Is there any point learning to drive in manual car?

[ScruffyBlankey]

DD will be old enough to start Driving lessons next year. As a society we are moving towards electric cars (these have no gears). Ultimately driverless cars are on the horizon. Is there any point struggling to learn how to use a clutch/ change gears? May as well just learn on an automatic car and make the learning to drive process much easier?

Yes- imagine if there was an emergency and she needed to drive a manual car... unless no one you know has one.
Atm now anyway, in 10 years time i’d Say no

I think it depends on whether you are going to need to have cheap cars for her or not. We have chosen a hybrid which is an auto with some speed of gear change control in sport (so you have to understand the gear system to use that). It has been cheap on the lease at 200 a month for an estate/SUV version and the insurance is not significantly different in the scheme of things.

I have grown to like it and it really is lazy driving - far less chance of speeding as you are relaxed and you know its initial speed isn't there.

I have been thinking about my own daughter regarding learning to drive and auto vs manual and she has a couple of years yet before she will be learning. Am leaning to auto as that is the way cars are going to be honest and faster than most of you think as well

do things go wrong with the gear box? We've driven automatics for 20 years and never had to replace a gearbox

Yeah my dad has 2 autos and when one of the gearboxes failed, it cost a fortune to fix. I have had manuals for years and luckily never had a gearbox failure, but they do.

The learning is in judging distances and speed and manoeuvring. The gears and clutch bit is easy.

A few years a go everyone I know seemed to have a manual and now it’s all automatic.

I wish I’d learnt in an automatic, I struggled so much and stalling and rolling down hills etc ruined my confidence. I didn’t drive after eventually passing my test.

Most people I know who also hated driving have told me that driving an automatic is fine and so much easier than a manual, so I am planning on trying it again some day.