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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

I can drive a manual yeah, I don't feel like I'm in total control when driving an automatic, I'm 20 and live in the Netherlands

I'm in my 40s and live in Europe (NL), and in my country, if you don't take your driving exam in a manual transmission car, you receive a restriction on your license that prevents you from driving manual transmission vehicles. As a result, both I and nearly everyone I know can drive a manual. Automatics are also a fair bit more expensive, so most people don't opt for them. Tho I expect this will change with the rising popularity of electric and hybrid vehicles.

Does a motorbike count?

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.

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.

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..

37, Switzerland, and I can drive a manual as much as I enjoy an automatic from time to time. The former is still the most common type of transmission even though the trend has been reversing over the years.

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.

38 Ireland, yes, it's the main transmission type here, the same as most of Europe.

51, I can drive a semi, but before I took some training for that I learned on a standard from my grandma.

Here in Italy we only drive manual

Yes. 39 y/o male. But 99% of the people I know, don't know how. So now it's easy to guess what country I live in.

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.

US, 40s. Gave up my manual a few years ago to get a bigger car when I became a single dad. The ol Mazda 3 wasn't cutting it

US, late 30s. The answer is "yes" but I've only spent a few hours behind the wheel of a manual car. I wouldn't feel comfortable with it without more practice. I don't prefer it as it's more thinking and stress for me in a commute that is already stop and go traffic. Automatic requires less work from me. Just my opinion and I know more people prefer manual because of the extra work it takes to drive. I'm just not interested in adding that to my driving experience.

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.

I only learned on a riding lawnmower but I can do it. I actually went looking for a car with a manual, figuring that it would be cheaper up front, cheaper to fix and cheaper to run. I couldn't really find one in any model of car I wanted, so I ended up having to go with a manumatic with paddle shifters, the worst of both worlds!

Yes, 46, my first car that was "mine" (my mom's old car) was a manual. The first car I ever bought had a shitty automatic (I think the seller may have pulled one over on young me). Since then I only buy stick shifts for myself. (My wife's is an automatic.)

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

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.

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

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.

Scandinavian, mid-40's. The vast majority of cars in Europe have manual transmission, in my country you can't even get a driver's license if you can't handle it. I prefer manual, whenever I drive automatic I feel like there's something missing.

Yes. European. It's the norm.

Netherlands, thirties, own a manual transmission car. In fact, I have only ever driven manuals.

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.

Mad respect for my 60+ aunt in the UK; when I visited she drove me around various hilly roads for sight seeing and some stop and go traffic uphill. She definetly mastered the handbrake, clutch, gas combo for uphill stops/starts. Meanwhile my mom has smashed into a few storefronts in an automatic in flat Canada.

Yup, I daily a 2021 MX-5 RF (Miata). Luckily I work from home most days so it's not too bad.

In the bay area, 26yo

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

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.

I have had only manual transmission cars for the passed 19 years except for 4 years, at which time I had a manual transmission motorcycle. I don't know what I'm going to do once internal combustion cars are phased out. I need a manual tranny. Luckily, my new car only has ~12k miles on it, and it's a make that is typically known for lasting over 200k miles. My only threat is accidental damage.

Edit: I live in the USA