Asklemmy

US, mid thirties, and I not only drive a manual transmission, I go out of my way to insist upon it. For example, I own a truck and an SUV made in the '90s because it's difficult to find newer ones without an automatic.

Yes because here you can't get a driver's license without learning how to drive a manual transmission. All your lessons and final driving exam are always in a manual transmission vehicle. (Portugal, 28 years old)

However I know many people who switch to automatic after they're done with their exam because they don't want to deal with it. I've always heard that manual is for people who like to drive and auto is for people who just need a car to get from A to B.

When I was 15 my grandfather took me out into the woods to teach me to drive stick in a 30,000 lb dump truck. I had never driven anything bigger than a golf cart before. My space to work with was a clearing maybe three times the size of the truck. I did not learn to drive stick that day.

From India, late 30s and I drive manual. I learned to drive less than an year ago in a manual that I own. Manual cars are cheaper and I bought one since I believe switching from manual to auto would be easier than the other way around. I don't feel comfortable driving an automatic; and it is only recently that I realised that ALL of my friends and family drive automatics! I live in a large crowded city with terrible traffic problems and I sometimes wonder if driving an automatic would be easier.

US late 20s. Yes I can and every car I've owned for the last 8 years has been manual

I go out of my way to find them.

My brother always use to tell me that driving manual is just driving with extra steps. Lol

23, German, yes I can and I do

Late 20s and in the Midwest US. I daily drive a manual 1994 Mazda Miata.

37, Eastern PA. I CAN drive a stick, but I don't like to. It's another distraction I don't need while driving. Can pay attention to all the other idiots on the road when not worrying what gear I'm in or when to shift.

All my cars, bar one, have been manual transmission, as is my current one. To be honest, as I'm lazy, I do prefer auto, but it's easier to buy a car with manual transmission here in the UK, as you have more options.

Yes, but after having an electric car for about two years, I never really wanna go back to ICE, manual or auto. The acceleration is addictive
And electric cars don't really need manual transmissions.

I drove ICE auto for about 8 years, then 3 years manual and electric for the last two.

Yes Midwest, U.S. 40y

Nope, I'm scared to even use the paddle shifters on my auto

I'm in my 30s grew up in FL and I can

American, Mid 30s, and all cars I've owned so far are Manual Transmission.

The shitposty part of me wants to call it a giant stim toy

I’m 26, from the US and I learned manual when I was 22. I live in Mexico now and im glad I learned because manual is still very common here, and that’s what I’m driving now

41, can and have been driving manuals exclusively for the last decade. I only learned about 15 years ago when I picked up a beater Datsun 720, but once I went manual I was hooked. Every car I've bought since has been a manual. Keeps me awake and engaged while driving.

Yes. If I hadn't learned to drive manual while getting a license, I wouldn't have been able to drive them legally, which I figured would have been unnecessarily restrictive.

That being said, I prefer driving automatic, since you don't really gain anything from driving manual anyway these days. Also I don't own a car and drive maybe 4 times a year, so it's really whatever.

USA, 33, daily drive a stick.

Bought my first car with my own money in 2013, a 2014 WRX, it only came in manual. I've been driving it since.

35, Canada, and manual is my preference although my current car is an automatic.

I learned to drive on an automatic, but bought a manual for my first car and got my ex to teach me how to drive it. It was important to me that I be able to get into pretty much anything and drive it. After driving an automatic exclusively for the last year, I miss having that level of gearing control, especially on hills and corners.

France, early thirties, I can. Automatics are still pretty new on the market, most people I know cannot operate one. It's easier of course, but kinda throws you off at first. My wife owns one and it's great for traffic and keeping a low fuel consumption, since the thing is made to shift gears exactly when necessary. The tradeoff is no sportsy driving, of course, but I can live with that for some time.

Italian, 45 here. Always driven manual.

I'm 42, and can drive manual, but I've had an automatic the last 5 years.

My son is now learning to drive, but he will most likely not need to drive a manual ever.

Yes, 40, Germany. And I actually do.

Yes, almost 40, USA. I don't currently own a manual, but used to. It was a great way to save a few thousand on a car and it's a lot more fun to drive. But very few cars in the US have a manual option these days.

30 years old. US. I can and do drive a stick shift.

Really hard coming from a family with only automatic cars. Very few people have stick cars, and even fewer are willing to teach you in their own car.

Can't even rent a stick shift to practice on. Your best bet is to sign up with a driving school that offers stock shift lessons, which I almost did.

Instead, a buddy of mine was kind enough to let me practice for 2 hours with him in a beater he had. Then I went and picked up my brand new WRX. Stalled like 12 times on the way home. But I figured it out!!

Yes, I'm from the UK so pretty much everyone here can even if they own an automatic. It's not seen as a big deal here, it's just normal.

I prefer manuals, I won't be buying an automatic until my leg falls off.

I'm 19-20 and I'm from the eastern part of the US.

In a car, I have about 8 hours of experience and could do it in a pinch, although I'd feel unconfident with it.

On a motorcycle, I have about 20 hours of more recent experience and I feel fairly comfortable with it.

Yes, 29 from Belgium. I got my first automatic transmission in January. Everyone around me drives a manual

I'm 36, I live in the UK, and I've driven a manual car since I was 17. I've only driven an automatic twice in my life and I'll probably never own one.

Nope, never learned. I'm 31 in the US. Never had the need to learn as I was raised with automatics only.

30, german, yes I can, no I do not. I drive a hybrid, so no manual transmission.

First time I drove anything but a manual was driving the shitty trucks of the Swiss army. It felt weird and wrong, but then again driving with standard issue boots makes using the pedals a bit harder sometimes, so it's probably good I didn't have to use the clutch.

These days I mostly drive rented cars so it's whatever is available, who cares.

German, mid 20s, can and do

Currently learning, it's useful for a lot of the light industrial jobs here

Yeah man. Australia. Mid 40s. My nieces have just started learning (we start here at 16). When I asked whether they were going to learn manual they said what's that?

I drive an automatic but I learned with a manual and used it for years. I find manual impractical for daily use but I can use it if I need to.

32 years old, Italy

In the UK it's pretty standard to learn in a manual. I currently have an automatic and honestly I don't want to go back. I like to think I'm a pretty good driver and gears were never an issue for me, but man is it nice to have one less thing to think about when driving.

Oh and I'm 39.

Yup. Learned from my dad. Actually, for a little bit, I taught folks in the military to drive stick as well. US mid 40s