Daughter leaning to drive in an automatic

[Areallyboringperson]

We Have an electric car. It’s an automatic (obvs). My daughter will soon be 17. We either:

Get her driving lessons so she can get a licence which allows her to drive a manual;

Buy a small manual run around for her to learn in; or

Just let her learn in our automatic and then she’ll only have an automatic licence.

I’m thinking option 3 but is this unfair on her?

I learned in an automatic then a few years later when I wanted to buy a cheap manual car I learned how to drive a manual. It was far quicker and easier to learn as an experienced driver.

My kids are learning in an automatic as we have two of them, and have no intention of buying them cars at age 17/18 when we live in a city with plenty of public transport. Not sure what amazing experiences their inferior licences will restrict them from, I’ve travelled all over the world and the only place I had to drive a manual was the UK back in the 90s. On our most recent visit we hired a car in Scotland and the only option was an automatic.

Not sure I’d agree with automatics being more expensive to insure, but it’s nothing to do with license .

Automatic is the future, but older manual cars are totally cheaper. It really depends on the budget you have for the car.

id get thinking about what you can afford, what the insurance/tax will be. The best thing is to get a cheap runaround as a new driver, the newer the car, the wilder the insurance could potentially be for her.

I got a manual license years ago but I didn’t really drive until now. I recently got an hybrid automatic and I do love it, less stress! So if gears etc are an issue at least the option is there .

Until fairly recently I'd have said manual. Now I think all cars will be automatic eventually so it's probably fine

If you ever need to rent a car in the uk or Europe, manual can be a lot cheaper (like 1/2 to 2/3rds as much) as automatic.

Were it not for this unwelcome fact I would not have driven a manual for at least 10 years and would never be planning to do it again!

Manual every time. Best to have the option.

Cars are cheaper, repairs are cheaper and ime insurance is cheaper.

I have a manual licence. I got it in 2007 and haven't driven a manual car since 2007. I went travelling and discovered automatics in New Zealand. I've never looked back. I couldn't drive a manual car if my life depended on it these days.

Nowadays I don’t think an automatic license will really be a hindrance.

A lot of the downsides people list are outdated now, might have been the case a couple of decades ago but the fact is now most new cars are automatic and manual are getting gradually phased out.

My teen us learning in an automatic due to physical disability, I though she would be only one but a few of her friends are too which surprised me (no disabilities)
Buying a little automatic was a lot more expensive than equivalent manual car though.

In the country I live in, most vehicles are now automatics and it’s hard to find driving lessons for manual. I guess the UK will go the same way soon?

(BTW, apparently there is such a thing as a manual transmission electric vehicle….sort of? Toyota has made one with a manual type system sort of retrofitted into an EV. Sounds odd to me, but… So stick-using diehards can still have their manual cars if they really want to, even when everything goes electric!)
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/16/business/toyota-manual-transmission-electric-cars/index.html

90% or more of EVs don't actually have gears so they're not really Automatics, they just drive the same as an Automatic. There's a very few high performance EVs that have 2 gears.

Basically because the electric motors give the same power and torque (pulling power) from zero revs so there is no need for gears.

@MyDogSmellsTerrible We had the same scenario - youngest could not get on with a manual car for lessons and stopped learning for a while. She then decided to try an automatic, took to it and passed first time. I know it limits her options but she is driving and I'm no longer an early morning taxi service! I drive a manual for work etc but when we go on longer journeys we take the automatic as it's better for me.

Were looking at small automatics at the moment to replace a manual they are almost twice the price on the secondhand market and the insurance is definitely higher.

I've only ever had an automatic licence as trying to learn manual was an absolute disaster that resulted in endless panic attacks. I switched to auto and passed my test within a month as it was so much easier. I've been driving for 9 years and never had any problems other than totally snobbery from manual drivers asking me when I will learn how to drive "properly" and telling me it was "cheating" 🙄so I never tell people in Real life any more and voila, problem solved!
In a few decades most cars will be automatic so I really wouldn't worry about it

I have a manual licence but only drive automatic where possible. My last two cars have been 2nd hand and around the same price as the equivalent manual. My mum has a Teflon licence (no stick) and had a semi automatic for years. As it has no clutch you can legally drive them with an automatic licence. Most ex notability cars are auto, have pretty low miles and are serviced and maintained well as it is all included in the hire cost. I have ADHD and gears and clutch control and trying to do the other 3 billion things whilst driving gives me real fear now.

