AIBU to think DD might as well learn to drive on an automatic car?

Manual gearboxes are already obsolete in medium sized cars and and
above. Try buying a new, manual BMW 3 series of Mercedes C class. You haven’t been able to for years. You can’t buy a manual Golf GTi, and soon you won’t be able to buy a manual Golf either. Regardless of the rate of conversion to EV by the Luddites, ever tightening emissions target for fossil fuelled polluters will mean more and more autos as it’s easier to control their emissions. Less than a quarter of new cars available in the UK are manual (source whatcar: https://www.whatcar.com/news/which-cars-come-with-a-manual-gearbox/n26678 )

She should definitely go automatic - manual will become obsolete. Having a car to practice on is also so valuable when you are learning!

So glad we managed to help get both DDs through driving lessons and test during COVID - not easy with all the stop/starting of lessons and then the wait list for tests. They both did the manual test and I’m glad they did as it proved worth it. DD2 was one of only three people in her course at Uni able to drive one of the, manual, old minibuses and therefore drive the group on tour. But for those three they would have had to raise a lot more money to cover a driver. And DD1 has got a placement year in her dream job that requires driving really old crappy, trucks, Landrovers, and vehicles that can tow. She wouldn’t have been able to do the placement if she couldn’t drive manual. So well worth getting that skill imo.

It’s not a touchy subject. Remember when the government told you to buy diesel? Electric cars will NEVER be enforced as an only option for the purchase of a new vehicle. I work in the industry. I’ll rattle off the reasons why if you like. You are all being blindsided and it is sole destroying for those of us that can see that. A simple google will show you that EV production is being scaled back.

Not touchy, but very short-sighted to think that manual will be obsolete in any of our lifetimes.

I had driving lessons in a manual but just could never "get it". I took a long break for a few years and then learned and passed in an automatic. I agree that driving a manual was more fun, but I just needed a license and a car for my career choice

why is it such a touchy subject for some that manual is becoming obsolete? It’s literally just a fact 🤷‍♀️

seems short sighted to me
unless you plan to finance their car in future

LOL no we won't.

You've got it wrong - manual licences can drive manuals AND autos.
Auto licences can only drive autos.

Agree, we'll all be driving electric cars in the very near future.

If you're a relatively well off family and planning on buying her a newish car as her first car it may as well be automatic.

If you will be buying an older car as the first car, probably best still to learn on a manual.

Just made this decision ourselves - we have two family cars - a fully electric and an automatic/petrol. If my DD19 (and DS about to turn 17) pass their tests, they need to be able to drive our cars. Why learn manual only to then have to buy a (third) manual car for them to drive occasionally?

If the world goes fully electric or hybrid, all cars will be automatic so, again, what is the point of struggling to learn how to change gears/manage the clutch when most of their generation will never need to drive a manual car?

Those discussions always remind me when my grandma was complaining about all those new fancy automatic washing machines. For lazy people only. You can only do proper washing in a twin tub!

I agree. I ended up with an automatic hybrid when I had to get rid of my old car because of the ULEZ expansion. I don't like driving an automatic as much as I did a manual.

I have on a couple of occasions.

It's like most things though, you don't know whether you'll need it until you do, at which point it might be too late. Kind of like insurance I guess. I know I can drive any car if I need to.

Plus, the fun of driving is in the changing of gears, IMO. Autos are boring to drive, again IMO, but I can't be the only one who thinks this.

Sorry that wasn't meant to be a quote!

Learn in manual, always. Then you have the freedom to drive either. Autos aren't going to take over the planet in her lifetime.

As automatic driver, who can also drive a manual I wouldn't say you use your brain anymore or less.

Texting and putting make/up on is much harder while driving a manual which is definitely a reason to learn in a manual and encourage a youngster to drive one of those!

I'm not sure I get the 'more choice with rental cars' argument. As I said earlier, I checked a random airport for a random week - Alicante (small airport) had about 200 manual and 200 automatic cars available. I would think most people can choose from 200 cars and don't actually need 400?
Unless you're talking about, I don't know, random rural African village where the only rental car in the village is a private vehicle lent to you by your AirBnB host's uncle, there are plenty of automatics available.
And on top of that, if you're used to driving automatics in your daily life, who on earth would want to suddenly swap for a manual in a foreign country, to make their life harder? So personally I really don't care there are 200 extra manual cars available, I won't rent one anyway.

Go for automatic. Less handling to think about when learning and can concentrate better on judge road/traffic conditions. I think majority of cars will be automatic in the future.

Agreed, the only people I know who have done this are either extremely anxious older learners or younger learners with disabilities like dyspraxia.

I've driven an automatic for 30 years (yikes!) out of preference. I did start off with a manual when I passed my test for a couple of years.

I still occasionally need to drive a manual: hire cars especially abroad, vans, friends/relatives cars when sharing the driving, moving a friends/relatives car on the drive etc. Weirdly I find it very easy to transition, hard on the knees though! I would hate to have no idea how to drive a 'proper' car.

I think it would be stupid not to learn a manual at her age and no other issues like dyspraxia.

Where are all you people living that think manuals are gone??
I am nearly 40, don't know anyone with an automatic except a relative who sought one out specifically as a mobility vehicle which is the first time in my life I have ever ridden in one , let alone driven one.
Possibly as we live rurally with plenty of 4wd and vans?
It would seriously never occur to me to not drive a manual by choice.

Or a lot of people don't have the choice because used manuals are easier to find and cheaper to buy and fix.

Not everyone can afford a new or nearly new car. It's not that hard to understand.