Auto or manual for 17yr child?

[stabilio]

My kid wants to start having driving lessons as soon as shes 17 but we're undecided whether to go for lessons in a manual or auto car - and then buying a cheap auto or manual for her.

I'll admit, I'm not a fan of manuals and wouldn't ever buy one again and all my 'sportier' cars over the years have been auto (as with many, manual weren't an option anyway).
For her, doing lessons and her test should be easier (and hopefully quicker) in an auto than a manual and going forward with EVs which don't even have a gearbox and lots of cars now coming with auto boxes, manuals are become a thing of the past.

I know her licence will only be for auto only cars and I/shes not bothered about that.

My only x2 concerns really are, it will be harder to find an instructor (locally) with an auto car.
The other would be less available cheaper, and possibly cheaper to insure small cars to buy for her.

Do you think its wise going down the auto route only as she has no desire to drive a manual. Shes slightly autistic so for her, anything easier and less stressfull would be better.

[Jazoli]

There's more auto driving schools now, or you could by a car and they have lessons in that, cheap small autos are very hard to fins are usually ridiculously expensive so that may end up swaying your decision, one of my daughters was fine in a manual but the other just couldn't get to grips with the clutch and gearbox so learnt auto only, it made a massive difference for her.

[HTP99]

Having worked in the motor trade for pretty much all my working life, I'm seeing more and more younger people learning in auto's, they tend to be not that interested in cars and see learning as a necessesity opposed to wanting to actually drive, unlike perhaps when I was their age, however cheap auto's are still few and far between with the cheap ones being generally a bit crap and few and far between compared to a manual obviously all dependent on how cheap is cheap.

I've had parents and child come in looking for a "cheap auto" we have nothing and generally they trot out "Yeahh we are finding they are hard to get and alot more expensive than we thought, we think we may have to up the budget"

I totally get the whole EV and hybrid future thinking but I still think learning in a manual is better, it keeps options open and also hiring cars abroad will be easier too.

[DaveH23]

Learn in a manual.

You then have the option of both, if you learn in an auto you only have that option, agreed more cars are heading that way but having more options and understanding the basics of how a clutch works can only be a good thing right?

[Smint]

Auto licence restricts which cars she can buy and always will, also should she ever want an HGV/PSV licence she would have to take a test in a manual truck/bus to gain the manual licence, few hgv schools now have manual training trucks...don't expect she wants to be a lorry or bus driver (almost all of which are autos now anyway) but if she wanted to drive a horse box for example many of those are older and basic vehicles.
Other considerations...car hire on some holiday destinations, finding older cheaper rental cars they're probably going to be manuals.

If she's going to be financing her own transport in the future then manual cars are still more plentiful in the smaller cars if that's what she would prefer, or rather which she could afford given a youngsters starting out in life.

My daughter (who has 3 cars of her own) has never had an automatic car and can't see her ever doing so, she didn't start out an enthusiastic petrol head but soon found she was, her choice in cars they never offered an auto worth the time of day.

[Baldchap]

Asia and mainland Europe aren't moving to auto anywhere near as fast as we are.

I don't know why anyone would want to learn to do half a thing and it potentially complicate their life going forward.

Learn in a manual, drive a manual for a couple of years, then do whatever she wants. That's what we did with ours (18/20) and both are now grateful that they aren't like some of their mates who 'don't know how to drive properly'. An auto only license is still seen as a shortcut to driving for people who struggle with proper cars.

[AB]

HTP99 said:

I totally get the whole EV and hybrid future thinking but I still think learning in a manual is better, it keeps options open and also hiring cars abroad will be easier too.

Agreed

[dave123456]

Manual. If she goes travelling in a far flung country she will thank you.

[Jader1973]

My wife has an auto only license. It isn’t a problem
in Australia because every hire car is auto, but when we visit the UK it means the hire companies charge an arm and a leg.

[seymourski]

Why not let her have a couple of lessons in a manual and see how she copes? If she's struggling switch to auto and she's not really wasted anything as it's all good practice.

[DaveTheRave87]

I'd recommend learning manual, it's a good skill to have even if you rarely use it.

[w8pmc]

Had the same dilemma last year & decided it was best to push my Son to learn in a Manual & bought him a Manual car.

Simple reason was he gets the option to drive whatever he prefers as he gets older, plus i believe driving a manual teaches you better car control & lastly, Vans etc. don't appear to be going Auto so if he ever needed to rent a van or car, he's not restricted by his license.

[Dog Star]

AB said:

HTP99 said:

I totally get the whole EV and hybrid future thinking but I still think learning in a manual is better, it keeps options open and also hiring cars abroad will be easier too.

Agreed

I’ve had autos for the last 20 years and wouldn’t bother with manual again, but if I was doing my test again I would still do the manual test - the post above nails it.

[Dracoro]

Manual - keeps options open, even if they don’t ever want/buy a manual, at least they have the choice.

Also, they could be with someone who has a manual and asks them to help with driving (e.g. on a long journey, or friend/family member with manual car falls ill or tired etc.)

Plus, they may end up a car nut down the line and really want a manual.

[A.J.M]

As others have said.
Learn in a manual, that gives you more options for the future.

[GT03ROB]

Manual. Don't even think about anything else. It will still & for a while yet put too many restrictions on her if she can only drive an auto.

[dontlookdown]

It's not as much of a no brainer as it was say, 10yrs ago, but you might as well learn in a manual still I reckon. Will be useful for hiring cars, and buying cheap first cars etc, for a good few years yet.

[Ecosseven]

Manual. I may be biased as I like the involvement of driving a manual but as other posters have said, it gives more choice going forwards. Ask the same question in 10 years time and my answer will probably be different........

[Alex@POD]

The funny thing is, I sort of agree with the posts above but I've had to hire a few cars over the past couple of years and often found there were only autos available, and when searching for a good cheap car for my wife to learn to drive with earlier this year, there were a lot of autos to shift through before I found a decent manual...

It's very much lifestyle-dependent in my eyes, day-to-day stuff is fine but my wife needs to learn manual if she wants to help with the driving on long trips in the camper (or as she likes to remind me, to drive back in case I break my leg while we're away...)

[kambites]

I agree with most others; for now I think we're just about still in the "it's worth the extra effort of learning to drive a manual" phase.