Local VW dealer has 4 , GTI, Golf R and two Jetta
Manual Transmission Sales Are Up Again This Year
- Thread starter Oillover
- Start date
Our VW dealer never has them, even trying to order one they are bothering you to take a specific configuration.
Back when we bought a VW the dealer scared us away trying to move us to a different vehicle than we wanted to order and we ended up buying used / private party to get what we wanted
My wife would be in apoplexy if I bought a vehicle with a manual. She is from Brazil where lots of cars are still manual due to cost and the auto transmission is a luxury in her eyes. She never had an auto before moving to the US.
I had a manual daily driver up until 2020 and I kind of miss it. Maybe we'll get a 3rd car at some point that I can bang gears on.
Random thought: my Sonata manual would catch a 2nd gear scratch if you revved it to redline and then powershifted to 2nd.
I had a manual daily driver up until 2020 and I kind of miss it. Maybe we'll get a 3rd car at some point that I can bang gears on.
Random thought: my Sonata manual would catch a 2nd gear scratch if you revved it to redline and then powershifted to 2nd.
Corolla sedan? I thought only the hatchback was available with a stick? I know that’s the case with the Mazda3.
The Subaru Impreza dropped the manual for 2024.
My four kids 2 girls and two boys all know how to drive manual transmission cars and they all started out on dirt bikes at a young age which introduces the idea of a clutch and shifting gears. My youngest is a phenomenal cyclist. Barely able to touch the ground on my bigger bike but once he is up he is off to the races.
Neat. , be careful on shorts . I have a nasty scar (10 stitches) from drop/sliding my brothers 1982 XR80. Never rode in shorts again!!!!
Hit the nail on the head with this last part. I've considered getting the last year of the GTI manual because after that, there will be no more produced. The twin clutch DSG will be the only transmission which is an excellent transmission. The only thing that gives me pause is that I know I'm buying the slower car if I got the manual. It's a blast to drive, but it then the DSG also does not have the drawbacks of constantly shifting in stop and go traffic.
I love manuals and all, but when you objectively look at what either transmission gives you the auto/DSG/DCT wins almost every time.
That's what I see. When it comes to GTIs and Golf R every other car that shows up is manual.
There was a time when there were lots of little cars with well under 100 bhp that were transformed into entertaining machines by the magic of a four or five speed gearbox.
I'm thinking of our old seventies and eighties Civics or even the '67 Toyota Corona we had for a time.
Even the later Accords we had were surprisingly lacking in rated power but were great with a five speed, like my 130 bhp '97 Accord LX coupe or the '99 LX four door we bought new with all of 150 bhp with VTEC.
Sticks were common on the lots then and people knew how to drive one.
Times have changed and maybe not for the better.
One condition under which a manual is absolutely better than any automatic is two-lane passing. You select the appropriate gear and it stays there with no unwanted surprises mid-pass. If an upshift is needed, you already know that and any experienced driver can make a lightening fast change.
I'm thinking of our old seventies and eighties Civics or even the '67 Toyota Corona we had for a time.
Even the later Accords we had were surprisingly lacking in rated power but were great with a five speed, like my 130 bhp '97 Accord LX coupe or the '99 LX four door we bought new with all of 150 bhp with VTEC.
Sticks were common on the lots then and people knew how to drive one.
Times have changed and maybe not for the better.
One condition under which a manual is absolutely better than any automatic is two-lane passing. You select the appropriate gear and it stays there with no unwanted surprises mid-pass. If an upshift is needed, you already know that and any experienced driver can make a lightening fast change.
MSRP
A MT versa is a tempting car
VW dealer near me has 121 new cars on their website; exactly zero of them are manuals. Subaru dealer nearby has twelve manuals, all of them WRXs. Manual Impreza and Crosstrek are dead. Honda dealer has one manual, a Civic, and 160 automatics. Doesn't bode well for continued growing sales of manuals.
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When I began dating my wife she drove my 5 speed Maxima.
“What are you doing?!”
I was leaning over to look at her left foot at a stoplight. It was not on the pedal.
“You’re good, you pass. I don’t like women who ride the clutch.”
I’ve never understood the clutch to be a male female thing. When I was on a coed hockey team in 2000, I noticed all the girls had manual cars. I was thinking maybe sporty and manual went together.
My wife refuses to drive manual - It’s just added inconvenience. A shame, but there are more important reasons that I married her.
I think your wife is in the 90+ percentile range of women that hate the inconvenience of driving a manual transmission.
My wife drove one for years, and she drove it well. Now she has no interest in driving one, but she wouldn't stop me from buying one if I decided to go that route.
The higher the power output of the engine, the less appealing a manual becomes. The transmission needs to be beefed up, the clutch needs to be beefed up and one means slower shifts while the other means worse clutch pedal.
These days engines have loads of HP, they would get crappy manual transmissions.
I hear the Kia Forte is being replaced next year so the replacement vehicle will not likely have a manual transmission option.
