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I could be wrong but, doesn't Kelley's Blue Book "knock off" some value for manual transmissions (in passenger cars)?
It looks to me like difference in pricing is starting to disappear as automatics become so ubiquitous that it's not really an "upcharge" item anymore. If anything it probably now costs a manufacturer more to offer a manual in a model where the automatic vastly outsells the manual. Then there's the occasional exception to the rule. While Subaru charged extra for an automatic in the WRX until they dropped the automatic option, an auto tranny actually hurts the resale value of a WRX quite a bit.
2. Traffic. My previous manual was like using a leg press machine. I sat in an hour of stop and go traffic so many times that my left leg was bigger than my right. OK, maybe that's an exaggeration, but I can say that after sitting in that traffic my left leg was throbbing many times.
This is my biggest issue. I don't like automatics but I'm getting damn sick of driving a stick around in Chicago traffic. It's not bad most of the time but during rush hour it's a major, major buzzkill. If I lived out in the 'burbs and didn't have to fight this volume of traffic, it wouldn't be so bad. And if the car I just bought were available with a DCT, I would have looked for one with a DCT. While I want the precision of a clutch-and-flywheel transmission along with the option of full control over gear shifts, it would be nice to push a button and tell the car, "here, you shift the gears for a while, I'm tired of it." I was seriously looking at a Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart because of its DCT but the back seat was way too small. Alas, a manual was my only choice in the car I just bought, and still a better choice than a full-out torque-converter auto.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,705 posts, read 58,042,598 times
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Why are manual transmission vehicles unpopular in the USA?
So tranny shops can rip off the public, (you will notice the USA has a FEW of those...) and also cars can go into controlled obsolescence due to wimpy AUTO trannies to sell more cars... All about selling to naive and spineless consumers (who don't 'march' on the sleezy, dirtbag, auto manufacturers) very sad state of affairs.
Give me a break. As if transmission shops have the influence to shift people into cars they otherwise wouldn't buy just to give themselves more business.
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Originally Posted by StealthRabbit
and also cars can go into controlled obsolescence due to wimpy AUTO trannies to sell more cars...
Transmissions usually last the serviceable life of the car.
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Originally Posted by StealthRabbit
All about selling to naive and spineless consumers (who don't 'march' on the sleezy, dirtbag, auto manufacturers) very sad state of affairs.
Right, the consumer is just too dumb to have their own preference.
The consumer has spoken. They want automatic transmissions. There's no need to make up completely stupid conspiracies when the answer is obvious.
My feet are too big to juggle 3 pedals in a crummy car, I can drive manual trucks though, it is much easier, you can't stall a truck starting up from a low gear, computer applies required amount of fuel automatically.
Most drivers in this country are too distracted already what with the need to be putting on make-up/shaving, fixing hair, plucking nose hairs, trying to find a song on the iPod, fiddling with the GPS, texting, talking on the phone and reading a novel all at the same time, they don't need one more distraction like having to change gears.
I enjoy manuals. Most of my first 10 years of driving was done with a manual. I still have 2 trucks that are 5-speeds, but neither of them are daily drivers and of my 2 current drivers, one wasn't available with a manual at all and the other wasn't available in a manual with the way the car is optioned. The disappearance of the stick is a sad thing for sure.
2. Traffic. My previous manual was like using a leg press machine. I sat in an hour of stop and go traffic so many times that my left leg was bigger than my right. OK, maybe that's an exaggeration, but I can say that after sitting in that traffic my left leg was throbbing many times.
3. We're too stupid to learn. My neighbor decided to get down to one car for he and his wife. She is seemingly incapable of learning to drive a manual, so he has to buy an auto.
4. We aren't driving enthusiasts. Look at how many Accords, Camrys, and other front drive generic sedans are on the road. Few people are interested in the performance benefits of a manual.
5. Even taking the performance benefits into account, modern paddle shifters and SMGs are so good that manuals don't provide any real benefit for most people in the cars where they're available. I think I read somewhere that either Porsche or Ferrari is no longer offering a manual.
That being said, my GTO is a 6M, and my F150 is a 4EOD. The GTO is very easy to drive, but there are times when I don't want to change gears. I had a series of knee and ankle injuries a few years ago, and couldn't have driven were it not for my auto F150.
Pretty much sums it up.
I'm one of the few people who hate driving automatics.
I can't stand the damn thing.
I love having control over my vehicle.
I can rev the engine how loud I want.
Downshift when ever I want and not wait for a stupid computer.
I hate and I mean hate the lag in the shifts.
I can't even power out in the corners.
Then there's the weight problem.
Most automatics are heavier and you can feel it.
There anoying to me.
No engine breaking.
Burnouts suck.
Not to mention the fuel economy. I'm sorry but I'm use to driving my car in nuetral 4th/5h gear all around town. Grant it the newer model cars like the accord, maxima, civic and other various import vehicles have compansated for automatic fuel mileage over the years, but I don't own one.
I love a good manual trans. I bought a new Mazda 6 sport wagon with a manual back in 2005. The dealer was more than happy to unload it as it must have been sitting on the lot for a while. I basically named my price and they agreed. That's another reason why there aren't more manual trans cars sold, the dealers don't like to stock them as most people want a slushbox. It's a vicious cycle.
I kept the Mazda for 2 years and grew tired of shifting all the time. I live in a hilly area and it was annoying. There was a problem with the clutch that the dealer couldn't resolve so I dumped it for an SUV.
I will probably buy another manual someday, most likely as my 3rd (fun) car. Not for commuting.
Working in the family car business, we would have 10 automatic buyers for each manual and this was 30 years ago.
Cars with stick just languished... 68 Mustang Fastback V8 stick was there almost a year, same for the Dodge Dart with a 340 and Stick... just real hard to sell, also, manual were often the stripped down model... no power steering, brakes, air conditioning, rubber mats in place of carpet... etc.
Manual are not as trouble free either.
We had customers trade in manuals after putting in 3 clutches because the wife or daughter would go through them in a year...
I've rebuilt a number of manual transmissions... Ford Mustang, Datsun, Suzuki, Toyota... often it was a bearing that went bad... parts, less than $50. On the Mustang it was the synchro cones that needed to be replaced.
Learned to drive a stick and double clutch on a 55 VW Bug at the church parking lot when I was 12.
So every single person who is driving a car with an automatic doesn't have "control" of their vehicle? Did you disengage the anti-lock brakes on your car so you have "more control?"
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Downshift when ever I want and not wait for a stupid computer.
On my 3 pre-computer '60s and '70s cars (all with automatics) I frequently down (and up) shift manually.
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I hate and I mean hate the lag in the shifts.
Yeah, my '69 Cadillac had a lag in the shifts. I put in a shift kit and it now shifts instantly and firmly.
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I can't even power out in the corners.
You can't power out in the corners with an automatic?
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Then there's the weight problem.
Most automatics are heavier and you can feel it.
All my cars weigh over 4,000 lbs so the extra weight of an automatic isn't going to make much difference.
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No engine breaking.
There is engine braking with automatics.
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Burnouts suck.
Are you serious? Some of the best burnouts I've seen were with cars with an automatic trans.
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Not to mention the fuel economy. I'm sorry but I'm use to driving my car in nuetral 4th/5h gear all around town. Grant it the newer model cars like the accord, maxima, civic and other various import vehicles have compansated for automatic fuel mileage over the years, but I don't own one.
I didn't buy my cars for their fuel economy, so that's irrelevant for me.
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