Manual or automatic driving lessons for today’s teens?

[TheWildRumpyPumpus]

Are your teenagers (or you) learning to drive manual or automatic? When I took my test 15 years ago it was suggested that everyone passed the manual test, but as a family we’ve ended up with 2 automatic cars anyway!

DS isn’t bothered and we if we go automatic they will be able to get practice in family cars. DH reckons manual will give more options in future. Anyone with recent experience with words of wisdom?

Autistic child took a year of regular lessons twice a week to learn in an automatic, with one failed test. I think it depends on the child and what can realistically be achieved. Other one took ten weeks to pass in a manual.

Cars at the cheaper end of the market are primarily manual, with very few automatic. Hybrid and electric cars are slow to drop into the sort of price range for young new drivers with £££ insurance premiums but there are loads of cheaper low mileage manual cars out there.

Manual, 100%. I don't know anyone with an automatic car! Mine/family/friends whose cars I've been in are all manual and it gives you a lot more options when it comes to second-hand cars. And of course, they can still drive automatics in future when there are fewer manuals around.

Yes manual is being phased out in 20 or 15 years time. But there will be plenty of manuals around still. My first car was 30 years old!! My kids cars are 15 years old, still going strong. My car is 12 years old, still going strong. DH car the same, his is automatic, but he is also just about to buy a manual classic car.

Cars don't deteriorate like they once did. So learners now at 18, will still have access to manuals up to their 40's...... The most environmentally sustainable thing you can do is keep old cars running.

Why, especially hire cars? Won't hire cars algo go automatic to appeal to the highest number of drivers.
I don't drive and if I learnt it would be for using car sharing schemes in my city and hire cars on holiday - there is no need or financial sense in owning a car where I live. People have told me there are usually automatic hire cars available and this is likely to become even more common in future with all electric cars being automatic.

You’re right. I often have a courtesy car from my garage, they have about equal numbers of manual and automatic. I drive both but prefer automatic. I’ve never had a problem hiring an automatic either.

There's probably a gender divide on this topic. I wonder if you asked a load of chaps this question if the responses would be more skewed to manual. This is because, stereotypically, they're more interested in cars, driving, performance, etc.

We have both manual and automatic cars in our household. There's no joy to be had in driving the automatic but our manual gives me so much fun. I love cars and have driven on racetracks, etc. which are usually chock full of blokes, hence my observation about how different sexes might give different answers to the question.

At a minimum, there will be an increase in automatic vehicles on the road as EVs take over from ICE vehicles. However, there are still loads of ICE vehicles around - and will be for some time to come - and (I have no idea what percentage) a sizeable proportion are manual.

If a DC has an interest in cars, travel (where many rental cars are manual) or will have a career where they might be driving others' vehicles then they should learn in a manual. If they simply want a car to get them from A to B with the least fuss possible then automatic should be fine.

Definitely manual... Anything else would severely restrict them if they want to travel (anywhere other than North America) and need to hire a car.

Just to add, there's probably a 10-20 year window where it's still helpful to know how to drive a manual car. After that, it will be automatic all the way, as EVs will outnumber ICE vehicles. OP is asking the question about what's needed now, rather than in 20 years' time.

I've travelled exensively and haven't found a problem finding automatic hire cars!

Depends on the child and their future needs. Are they the sort of child that can easily multitask? Will they look to driving something bigger and take HGV (eg they ride so may need to drive a horsebox lorry?)

My manual car has an automatic handbrake. I noticed the other day due to what the bus driver was doing buses do as well.

So you only have to worry about gear changes and as the car tells you the gear that you should be in unless you are going to start braking, driving a modern manual car isn't like one of the early 00s.

I've got one dc manual and one dc automatic. The automatic dc is neurodiverse and we decided that for them to concentrate on the road it was better to take the gearbox/clutch complexity out of it. Once he has some years of experience under his belt he can choose to do a manual test or stick with automatic. He had an automatic car to practice in which someone had kindly donated to him

DD needs a full manual license before she starts her uni course so is currently doing lessons. Test booked for later this year. I don’t think she will be buying a car though as to it will be cheaper to get to uni by bus, unless she changes her mind and goes further afield, and also the costs of insurance are so high.

Automatic gets my vote. I only have an auto license and got it a few years ago after moving out of the city and needing to drive, learned and passed within a month..got an old small auto car for 2.5k that I've still got now and it runs fine. DP has had a license for 8 years..he did manual license and drove a manual for 2 months when he passed then got wrote off and had autos ever since. I have no desire to drive manual and most cars these days are auto anyway. Btw DP has 7 years no claims and manual license , I have 3 years no claims and auto license and my insurance is half the price of his and most of my friends who also have a manual license so I don't think that's a fact either that auto license cost a bomb to insure.

My manual doesn't do those things, it's 19 so maybe that's why? A lot of 17 olds will be learning in old cars if they buy them themselves.

Automatic!

Manual 100%.

Manual. I learned to drive two years ago in a manual and a few months later drove an electric automatic hire car with no issues, just got in and went. It doesn't work the other way round, learn manual and you can drive anything.

My DD did auto due to similar reasons to you op (plus we bought her an auto car!) I would say she got as much, if not more benefit from practising with one of us as she did with her instructor so without regularly driving a manual it would have taken her a LOT longer to pass her test.

17 and just starting to learn? Automatic. There will be plenty of automatic used and hire cars going forward, small automatics have been available for decades. In five years all new cars will be automatic if the govmt get their way.

As someone who has only ever had an automatic licence, I say manual. Often I cannot get a hire car or courtesy car due to only being able to have an automatic.

It will probably be limiting in a few ways.

Sometimes automatics are not available for hire. For example when I have hired vans they have not been automatics. I doubt whether most hire places keep automatic variants of vans.

Automatic cars are more complex, more expensive to repair if they break. You also have more servicing costs due to automatic gearbox oil changes etc.

I don't know how much more expensive insurance is if you are an automatic only driver, but that could mount up over a lifetime of driving.

I do think most cars will end up as automatics, but things like vans and lorries probably not. So if you are thinking of being a delivery driver etc it may be worth going for manual.

As for using the automatic test to pass because it is easier than the manual, I think if you don't have enough spare cognitive capacity to handle using a manual gearbox when you are driving there is a serious question as to whether you should be on the road anyway, but I guess that is an issue that could be debated for some time and is an emotive issue for many people as it would rule them out of driving.

I learned in a manual and from the day after my test I have only driven automatic cars. That includes hire cars at home and abroad, temporary loaner cars when my car was in the garage, small cars (Honda jazz) in between cars (quashqai) and high end cars (BMW). It has never once been a problem.

The only time I can see a manual being useful is that at work we have a fleet of cars that nurses sometimes drive for home visits and I think most are manual. I am not a nurse! But might be worth considering depending on your kids future job prospects. I think it would be quite niche though and if they will be driving for professional reasons they might quite like to learn on a manual anyway.

I would go for manual, as they may end up driving manual cars, but also maybe bikes or lorries (I have a lorry licence and can transport horses, also a bike licence from years ago).