Automatic only licence

forgotmyname

I would be asking the question of would the employer ever give her a company car for some reason? My old firm used to send staff on courses or ask them to drop things off here and there and thrown the keys to a company vehicle, None of the ones we has were automatic. So having just an auto licence maybe a hinderance.

missbiggles1

It's very little effort to take a manual test when you've just been driving automatics for a few years - I think I only had a couple of lessons and a few hours' practice in a friend's manual to prepare me for it..

wiltsguy_2

I passed my test in an auto(as i owned one) when i was younger back in 1993! didnt pass in a manual until 2001, never had an issue. And now i drive an auto:o. if you intend to just have an auto for her it's not an issue!

Rambosmum

Once she's driving picking up gear changes and clutch control will be easy so if she ever needs to drive a manual she can take another test after half a dozen lessons. I doubt it'd happen though.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Learning to drive these days is a bit different and also, I would be very wary of getting into a learning to drive situation with a spouse - it can be very testing and you have to be very clear who is in charge, and any stresses have to be left within the car. So I would tend to lean towards dropping a bit more money on lessons and avoiding too much practice.

I think you'll find that most parents who teach their kids spend a lot more on lessons and a lot less time in practising than the days when the likes of me learnt to drive.

Depending on how old your wife is and how confident she is, then actually learning on an automatic might just be the bit between being in her comfort zone or not. Older people may struggle a bit more on learning and my guess is that she might be the type of person that struggles to learn to drive because she has taken no interest in how you drive and what goes on.

Depending on her age, you are going to find insurance expensive as a novice driver, but larger cars are not necessarily the insurance problem that many people expect.

Get her a few lessons on a manual to start with and if she is ok, think about getting a cheapish second car. If not, then you should be able to have her practice in your car as long as your nerves can take it. I would not recommend swapping between auto and manual - an important part of learning manual is simply time served to allow the "muscle memory" of using gears to be adopted.

rev_henry

AdrianC wrote: »

She could. Obviously, it wouldn't help her with her clutch control skills, but they're relatively quick to pick up anyway. It'd still help her with her road awareness and other vehicle control skills, though.

But would it not be utterly confusing for a learner going from one to the other? Not the actual driving but when one uses the brake pedal, the fact that the handbrake is redundant in an auto etc etc.

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Nothing wrong with your thinking for your current circumstances Reverend re auto only if that suits you both.

Might be worth discussing with SWMBO what the future might bring before committing to auto only, eg might your wife need to drive for employment or voluntary work at some time in the forseeable future when only manual company vehicles might be available.

Auto doesn't mean lovely torque converter proper cars exclusively, there are some truly horrid front wheel drive contraptions from all sorts of european car makers with dreadful jerky unreliable gearboxes classed as automatic, it's ironically the Koreans who stick to proper auto boxes.

Highly unlikely she'd ever do or want to do a job involving a company car, but that did cross my mind. And don't be ridiculous, I would never subject anyone to an easypeasytechnotronic box! Large saloon cars for us both please. Actually having said that she probably wouldn't want a big car by choice, only if she had my old one or something, so that is something to think about. Normal run of the mill hatchbacks aren't usually automatic.

forgotmyname wrote: »

I would be asking the question of would the employer ever give her a company car for some reason? My old firm used to send staff on courses or ask them to drop things off here and there and thrown the keys to a company vehicle, None of the ones we has were automatic. So having just an auto licence maybe a hinderance.

Yes, as above.

rev_henry

IanMSpencer wrote: »

Learning to drive these days is a bit different and also, I would be very wary of getting into a learning to drive situation with a spouse - it can be very testing and you have to be very clear who is in charge, and any stresses have to be left within the car. So I would tend to lean towards dropping a bit more money on lessons and avoiding too much practice.

I think you'll find that most parents who teach their kids spend a lot more on lessons and a lot less time in practising than the days when the likes of me learnt to drive.

Depending on how old your wife is and how confident she is, then actually learning on an automatic might just be the bit between being in her comfort zone or not. Older people may struggle a bit more on learning and my guess is that she might be the type of person that struggles to learn to drive because she has taken no interest in how you drive and what goes on.

Depending on her age, you are going to find insurance expensive as a novice driver, but larger cars are not necessarily the insurance problem that many people expect.

Get her a few lessons on a manual to start with and if she is ok, think about getting a cheapish second car. If not, then you should be able to have her practice in your car as long as your nerves can take it. I would not recommend swapping between auto and manual - an important part of learning manual is simply time served to allow the "muscle memory" of using gears to be adopted.

Yeah, I have no intention of actually teaching her, just taking her out for practice between lessons. When I learnt I started out with lessons exclusively, then after a few weeks my instructor said 'ok, I'm happy for you to practice without me now.' Which I did, every night. Seemed to work well.
She's not really interested in driving, and would only ever be someone who uses a car to get places, nothing more. I'm just trying to persuade her to because she quite simply will have to at some point and it gets harder as one gets older.

Oh and we're young, thanks.

Thanks to everyone for your usual helpful comments.

AdrianC

rev_henry wrote: »

But would it not be utterly confusing for a learner going from one to the other? Not the actual driving but when one uses the brake pedal, the fact that the handbrake is redundant in an auto etc etc.

Riiight. It's probably best you don't "help" her with practice, to be honest. Because if she treats the handbrake as redundant because it's an automatic, she'll - quite rightly - fail. As she will if she can't appreciate the difference between using the footbrake and engine braking.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

rev_henry wrote: »

Yeah, I have no intention of actually teaching her, just taking her out for practice between lessons. When I learnt I started out with lessons exclusively, then after a few weeks my instructor said 'ok, I'm happy for you to practice without me now.' Which I did, every night. Seemed to work well.
She's not really interested in driving, and would only ever be someone who uses a car to get places, nothing more. I'm just trying to persuade her to because she quite simply will have to at some point and it gets harder as one gets older.

"Just taking her out for practice" is not trivial - you are in charge of the car effectively, and have to be able to cope with the bizarre logic of learner drivers who have not yet absorbed all the apparently conflicting advice and guidance they receive. You don't get the choice - you have to teach and you have to be very aware of what is going on. It is a stressful and sobering experience being in a car with an incompetent driver who in turn is being harassed by inconsiderate drivers who see an L plate as a challenge and a nuisance rather than an indication that tolerance and care is required.

Simple example: learners will simply not see the hazards experienced drivers see and do not judge speeds well, so do scary things like pulling out in front of approaching cars just when you are certain they would do no such thing. My other experience was trying to make a right turn on an urban dual carriageway which was a 30mph limit and having to abort 3 times as other cars spotted the L plates and forced their way past at speed to avoid being behind a learner.

rev_henry

I didn't mean engine braking, I meant the fact of having ones foot on the brake all the time when stopped, getting going by taking one's foot off it etc.
Having never done an auto test obviously I don't know how to drive one to test standard.