Learning to drive - auto or manual

Goudy

In Europe at least the manual car is currently more popular.

Yes, that might change in the future but it's not here yet. EV's without gearboxes does seem like they will be the standard for the near future but there are various EV manufacturers experimenting with different types of gearboxes at the moment to make them more efficient.

Your son's driving future could cover 50+ years, who knows what that will entail?

The EV only push is already starting to get a lot of kick back and there could be alternatives, like synthetic fuels.

I don't think anyone knows what this will all mean in 15 years or so as not everyone involved in it agrees now what it should be.

Currently I think the holding a manual licence still has more going for it than an auto only licence.

Contributors have already highlighted a few points that would likely make a manual licence more worthwhile.

Your 17 year old son isn't likely to be living at the cutting edge of car technology for a good while and though there are auto's available that choice is limited, particularly in the used small car sector that newly qualified drivers tend to be drawn to for insurance reasons.

Ok, one licence might be slighly easier to gain but there isn't really that much in it, there's more to passing a test than changing gears.

With an auto you still have to learn about gearing, particularly low gearing down steep hills. Yes, some modern cars can tell when they are on a steep inclince and sort their own gears out but they all still tend to have the ability to lock them in a low or brake gear and at times you will need to.

One licence covers both, the other only one. One you have a choice, the other you don't. Having a choice is a pretty powerful reason. What his future is driving we don't really know for certain so a choice might be more important than when I started driving in the 80's.

Stubod

..must admit while I would recommend taking a test in a manual, (I have been drving "manualls" for years), I recently got my first auto and now I would never go back to a manual! I am aware that they cost more, but can't understand why they're not more popular? (Perhaps an age thing..)

SensibleSarah

I know plenty of people that struggled learning in a manual and so switched to auto lessons and test because not needing to think about changing gears is one less thing that can go wrong. As someone who passed on my 5th test (albeit my first re-test after more than a decade off lessons after failing my previous one in my late teens) then I understand that - but I wanted the flexibility of not being forced to only drive automatics in the future.

I am planning on my next car being electric (probably), and once I change over, I'm unlikely to go back to a manual gearbox, but good for the option to be there in case of future car hire/courtesy car etc.

MrWannabe

I recently read a comment from someone who stated that in a manual, they feel that they are ‘driving’ the vehicle, but in an automatic, they feel that they are simply ‘operating’ the vehicle.   Would tend to agree.

Your son will feel a greater sense of accomplishment when he passes in a manual, plus, as others have mentioned, it will give him far more choice and flexibility for probably the next 10 years at least.  Most importantly (as this forum is all about money saving!), passing a manual will likely allow him to buy a cheaper car (automatics carry a premium price tag)

I have been buying/driving manual cars for 30+ years….until two weeks ago, when I took delivery of my first automatic car.  Had no intention of switching to automatic. Ordered a manual car, but the automatic version was built/shipped by the factory in error (how, god only knows!).  Although the automatic version costs £1000 more than the manual version, they offered me the automatic car for no extra cost or the option of walking away with a refund on my deposit.  It was a tough decision. I have driven automatic when on holiday in the USA & the odd hire car in the UK over the years.  On those occasions, I enjoyed the novelty & simplicity of driving automatic, but have always felt that driving manual is just more fun and engaging. I felt a bid sad at the prospect of saying goodbye to manual.  My decision to accept the automatic was swayed by the fact that I really could not be bothered with the hassle of going through the whole process of sourcing a car again/enduring long lead-times, plus, I expect that this will probably be my last ICE vehicle (given that 99% of Electric cars are automatic), thus, I ultimately figured that I might as well just go ‘automatic’ now.  

So, the verdict after two weeks of living with my own automatic.   I like it.  It is nice to drive and more relaxing than driving a manual. But I think I will forever look back fondly on when I used to drive manual…it was just more fun! 😊

Username03725

Having spent 44 years changing gears and the last 18 months driving an electric company vehicle during working hours and then back to the manual in my own time, there is absolutely no doubt that my next car will not have a manual gearbox. No contest. The days of having to extract every ounce of Go and need the absolute maximum control over a vehicle via the gearbox are behind me; it's comfort and ease all the way.