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

DD (20) has an automatic license and regrets it. Suitable, cheap to insure auto cars for that age group are hard to come by, as well as the fact that having an automatic only license is seen as a risk and pushes insurance costs up.

She never expected it to be an issue re: work, travel etc but plans change and nowadays the fact that she can’t drive a manual car has held her back in certain situations. She can’t drive the cars at work (both manual!) and has been rejected from otherwise suitable ski season jobs in France as their company cars were manual too. Yes, the world is switching to automatic but there’s still quite a bit of progress to be made! I’d say it’s still worth learning manual as a life skill

I think I’m right in saying that Volvo don’t even make manual cars anymore. In my 30 years of driving I don’t think I’ve ever had to drive someone else’s car in an emergency.

Dh taught ds1 all the basics to save time and money. Learning in a manual, then having driving lessons in a manual, but driving a parents automatic for practice is not that hard. Plus you get all the driving practice.

i learnt in a manual but got my first electric (automatic) car about six years ago and if I can help it will never drive a manual again. So much easier.

we have hired automatics abroad no problem. And have had automatic courtesy cars too.

the world is changing fast. In your shoes I’d not bother getting her to learn manual.

DD passed this summer (first time with only 1 minor) having had no practise in between lessons.

My car is a brand new automatic and there was no way I was letting her near it.

Less than 1 in 4 new cars come with the option of a manual gearbox 😮

My daughter (18) only has an automatic licence, we only drive auto cars, I don't know anyone who doesn't have an auto car. I'm not expecting her to need to drive a manual for any reason in her life and she doesn't either.

surely it's better to have an auto license than none at all

That's* *a good point, and the heart of the matter. Ideally you could learn all the other important things in an automatic car, then learn about gears.
The trouble is that once people have their automatic licence they often don't bother to learn to drive a manual, or even learn how gears work.

Even when we have booked a hire car abroad we have sometimes been given an auto without asking for one - they are so common now.

This is true, for some reason my in-laws absolutely hate automatic and they have to specifically request a manual when they’ve hired cars on occasion. Nowadays it’s far more likely not to have the manual option than vice versa.

I've only had an automatic licence for 12 years and have yet to come across these emergency situations where I need to drive a manual. The only argument could be for work related reasons so joining police forces or something, but even police cars are slowly turning auto and electric.

Auto only is fine these days. As the Autotrader stats posted above show it is not hard to find an automatic car these days and they are only going to get more common as EVs take over the market.

Even a few years ago I would have strongly pushed manual (and actually did, as my husband learned late in life and I thought it would be useful for hiring cars, etc) but not in 2024. Autos have become much more common in the past ten years. Even when we have booked a hire car abroad we have sometimes been given an auto without asking for one - they are so common now.

She can practice safe driving skills in the automatics with you and learn manual during her driving lessons and take the manual test.

I understand why you’d only get an automatic license. I hadn’t driven a manual in years. I still can though (weirdly, I tried one at the weekend. After an initial “kangaroo” I was off! You don’t forget) The only time I can think of when you might need to drive a manual is overseas. We have travelled to quite a few places where the only hire cars available were manual. So, on balance, I think I’d want her to be able to drive both.

Future is definitely automatic, go into any car dealership and none of the cars are manual anymore (many don’t even have the option to come as a manual!) so it’s definitely becoming obsolete.

I think it's still better to learn both. You just never know when you'll need it.....

Automatic cars are a doddle. Easy. But manual takes more time and it's better to have a broader knowledge.

I have a manual licence, but soon after passing my test, I spent several years in a country where nearly all cars are automatic and wondered why anyone bothers with manual. I haven't needed to drive anything other than an automatic in the last 30 years. Wouldn't go back now!

DD chose to learn in a manual car but the future is definitely automatic, so I wouldn't have had an issue with her just getting an automatic licence. All electric cars are automatic anyway.

Many companies that provide company cars only use manuals.

I'm 60 and can't count the times in my career I've been asked to drive someone else's car, a temporary car when mine had broken down, a manual van to a trade show etc, a manual mini bus.....

If sales of ICE are banned in 2035, they will still be in common usage until 2040. Limiting your abilities for 16 years seems like a bad idea.

Plus learning in an automatic may be quicker, but passing in a very short time is a bad idea anyway. They simply don't have the experience to deal with the unexpected.

🙄🙄🙄😒

DD2 is nearly 16 so we have started to think about this. I guess it will depend on which car we have to insure her on in a year or so's time. If we still have the manual small petrol second car that DD1 is insured on and drives when she's at home then it will mean manual lessons for DD2. Also DD1's instructor was excellent and we'd use her again for DD2, and currently the instructor has a manual diesel car.

We also have a EV as a family car. But it's quite big and fast, and takes a bit of getting used to. I wouldn't insure them on it until they had been driving for a few years.

If we follow that logic, why is she getting only car license, and not a cat C one? Certainly limits your options if you can't drive anything over 3.5t. And those are the cars for real drivers! But I've never seen this argument.

In OPs situation, learning automatics makes much more sense, surely it's better to have an auto license than none at all. As for rental car availability, I've never had any issues. I searched for a random week, Alicante airport - indeed for a week, the cheapest automatic is entire 14 euros more expensive than cheapest manual..

Hire cars are often manual - you limit your choice there. I know cause in Europe I only wanted an auto - coping with changing gears with the other hand and driving on the wrong side of the road seemed like too much to do at once. And our choice of hire car were limited and more expensive.

work sites still have manual cars too. Lots of places. Manual isn’t going anywhere. I have a friend who in her 40s never got her manual licence. She wanted to go to a mining town and get a job but manual licence was a requirement. She was too embarrassed to go do the test again so she just never applied for the job.

I have a manual hybrid - Ford Puma
It's only 4 years old so would hope me or someone else will enjoy it for at least another 15 years ?

Formula one cars have had semi automatic gearboxes for years…because they recognise the benefit of quick gear changes in speed and control. To change gear all the driver does is press a button..which admittedly is a useful life skill ;)

Ignoring the death of the internal combustion engine, which is inevitable for private cars at some point a quick glance at Autotrader shows that more than half of the cars on sale there are automatic…. If you just choose 5 door hatchbacks, 55% are automatic. And if you choose 5 door hatchbacks over 6 years old even then 40% are automatic. So there’s certainly plenty of choice.

As for a life skill, I fear that you are showing your age…remember when your teacher said ‘you won’t always have a calculator with you…’ when espousing the benefits of mental arithmetic? Don’t get me wrong - there are occasions when being able to drove a manual might be useful, and there are times when mental arithmetic is very helpful. Bu they are not skills needed for life any more, just nice to haves.