Learning to drive... automatic vs manual

[poppymango]

I'm very late learning to drive and am frankly terrified of it, but I finally got my provisional license this year and really wanted to start lessons before Christmas.

I had planned to learn manual. It made more sense to me, even though apparently a lot of new cars are automatic.

The problem is the availability of instructors near me who teach manual. They only seem to have slots in the middle of the day when I’m at work, or very sporadically in the evenings - and I know if I only have a lesson every 2-3 weeks I will forget everything in between!

So I have booked myself in with an automatic instructor, just for one lesson. I have to admit I’m a little less scared of this anyway as it does seem less intimidating… so I wondered whether it might be good to do the first few weeks like this just to get myself used to being behind the wheel, figure out my spatial awareness, get used to the road signage and rules etc. I will probably switch to manual at some point as I do still think it makes sense to have the full license if possible.

Am I being daft? (Or, indeed, unreasonable?!😂)

I really just want to get on with it and get over this first hurdle!

Thanks in advance.

You don’t really need a manual licence these days. There are people on here who will try to persuade you otherwise though, who think driving an automatic is not real driving,

In my opinion, when you start learning to drive, the first thing that's trickiest is understanding how much pressure to put on the accelerator and break, and how and when to change gears. I think you COULD do it this way and I can see some benefits, but I'm not convinced.

But then, until there's a mass shift to only automatic cars, I don't understand why licenses aren't all automatically for manual cars. So I might not be the best person to ask.

Electric and most hybrid cars are of necessity "automatic" and don't have separate gears. The only real reason not to drive a manual is cheap hire car options abroad (although in some places electric will be cheaper) or if you will have a low budget for future cars.

5 years ago I'd have been manual to the death but the move to hybrid and electric vehicles has changed my opinion especially with current push to restrict the sale of new ICE vehicles by the 2030s

I wouldn’t bother with manual unless you know you’re going to be on a very tight budget for your first car, because auto limits your options if you’re buying an older car and can mean you get less for your money. But if that isn’t an issue then I’d just do auto. It’ll be easier to learn. It’s so much better in slow moving traffic. I haven’t driven a manual in nearly 10 years so am fully converted. It isn’t an option on electric cars or even on a lot of fancier petrol/diesel cars. If I go on holiday and want a hire car I rent an automatic as I’m out of practice now and it doesn’t seem to cost much more when I have to rule out the cheapest models as can’t fit a family of 4 + car seats + luggage in a ‘fiat 500 or similar’ anyway. My manual license isn’t something I use at all and if I was learning to drive today I definitely wouldn’t bother.

My husband is 40 and learned to drive just 3 years ago in an automatic, he said its like driving a go kart.

I've had a fear of driving since my teens when my mum took me out and went ballistic at me because I couldn't get to grips with her manual car and 'the bite' still don't know WTF that means.

But I've been out (on private land) in thw automatic and it was SO easy and fun.

If I ever have lessons it will be in an automatic

I passed my test first time on an automatic at age 54 after almost 70 manual lessons spread over the years from the age of 18 (big gap when I moved to London as car not needed there). My one regret was not switching from manual sooner.

I'd always say go for manual. Actual driving of a car is quite easy...the hard part is dealing with all the other drivers and road users! And you have to deal with that whether you're in a manual or automatic.

Having a licence is more important than having a manual licence. If you were 17, confident, lessons bought for you it might be a different matter. But when you are paying and have work, kids, commitments etc. then you just need to get it done the easiest and quickest way possible.
And like you say, more and more cars are automatic these days.

I mean if you are not intending to be a professional driver and just want to potter about in your own automatic car then fine.

But if you expect to be driving a lot, driving hire cars and a lot of other peoples cars too under different driving conditions then probably best to go for a manual.

I think it sounds like a very sensible approach for you, OP, just for the logistical reasons you describe.

I think I'd have learned faster if I'd been able to start in an automatic, get used to driving before having to worry about changing gears. Modern automatics you don't need to worry about hill starts either, that may apply to quite a few manuals too though the implementation of automatic 'handbrake' is variable.

Well, the world moves on, electric cars will all be automatics, in the fullness of time if you want to hire a car then electric cars will be available - probably. Ignore all the stuff about "It's not proper driving" (does anyone actually think that?), of course it is.

I'm surprised that there are "automatic only" instructors - seems very limiting, but maybe reflects what I said above. Also, I'm old so it wasn't like that when I learnt.