My 17 year old passed his manual test last week. I’d had exactly the same debate, my car is an automatic and I agree the future is automatic.
However, most instructors teach in manual cars and it does give him the choice. He did practice in mine a few times, just to help with getting familiar with being on the road. We’re now looking at buying a car and there are very few 2nd hand automatics within my budget; it might be different for a girl, but for a small 1L engine car insurance will be the best part of £2k.

What I would advise I’d get her theory test booked and passed asap; he had to wait nearly six months to get a test, so be in a position to book this as early as you can.

What does she want to do?

My ds learned automatic and cannot drive a manual due to a disability.

He learned in 17 hours and passed test with no faults. Probably helped by the fact he didn't have to learn to change gear and couldn't stall

The attitude that people have toward driving an automatic being lesser and not really learning how to drive properly, is frankly ridiculous and why it has taken me till in my 30s to be restarting my lessons.
I had manual lessons in my 20s and failed my test twice. But pressure that it's the "proper way" to learn to drive made me continue to the point I was a nervous wreck.
I'm now back to driving lessons in an automatic and its absolute relief to not have to do the gears etc.
But agree, get the theory test booked because finding a driving test is nearly impossible.

The restrictions of automatic licences will decrease with time, but for at least the next 5 years, most young people are in the position of needing a cheaper second hand car and a manual licence still gives more options with what's on the market.

My two are 12 and 10, so my position may change by the time they are driving. If they were 17 now, I'd want DS1 to learn in an automatic because he's dyspraxic and the simplest option is likely to be best for him. DS2, I would favour having the flexibility of a manual licence. But the second hand market will look quite different by the time they're at that stage.

We have a manual and an automatic. It's just what was there on the market a few years ago when we got ours.

I still favour manual. I feel more engaged with driving and focused on what the car is doing and planning ahead. I hate the left side of my body feeling static and redundant while the right side is more engaged.

Suppose it depends whether she thinks she is likely to get a career in the future where she will be doing a lot of driving in different cars, for example delivery driver etc ?

If so maybe learning a manual might be better, if only to get used to the concept of changing gear rather than actually doing it. I don't know for sure, but most stuff like HGV and buses still use manual.

If not, then most cars in the future will be probably be automatic. I don't see the point of getting manual.

Not read the whole thread so apols if this has already been mentioned but have you looked at availability of instructors who teach in an automatic or EV in your area? Even if you are planning to do the bulk of the tuition yourselves you'd probably be wise to book at least a few lessons with an instructor to make sure your DD is familiar with the test routes and the nuances of the test, and certainly where I live, instructors with an automatic are much harder to come by than those who only teach manual and tend to have even longer waiting lists. That may not be a deal breaker of course, but I would ask around and factor it in to your decision making.
Personally, I would probably get her to learn in a manual. I don't think there is anything wrong with automatics( we have an ICE auto and an EV ourselves) and it's not the end of the world if you can't drive a manual, but I think it will be a long time before manuals are a thing of the past and it's handy to have the option. Just as an example this week, I took my car for a service and they only had manual courtesy cars available, or there may be occasions when it's useful to be able to drive someone else's manual. Obviously as time goes on there will be far fewer manuals on the road but it is going to be decades before they're really gone so I think the ability to drive a manual will be useful for some time to come. But it's not as much of an issue as it used to be when automatics were rarer and technologically far less advanced.

I have a company vehicle, as does everyone else at work. There isn’t one automatic on the fleet of over 100 cars and vans, and 3/4 of the fleet are less than two years old

So your fleet has no EV cars? That sounds very unlikely with most being new.

Also company cars are not the norm anymore and haven't been for years, it is usually more tax efficient to take a car allowance and choose your own car. In the days when I had a company car, I only ever had an allowance.

My mother passed her test on an automatic in the 1970s. It has never been a problem for her. A friend of mine passed her test on an automatic in the 1990s. It has never been a problem for her either.

If you pass on an automatic now, it really won't be a problem.

My ds did learn on a manual but he has only driven my automatic since. The instructor he learnt with plans to get a hybrid next time he replaces his car so will only be offering automatic lessons in future.

Why do EVs have to be automatics you can get a mild hybrid which I think has/can have a manual gearbox. But you say you hate it, I bet within a week of having an automatic it would be fine. You can drive some automatics like a manual anyway - change gear but without needing a clutch. Our last car was like that.

I’m surprised that most companies don’t have all hybrid/electric vehicles. Mine has for ages.

Manual cars are on the way out, obviously, so I would say learning automatic only is absolutely fine.