Auto or manual - learning to drive.

WIAWSNB

Hi.

Daughter appears to have gotten herself a job, for which a car would be of benefit - 'on call'. She hasn't started to drive yet, and flushed with the ease of driving our own recent auto, wifie suggested she go 'auto' too, the thinking being the future is 'a'. 

My take is that clutch-vs-auto is only around 5% of the whole driving process, and if she goes 'man' then she can drive anything, here and abroad. And, the 'future' ain't here yet.

Started looking for suitable cars - wee 'uprights' like the Suzuki Ignis (love it...) - and I've shortlisted 10, of which almost one is an auto. I had been expecting perhaps a 60:40 split man:auto, but this has given me pause.

So, thoughts, please? I'm minded to keep options open, and I'll grab an auto provided it's as good in other respects (price and condition), but feel that manual is almost certainly going to be the sensible choice.

Ta.

MattMattMattUK

Learn to drive in a manual, then she has a full license, no need to drive a manual after that if she does not want to or need to (cost, hire car etc.) but it would be daft not to have the option and I really is not any more difficult to learn to drive in a manual.

oldernonethewiser

I agree that learning to drive a manual gives her more options, however for some it is a lot more difficult to learn to use gears than rely on an automatic doing it for you. 

Myci85

Definitely manual, then you can drive both, whereas if you pass in an auto, you're forever restricted. I find car buying hard enough (used cars) trying to find one that ticks the boxes of good history, low enough miles, within price range, within reasonable distance to test drive etc etc, I'd hate to also be restricted to automatics. 

facade

If she is having lessons and then intends to take her test with her instructor's car, start her off with manual.

Once she passes her test she can get either car, small autos fetch high prices compared to manuals and are harder to find, so she could get a manual car of her own anyway.

If she is having trouble with the gears and it becomes a barrier to her passing (it is for some people)- then switch to auto lessons and take an auto test.

SiliconChip

While I'd also opt for manual the trend appears to be for an increasing number of auto tests.

End of the road for manual drivers? More learners opt for automatics in tests

WIAWSNB

Thanks everyone.
I do get that auto is the future, since many will be EVs. We've just bought our first ever auto, and I have to say it makes life sooo much easier. 
However, I agree with most above - go manual to keep your world more open, and there's no reason for me to suspect daughter will struggle.
As facade says, if she struggles for some reason, then switch. 
Cool. Cheers.

Herzlos

Given EV's and hybrids are autos, she may never need to drive a manual.

BUT I'd still try and learn on a manual, because it gives her a lot more choice of instructors, rental/courtesy cars, and gives her a bit more understanding of how cars work. 

If she's struggling with the manual part of it then she can change to auto at any point, but it's a lot harder to go the other way. 

WIAWSNB

Herzlos said:

Given EV's and hybrids are autos, she may never need to drive a manual.
BUT I'd still try and learn on a manual, because it gives her a lot more choice of instructors, rental/courtesy cars, and gives her a bit more understanding of how cars work. 
If she's struggling with the manual part of it then she can change to auto at any point, but it's a lot harder to go the other way. 

Thanks.

That's my current thinking neatly summed up. She could 'avoid' manuals if she really wanted to, but that's bonkers and restrictive. She's just back from a year travelling, and they bought-and-used-and-sold a car in Aussie to go coast-to-coast. Not that she drove, obvs, but it would have been an example of limiting your options if the driver had demanded an auto. 

I have no reason at all to think she won't take to a manual. The original thinking was that we'd use our current car to provide extra practice for her, and that's an auto. 

But things have changed slightly as she's just been offered a job, and part of that will require her to be 'on call' at times, so either 'drive' or stay at the hospital accommodation during these periods. So, she'll now need a car, and it's not just a 'nice thing' to have! 

So, current thinking is we'll buy her a small manual, and she can learn in - and then have - that.

Looking at wee cars in the £5-7k ballpark, the vast majority are manual. Bonkers to restrict options. 

Thanks everyone. 

MyRealNameToo

Historically I would have strongly agreed that everyone should learn manual even if the intend to only ever own autos. In the past I would avoid autos in favour of manuals. 

Having owned an auto and now thinking of getting electric I am much more on the fence. I still think manual is probably better but the wife for example just went for an auto licence. There are still some places in the world where manual is the norm but they typically arent places where Id probably hire a car. It does give you more flexibility but you dont necessarily need that flexibility

WIAWSNB

MyRealNameToo said:

Historically I would have strongly agreed that everyone should learn manual even if the intend to only ever own autos. In the past I would avoid autos in favour of manuals. 

Having owned an auto and now thinking of getting electric I am much more on the fence. I still think manual is probably better but the wife for example just went for an auto licence. There are still some places in the world where manual is the norm but they typically arent places where Id probably hire a car. It does give you more flexibility but you dont necessarily need that flexibility

The future is auto, no question. I even have my own very first auto after 50 years of manuals.

But, the future ain't here yet. And the cars I am looking to buy for daughter are overwhelmingly manual. 

I've concluded there's no good reason to learn only auto at her age.