, howver when it did eventually die it was the automatic gear box that went!

goldspanners

Inactive wrote: »

:rotfl:

Even if his keyboard is playing havoc today..

my keyboards fine, its the pubs fault.:p

Inactive

goldspanners wrote: »

my keyboards fine, its the pubs fault.:p

I was far too polite to suggest that..