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

[whiteroseredrose]

DD is 21 and has not yet learned to drive. The plan is to learn next summer when she finishes university.

Problem is that DH and I both have hybrid cars that are automatic. I couldn't find a hybrid manual car as they probably don't exist.

Rather than have DD take lessons in.a manual car with either no practice in between or practice in our automatics, take that test and then maybe do a 'conversion' at a later date.

Would that make sense?

1. Why isn't it DD deciding?
2. Why limit her buying pool for her future cars?

Mumsnet loves a 'what if you have to rush to hospital?' I'm 44 and have never needed to rush someone to hospital in someone else's car.

I have a manual license but my last 2 cars have been automatic (the one before this one was an ancient CRV which I loved, plenty of older autos around). I'll never drive manual again, I can't be bothered. We live in a city and there's loads of stop start traffic, who can be arsed changing up and down constantly?

Very very occasionally I'll be going down a steep hill and think a bit of engine braking would be nice but not nearly as often as I think how nice it is not to be changing gear all the time.

DP is currently learning to drive in very middle age and is doing auto lessons so he can pass as quickly as possible. He'll just have to live with the possibility he might get a hankering to drive an ancient camper van at some point in the future.

Yes they do. It's a thing.

Used manual cars are cheaper and as I've been told, having the manual licence carries cachet with young 'uns.

Strangely, in Victoria at least, a automatic licence driver becomes qualified to drive manual with no test after a certain number of years on the full licence.

Very very occasionally I'll be going down a steep hill and think a bit of engine braking would be nice but not nearly as often as I think how nice it is not to be changing gear all the time.

My 2008 auto has 'manual mode' if you want to be in control of the gear changes, I know it's not a universal feature but not uncommon either, especially in European cars.

I live in Australia and that's not true.
What is true is that car rental places will try to rent me an automatic, even when I've specified that I want their cheapest car. They assume that I want an automatic, and one even told me: "you asked for an automatic" (I had done no such thing).
I had a friend here who learned to drive with an automatic, then bought a 250cc motorbike. We discovered she didn't understand about gears when she complained that her bike had very little power going up hills. Her brother asked her if she'd changed down gears. She didn't understand the question. It was a pretty embarrassing way for her to learn how gears work.

manual, what if they decide to get a classic car in their future!

Not quite, but someone I know had to drive a Motability car belonging to a family member in a one-off situation. She couldn't drive a manual, tried anyway and crashed it.
Nobody was hurt. The family were very gratified to find out the Motability scheme paid for the repairs and replacement car and none of them had to pay a penny. Make of that what you will.

Better to think about the consequences of having an auto license such as increased insurance and increased price of autos over manuals. If this doesn’t matter then sod it. I wish I had gone auto in the first place. I passed in a manual and driving anxiety broke me and I never drove again until I went automatic ten years later.

shes better off doing a manuel as learning solely automatic will reduce accessibility when choosing or borrowing cars.

My DD's test was scheduled for three days after the first lockdown began. Then when things opened up again she failed her first test.
At the time waiting times for a subsequent test were ludicrous, then more lockdowns, and she then found it impossible to book lessons. Like OP, mine and DH's cars are automatic. DH hasn't driven manual for 30 years and I haven't for nearly 15. It was getting crucial for her to pass, so she decided to take an automatic test in my car, and passed. The intention was to take a manual test at some point, but 3 years on she hasn't really had chance as she's been so busy with work. She is in a job where she needs to drive a van, and there was no problem supplying an automatic.
She now has my old car, and I honestly can't see her doing a manual test any time soon.

Yes - manual driving is neccesary only for "petrol heads" hobbyists. It's a outdated skill from a bygone age - it's like insisting your daughter doesn't leave home without learning how to use a sewing machine

It's plainly not outdated as the OP is posting about a "now" issue", i.e the choice between manual and automatic.

Your analogy is also ludicrous as the OP is not insisting her DD does anything.

<By the way, knowing how to use a sewing machine is an excellent skill, for both men and women>

Yes, mine does have the ability to put it into manual mode, I just forget about it as it's not so instinctual. Have occasionally used it for rough or soft ground though.

Surely anyone who's ridden a bicycle understands gears?! My 8yo does. She can also, incidentally, use a sewing machine which I think is a much more useful life skill than driving a manual car...

We'll be in this situation next year too - drive an electric and a hybrid so no gears. If DD does decide to do manual then I think we'd get her a manual car at least initially. It's all very well being "qualified" on a manual car, but if the last time you drove one was the day you took your test are you actually still safe 10 years later if you've only driven automatics since?

Surely anyone who's ridden a bicycle understands gears?! My 8yo does. She can also, incidentally, use a sewing machine which I think is a much more useful life skill than driving a manual car

It's not a given that people ride a bicycle before a car. Not these days. And I've lost count of the number of cyclists I've seen frantically pedalling in the wrong gear on the wrong incline.

I wouldn't rank skills either, other than to say in general more is more.

Surely anyone who's ridden a bicycle understands gears?!

You would think so, wouldn't you. But that's not the case.

My wife is a driving instructor who teaches manual. Demand for it is WAY higher than it is for automatic.

The vast majority of cars that young people are likely to be able to afford and insure are manual, and will be for some years.

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.

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 ;)

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 ?

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.

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..

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.

🙄🙄🙄😒

Thank you for all of the replies. It pretty much sums up our thoughts on the issue.

We agree that she really needs to be able to drive a manual, it is a life skill, and a future company car or rental would be most likely manual.

DD will be starting from scratch so will need a lot of practice between lessons. Ideally we'd have a manual car for her to practice in but both have hybrid / automatics. We're not in a position to just buy a 3rd car, but we don't want to rely entirely on lessons with nothing in between.

I hadn't thought about her having lessons in a manual and then practicing in an automatic. That is one option.

I also hadn't thought about it being harder to find an instructor with an automatic car. Obviously most will have manual cars because that is the gold standard. So it might be moot anyway.

It is her decision of course.

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.