Asklemmy

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.

I can’t. Lots of people my age can. My teenage years there was only one car in the household and it’s an auto. I couldn’t afford to pay for extra lessons to learn manual with their car.

I was into cars and really wanted to get a manual car later on. But just never needed it. Auto cars are just more available so 10+ years later I still can’t drive manual and hasn’t affected my life at all

...american; when i learned to stick-and-clutch fourty years ago (driving fifty-year-old used cars) we still called it a standard transmission...

...we like to say that i married my wife because she drove a standard, but when she traded in my last hatchback the manufacturer only offered automatics in the new models; would've been a dealbreaker for me but she liked the car...

India, been driving manual since 20 yr old , been a while and planning to get an auto

40 Florida I drive a manual everyday. My mother insisted I learn on a manual. I'm grateful

Yes, 40, Germany. And I actually do.

Germany, 25. Always driven manual, don't even know how to drive automatic.

US. I can and have. Learned on a crappy stick shift truck where I had to nudge the clutch up with my toe. Launched boats with it.

Drove drunk friend home in his stick shift car. VW because of course he did.

Swapped cars with Mom when she hurt her clutch leg. Drove stick for a summer, a little Echo that shifted nicely.

So I can and will if I need to but I have no desire to. I have never really liked cars, just used them for utility. Now that I drive hybrids I do like them more. CVT, no gears at all!

Yes (early 30s) drive a manual VW polo. I’m from Australia. I have always had a manual car.

In Finland synchronization in gearboxes is starting to become a thing nowadays. Double clutching for 20 years now (38).

Just kidding, got my first automatic two years ago, so yes.

Yes, Australia, 20 years old. A lot of cars around where I live are still manual, newer ones tend to be auto though.

Yes, it's very common here (Czechia), in fact I don't know a single person who doesn't know how to drive manual.

Until recently I even preferred it, but nowadays I'd like automatic more. Well, my next car is gonna be automatic, that's for sure.

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.

Yes, I learned to drive in one, got my license with one. I'm 38.

Mid-late twenties, US, I know how but have only ever done it on a motorcycle. I don't even know anyone who owns a manual car.

I think I'd like a manual sports car. Automatics are boring.

Belgium, 48. I drive a manual transmission. I never had a car with an automatic transmission.

UK, early 30s only ever driven manual, automatics are still more expensive here than manuals but are slowly becoming more common esp with the rise of electric cars. Although I doubt ill get one any time soon.

Nope.

Some people in my family tried to teach me when I was young, but I didnt immediately and perfectly absorb the knowledge of how to master it from the atmosphere, so obviously I was just a piece of shit that was trying to ruin their transmission/car/life and cant appreciate a single fucking thing anyone does for me and that i'm an ungrateful piece of shit and to just get the fuck out of the car and never ask them for anything again (not that I asked them to teach me stick in the first place.. They insisted, i suspected then, and continue to do so to this day, that it was just a trap.)

Which really helped my desire to drive, much less drive stick.

Big yes! Mid 20s and currently daily drive my miata

I drive whichever vehicle doesn't get my data harvested.

Yep - been driving for around 30+ years here in Australia (I'm late 40s). Grew up driving manual, have owned several manual vehicles, including my current one.

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.

And where are you from? And how old?

Defuq kinds of questions are these? Is this not against site rules?

23, German, yes I can and I do

Yes. European. It's the norm.

Yep. 27, Finland. I learned on a manual (in the EU, if you learn on an automatic, you're restricted to automatics only until you pass the driving exam in a manual) and drove manuals until a few years ago when my late grandma's health started declining and her car got passed down to us because she could no longer drive.

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.

Mid 30s, used to drive stick all the time but I wouldn't go out and get one anymore. This seems like one of those things people clutch onto (pun intended) because it was at one time a useful everyday skill not everyone could do but now is completely antiquated.

the great thing about manual transmission is it almost doesn't matter how big the motor is, or whether it's front/rear/AWD, as long as the platform is balanced you can have fun on it.. EVERY car nut appreciates a Golf with a stick, no matter how muscular a hot rod you drive..

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.

German, mid 20s, can and do

I'm from the UK and after driving one about 100 metres I refuse to drive an automatic car, it's one of the main reasons why I don't want an electric car either. Automatic cars are horrible twitchy things that just aren't enjoyable to drive and you can't change gears to anticipate a change in the road before you're already on that bit of road.

Yes, manuals are incredibly common here in Sweden.

No one I know owns an automatic.

Yes Midwest, U.S. 40y

Italian, 45 here. Always driven manual.

Yep, my family only had manual vehicles growing up so I had to learn stick just to start driving. AZ here, also mid 30s.

Mid 40's, Northeast US.

Learned to drive on manual, and only owned manuals until early 2000s. Would be driving a manual now if it was available in vehicles that otherwise meet my wants/needs. Currently have a DCT with paddles, and a manual transmission motorcycle.

25 years old, I live in Alberta, Canada. I learned on automatic and then my first car was a manual. I have only owned cars with manual transmissions since. So much more fun to drive imo

My first 4 cars were standard. As is every motorcycle I have owned.

Learned on a farm truck when I was 13.

I'm from Mexico I'm 22 years old and I have been driving since 14 or so (rural Mexico). My family has not own a manual since I started driving and I gues we will not buy one soon lol

See username. USA.

Never learned. I can ride a motorcycle so I'm comfortable with a clutch. So the learning curve probably isn't too steep. But probably never will, if I'm honest.