Manual a hassle

Some people prefer a manual car because it provides better control, saves you more gas or it’s just plain sportier.

I totally respect that. But as a driver who started with a manual and drove it for decades until the advent of the modern automatic gearboxes, I would highly advise against getting a manual gearbox car. Why? Some are pretty obvious reasons. But for the sake of new drivers who are in the market for a new car, I’ll enumerate 3 good reasons why I switched to an automatic for my everyday car.

Traffic

Manual cars are a pain to drive in traffic. The driver has to use both legs, hold on to a half-clutch position for a long period and change from first gear to second gear and back to one countless times.

Have you ever wondered why most taxi drivers refuse to stop until it is very near to the car in front? The driver doesn’t want to change back to first gear.

It’s so straining on the legs.  It’s good exercise but I’d honestly prefer hiking over driving a manual in traffic.

As for automatic cars, the ease of operation comes from operating only two pedals, the accelerator and the brakes.

Moving up Parking Ramps is easier

Going up a multi-level parking building ramp can be challenging in a manual.

In some car parks, you’ve got to maintain the balance for a few seconds while lining up to get your parking ticket.

A lapse of concentration could almost always result in a gutter rash, a paint scraped or worse, you’ll roll back and collide with the car at the back. I still remember learning how to balance a car on an incline decades ago. Sweating after going all the way up and stopping in the middle of that inclined road at the side of Iglesia ni Cristo in Gen. Maxilom Ave. It’s essential to know how to do it. But thanks to the automatic gearbox, stopping on inclines has become less complicated.

Poor Re-sale Value

I wrote about this around 2 years ago. About how the manual transmission is disappearing in the market and will probably be on “special order” in a few years’ time. The demand is not there anymore.

This explains why used manual cars aren’t selling well.

 To be honest, if you go to a dealer, I can almost hear what the agent will say to you: “Sorry, your car is manual and is very hard to sell. My offer can’t be that much higher”.

Our daily cars used to be less complicated before. In the early 90’s, you could do away with no airconditoning as there was less to no traffic at all. Manual cars didn’t even pose as a hassle.