Licence to drive manual going out of fashion?

[dressforsuccess]

So many cars these days are automatic, is there still any point to go for manual?

At a practical level it's harder to find an automatic instructors - waits are many months already.

No. Why make life harder for yourself. Just go automatic. Old schoolers get a bit snobby about it but if you're safe on the road then you do you

I love driving my manual car because I really like driving . I think I am in the minority though as everyone I know buys auto when they trade up .

I think so. My son got his license last year on a manual. Keeps options open doesn't it? But quite a number if his year group got automatic licenses so I agree it is becoming less popular.

To clarify, we are not buying DC a car.

We have an automatic and not driven manual ourselves for more than a decade. But next year DC can learn to drive and our car is due for a replacement. Hence why the question came up.

I am probably in the ‘old fashioned’ camp, learn on a manual - although also acknowledging perhaps in practice it doesn’t maybe matter so much anymore.

And whilst I am not very keen on manual myself after so many years automatic, I also don’t want to limit DC’s options so to speak.

Thank for the input everyone, some very helpful considerations to think about.

I've never driven automatic, had my license 16 years. Automatics in my budget are few and far between, I'll be in my manual bangers for a good while! Even electric windows and AC in my new (2011 plate) car are a first for me! Maybe going 'out of fashion' for people buying new cars/ bigger budget (have the choice)?

The days of the cheap manual banger for DCs is over I'm afraid. The insurance for putting a new driver on an old car is through the roof. When we were trying to decide whether to replace my dead automatic banger car with a cheap old manual so DS1 would have it to practice on, the cost of insurance was actually better on cars that were newer and manual/auto made on difference.

He now has a manual license and drives auto because it's cheaper. I know, it flies in the face of what everyone used to take for granted.

My kids - about to turn 17 so starting lessons in a few months, and older one 20 - are both taking the automatic route. I have an automatic, DH has an electric. We’ve not owned a manual in nearly 10 years, nor ever been unable to get an automatic when hiring/on holiday. The DC’ll start off driving our cars (subject to insurance) and we’ll pick them up a small used electric/hybrid when they leave uni if they need a car. No point whatsoever in learning to drive a manual given they will likely never drive one.

DD14 is (and will be) learning in a manual. Will be resisting moving to auto as a default. My newest car is auto, but I drive it in manual. My other car is 20 years old and currently being fully restored so hope to get another 15-20 years out of her. I find driving cars with all the automatic jiggery pokery extremely boring, so I’ll be sticking g to cars that keep me awake and exhilarated over the go karts of the future.

The benefit of a manual gearbox is the driver is in control of how the engines power is used.

The driver can consciously decide when to use a lower gear for ‘better control’ when going downhill, in icy or wet conditions etc

A semi-automatic car includes this as an option, defaulting to auto mode and allowing the driver to force their own gear changes

I have a full manual car licence, and can drive automatics - I have to consciously remember when driving an automatic that it has a wide brake pedal and if I don’t remember then as I start driving I do an almost emergency stop at the first junction when my foot tries to press the clutch

I started on an automatic moped and changed to a manual motorbike after a few months, at that time I was taking a training scheme which was similar to the part 1 and 2 training now in use for motorbikes.
I had learned hill starts on the automatic, (stop - start) then struggled to relearn on manual (moving my feet for gear changes and needing one on the floor, but gear on one foot and rear brake on the other foot)

Though hill starts were simple in automatic,hill climbing wasn’t
For the local steep hill the automatic gearbox wanted to switch gear, it wanted to go up one but then couldn’t cope, and the lower gear was slow with a screaming engine

Learning the default manual (should) teach an understanding of gears with a good instructor, which can then contribute to understanding if an automatic is making the right choice and then you can compensate with a semi auto or adjust your accelerator pedal to guide the auto gearbox

That point may be coming but it's a long way off.

Cars going auto but what about vans, are Transit sized vehicles auto? Buses, tractors etc?

Limits your job opportunities quite a lot state manual licence

DD is learning manual as that's what our car is, and there's no point learning to drive and then not being able to drive the families car. I don't think it's costing us any extra really, she'd got the hang of clutch control by the time she had her first proper lesson as I'd taken her out in our car a few times. She's stalled the instructors car twice doing hill starts but thats it.

Even if we didn't currently have a manual, I'd still want her learning in one, as theres a good chance that when she comes to buy her first car, it'll be one. Most people aren't getting EVs or newer cars as their first car, generally its a bit of a shitbox, and for a good few years yet they'll still be manual (and only getting cheaper as fewer and fewer people are able to drive them)

I do think by the time my niece and nephew learn to drive in a decade though, learning in a manual will be a thing of the past.

I worry that during a zombie apocalypse because I can only drive automatic cars and my choice of getaway vehicle is limited that I will end up as zombie food.

DC is learning to drive a manual because they want to be able to drive classic cars at some point.

But I suspect the reality is that not having to learn to use a clutch makes the path to a test quicker - fewer lessons and less practice needed, basically

This ^^ is a REALLY good reason to get kids learning in a manual. You practice more. I WANT new drivers on the roads to have had more than 10 lessons, and lots of practice!
I like knowing I can drive anything, so manual for that reason too.

Older ds learned to drive manual and so will younger ds. Part of that is probably the ‘old school’ in me- automatic was always for people unable to get to grips with the clutch. The easier option. For some jobs it will matter, if you have to drive a variety of vehicles. It would make zero sense for someone working in a garage to learn automatic only for example.

DD turns 17 next year and we have had the discussion about manual vs auto. Both our cars are auto, but they are also hugely powerful "executive" type cars so not really the type to want a 17yo banging around in.

As such I think we will encourage her to go down the manual route, see how she gets on as I think we could find a decent manual car easier than an auto.

Lots of big vehicles are going automatic. Lots of electric buses where I am, I work for the council and all our bin lorries are automatic for example. I think as older manuals die off they will be largely replaced by automatics

My (manual) car is often giving me tips when to change gear, when I have usually put into a lower gear for a reason! At least an automatic might not be so bossy! 🤣

Today’s 17-year-old will be driving for 60 years or more. By the time they’re a decade - 20 years max - into driving there won’t be any manuals to drive.

What a waste of time and money to qualify to drive a manual vehicle. And this has nothing to do with EV targets. There just won’t be any domestic manual vehicles.

I’m happy to invest a few hundred £ for 17 year old DS to have the ability to drive both types for the next 10-20 years, if indeed they do disappear in that time. Predictions re vehicles have been wrong many times - I’m still waiting for my hydrogen powered car that can go months without refuelling.

How many times has this been asked?

Ds11 is learning to drive in a manual car. They're still going to be around for a long time and he has the choice of what to drive.

I live in the peak district and a manual is so much better on the hills, and you can use the engine braking when it's snowy or icy. I guess if all your driving is city or motorway then an automatic is fine. I currently have an automatic but it's about to die so looking forward to getting a manual again and having some decent control.