If learning in an auto gets you on the road, go for it, of course.

I'm learning automatic out of choice OP as a late learner I think it will be quicker. DH drives an automatic. But even if he didn't I would have gone this way anyway.

The only reason to go for manual is I think the cost/availability of a used car for when you pass.

There will be fewer new ICE cars on the market in the next few years and the used car market will start to shrink, 2035 isn't that far away really.

It's a good point that automatics are more expensive and rarer, at least in conventional ICE format. A lot of cheaper smaller cars that are runabouts are quite hard to find in automatic format.

Also one more point is that if automatic gearboxes fail the cost of replacing them can be epic.

I just passed a couple of months ago and went for manual. I wanted the option to do both and the cars in the range I could afford were all manual.

I’d switch to a manual instructor if that’s what you want to do rather than a bit in one and a bit in the other, as I think it would probably be easier to go through with one instructor?

I'd say just go with manual from the start, while autos are becoming far far more common having a manual licence can be helpful when it comes to things like driving pickups, mini-busses, and vans which funnily enough I seem to have managed to do almost weekly when living at certain places.

I personally would get a manual licence if possible. But when I get my next car it will be an automatic.
I have to drive work vehicles tho and would be at a disadvantage if I couldn’t drive manual as they are roughly 50/50 split.

I put that you're being unreasonable. But because I want to help you! I mean that IF you only learn automatic, you're restricted. Yes, MAYBE you will get an automatic car and MAYBE you won't need a full licence. BUT being able to drive manual opens you up to being able to drive everything. I'm 20 and had a full licence for nearly 3 years, during which time I've driven vans and (off-road) trucks and I feel ready to drive bigger vehicles when I'm allowed to. My control of the gear lever is so good I am ready to shift juggernauts through ten gears! Yes, boyfriends would disagree, but they are boys, and boys know nothing about driving! (And I can make comments like that BECAUSE I've got a full licence and I KNOW I'm ace behind the wheel 🤫!).

If you learn to drive in an automatic, and you get an automatic licence, can you "convert" it later to a manual licence, should you want to?

Automatic driving changed my life. I struggled so much with manual and could never get through my lessons without crying, stalling, nearly causing a crash! It was really embarrassing, I didn’t want to be that way and tried so hard to get better but it just never clicked.

The automatic essentially drives itself and you just need to pick up or slow down speed. It’s just brilliant. I happily drive around the place now - through the city, on big country roads, tight parking spaces etc etc etc. Knowing I don’t have to worry about gears gives me peace of mind that I’m focusing on the road and what’s around me. Never had a blip or any issues.

I haven't had to drive a hire car for over 30 years - except on business trips to the US and they were always automatic. I really don't think that is likely to be an overriding concern for someone who can't yet drive - by the time she can and is confident enough to hire a vehicle we ought to be further along the road towards electric/hybrids rather than geared ICE.

I didn't learn until I was 47, I live in London and don't drive often, and I have an automatic licence. People get very sniffy about automatics, one friend told me they were for old women and wondered if my car was speed resticted in some way (WTAF!), but more and more of my friends are driving them now.
I have a Micra and it's a joy to drive and I've never had a problem with it. It's coming up to eighteen years old now and pretty much faultless.

It gives you more options to have manual, but it will become less and less important in the year's ahead. If both were readily available, I'd suggest manual, but they're not, so unless you already have a manual car at home, I would just go automatic.

I learnt in a manual and have driven an automatic since the day I passed! The last time I drove a manual, a courtesy car, I think I left the gearbox and my dignity in the middle of the local high St!!
Just do the automatic, manual cars are dying out anyway so why make life harder?

You seem to be missing the point that she can get lessons in an automatic and therefore have a chance of a license on a reasonable timescale vs taking a lot longer with sporadic manual lessons.

Surely better to get that auto license and driving experience so that if she subsequently could do with manual she'll be able to get it much quicker.

It will be far harder to switch from learning automatic to learning manual that to do it the other way around. If you are dead set on learning manual, then you better off starting with it.
Having said that, I learned manual and switched to automatic after realising that we are never actually likely to get a manual car anyway (and we moved to a different area so, similarly, I couldn't find an instructor). We have two work vans and a family car - all automatic. Learning manual seemed to be pointless. I can drive stick in an emergency should there be a nuclear disaster. And that's all that I care about. Driving automatic day to day is bliss.