Death of manual transmissions?

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deoxy4

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I guess I have been asleep at the wheel. I just realized that manual transmission are well on their way to becoming extinct, except for a rare sports car model. I am in my early 60's and not looking for a sports car.

I have not owned an automatic or CVT vehicle. I have been driving manual transmission cars for 45 years. Never had a manual transmission problem and only had one clutch replaced. In addition, I have read many manufacturers are having problems with their automatic and CVT transmissions.

I have a vehicle that should last me another 7-10 years. When I am in the market for another vehicle I am sure manual transmissions will be nonexistent. Hope they improve the durability of CVT in the next ten years. It seems it will be the only choice in the future.
 
If you buy new from your own native marketplace you might struggle, but if you buy used, or import, or build then you can pretty much have whatever you want.

I'm with you 100% though, I wouldn't want to buy an auto or derivative thereof either.
 
This trend started probably 25-30 years ago I think. I learned how to drive on a manual transmission. I bet about 40-50% of the cars and trucks on the road in the late 80s into early 90s were manual. I never had a clutch problem or any transmission problem either in over 300k miles of using one.

I have a CVT transmission in my car currently. It has 131k miles on it with no problems knock on wood. My generation of CVT was actually pretty good. The xtronic CVT paired with the 3.5 VQ motors have faired really quite well. The 2.5s have had the most issues. Now the latest version of the CVTs have had a lot of problems. I had a 2015 Altima 2.5 for a rental last week. I can see why there are problems with these CVTs. It is always searching for the highest gear ratio for max fuel economy. So, it never stops really working. Whereas my car once you get to a cruising speed it settles in and stays put. My car is FAR more desirable to drive due to how my car runs versus how the latest CVTs run. So the latest and newest doesn't always equal better.

I do agree with your thoughts that manuals will be only available in higher level sporty cars. Unless some one sees a opening and makes a bullet proof reliable manual transmission for everyday cars. Because of all the issues with these newer CVTs and automatics people will be searching for something far more reliable.
 
Here in the States manual transmission models are becoming very rare in current models. The Toyota Camry is a very popular model here, maybe the most popular car over here. No longer is it available in an automatic transmission. Acura no longer makes a manual transmission offering. Honda makes very few and they are either econoboxes or sports cars. American manufacturers have given up on making manual transmissions except for a few sports cars.

Projected 7-10 years out I fear manual transmissions will be like cassette decks.
 
I drive a 2006 Accord EX-L with a stick shift ('03 Saab 9-5 and '92 Saturn SC, both sticks, before that), it only has 108k miles so many years of life left, but I am definitely keeping an eye out for announcements by Honda and Mazda of the end of manuals being offered on the Accord and 6. I'll probably buy one of those new if/when it comes time that they're no longer going to offer stick in the mid/up level models. Honda has already done so with the Civic, they only offer stick in the base model now. ugh.

jeff
 
Originally Posted By: deoxy4
Here in the States manual transmission models are becoming very rare in current models. The Toyota Camry is a very popular model here, maybe the most popular car over here. No longer is it available in an automatic transmission. Acura no longer makes a manual transmission offering. Honda makes very few and they are either econoboxes or sports cars. American manufacturers have given up on making manual transmissions except for a few sports cars.

Projected 7-10 years out I fear manual transmissions will be like cassette decks.


Nearly every Honda in production has a manual option, but the bigwigs don't give you the choice.
 
Manual transmission is still fitted to the vast majority of European cars with 2 liters or less under the hood. Larger cars are more likely to have an automatic transmission, two reasons for this as I see it;
Larger cars are more upscale and have more bells and whistles,
Larger cars necessarily have heavier duty components in their transmissions leading to a more cumbersome heavy gearshift and heavier clutch.
Large American cars mostly haven't been offered with a manual option for years, no surprise that Mercedes Benz no longer offer manual in North America.

Claud
 
My grandmother is a tough old bird - after her second hip replacement and worsening of her rheumatism she *didnt* trade her Land Rover Defender for an automatic, she had one of her engineer friends move the pivot point on the pedal and re-sized the slave and master to reduce the clutch effort enough that she can still drive it.

Versus the mentality of most US car buyers...
 
It's funny that all the people that are saying "manual transmissions are simple and cheap" are the same people obsessing over blind spot monitoring and other stupid nanny junk for incapable drivers.
 
Originally Posted By: horse123
It's funny that all the people that are saying "manual transmissions are simple and cheap" are the same people obsessing over blind spot monitoring and other stupid nanny junk for incapable drivers.


May not be the same people saying those things.
probably at least 2 camps there. The simplistic car fans that prefer manuals and minimal bells and whistles( i don't need bluetooth , blindspot monitoring or autobraking) and the camp that wants all the gizmos.
 
I learned to drive on a manual. But I find an automatic or CVT just easier. Except when I was in Europe on business its been many years since I had a manual. At least 20. I do not miss a manual. But if I bought a Porsche I would get a manual.
 
My wife hates automatics and had a hard time locating a new 2015 Audi A4 quattro with a stick. She has no issue driving it in NYC traffic a few times a year to visit her parents in Brooklyn.
 
Originally Posted By: horse123
It's funny that all the people that are saying "manual transmissions are simple and cheap" are the same people obsessing over blind spot monitoring and other stupid nanny junk for incapable drivers.


There is nothing simple about a modern synchronized manual transmission. They've been dumbed down to the point that virtually anyone can drive them-there is nothing particularly difficult or engaging about them.

If you want to drive a real manual, then go find something that isn't synchronized and has both a main and auxiliary transmission. Maybe something with a 15 speed tri-plex or even a simple 18 speed Eaton.
 
The manual transmissions will be around for a while longer in the sporty cars. And considering many of those models are driven quite sparingly, you can add another 10-20 years on top of that to account for used cars.
 
Once you get the hang of a non-synchro gearbox, they're also easy to operate.
One advantage of a lack of synchro rings is that clutchless shifts are really easy.
Some synchro gearboxes are also easy to shift sans clutch, although most are not.
I drove a 1965 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 V-6 four speed that could be shifted up or down without the clutch with almost no effort at all, for example. We had three old Civics that were also pretty easy to shift sans clutch, as was my MGB. Most of the sticks we've had? Forgetaboutit.
For road use, the thing that I really like about manuals is that you simply select the appropriate gear for two-lane passing.
There's no guessing about how quickly and to what gear the tranny will downshift itself.
Other than that, an automatic is generally okay to drive and a decent automatic with a little maintenance will last the life of the vehicle in which it's installed.
 
I once owned a 61 3.8 XKE with a Moss gearbox. You had to work with the transmission to get a smooth shift. I was a very satisfying experience. I really enjoyed that car. The problem was that someone offered me an outrageous amount for it and in a moment of insanity I sold it. I regretted that sale the moment the new owner backed out of the driveway and drove away with a big "crunch" as he ham fisted the shift into second gear.
 
Last summer I did a bit of test driving, and found a bunch of rubbery-feeling manuals in econoboxes. It was like they weren't even trying. My Camry has a lousy manual, vague clutch, long throws, and the DBW programming makes shifting smoothly more work than it ought to be.

Still prefer picking my own gear though. At least my truck allows easy downshifts, but it offers no user control over convertor lockup nor upshift.
 
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