<p>I’m going to see if I can find someone who owns one and who will show me the basics. These posts made me curious…</p>
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<p>Oh, it is. Most of my cars have been sports cars with manual tansmissions (currently drive a Miata), and there is something quite satisfying about manually downshifting approaching a turn and using the engine to help you brake, hugging the inside line, and then powering up through the turn and pulling away into the straight. When done in a small, responsive car, it’s just wonderful.</p>
<p>These days, the most sophisticated auto trannys are controlled by engine management systems that look at all sorts of engine, road and driver parameters. That’s how they can have mileage as good as, or better than manuals. It is also why we shade tree mechanics have all retired and turned to bicycles.</p>
<p>Bicycle modding. Now there’s a topic. Almost as good as tuners (who don’t really tune, BTW…)</p>
<p>My husband and son dream of doing one of these days the next time they go to England: <a href=“http://www.driversdreamdays.co.uk/[/url]”>http://www.driversdreamdays.co.uk/</a></p>
<p>(They recently got to drive a friend’s Jaguar XK120. My son said it was overwhelming.)</p>
<p>we have so much traffic around here, that I would be happy with anything that would allow me to go the speed limit</p>
<p>not that they are that sexy of cars- but I want to put a plug in for a local company owned by a young man that used to be the only one who could get my daughter to eat ( when she was a year and he was 2 & 1/2)
they sell smart cars and do conversions
<a href=“http://www.thegreencarco.com/[/url]”>http://www.thegreencarco.com/</a></p>
<p>^^^ I guess the vehicle at the bottom would be the ‘greenest’ (a bicycle).</p>
<p>courier,</p>
<p>I agree, downshifting is great.</p>
<p>Too bad clutches cost more than brakes :)</p>
<p>Of course, there is a time where downshifting and enginebrakeing are all important, going down long downhills. But auto trannies do it too…</p>
<p>I tried that start with no gas method with my D this week…new permit holder…and it worked so well, it was great to help her learn teh feel of what she si trying to do.</p>
<p>All of our kids have learned to drive a stick and they like it, plus it gives them real confidence and seems to make tehm better (more involved) drivers. It’s not for every one, and it’s not great in stop & go traffic, hurts the knees on us older folks, but it is a blast ;)</p>
<p>EmeraldKity if it weren’t so far away I might check that out in person! I decided not to buy this week though - the dealer didn’t quite hit my numbers; I want to look at more cars, and try driving a manual/stick - the last several posts have me incredibly curious. I know at least one friend who has one, if our schedules can work I’m pretty sure I can convince him to meet me in an empty parking lot; if that doesn’t work out, perhaps my daughter knows someone, or there must be a driving school with an instructor who can let me try it out. Not saying I’ll switch, but, it seems a shame to not try it at least just one time. It sounds like a lot of fun…and, thinking back to why I wanted a new car in the first place, it was to have something fun to drive for a change.</p>
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<p>Not necessarily. The way they make brakes these days you can end up paying for a LOT of brake jobs during the life of one clutch. The brake pads are so small and wimpy on our family car that the mechanics refer to them as “Chiclets.”</p>
<p>latetoschool-if you are serious about exploring a manual transmission, don’t just rely on one test run in a parking lot. The first time can be a bit frustrating as it does take a bit of time to get all the moving parts in sync for a full appreciation of the driving experience. It’s been our experience that the end of the month, especially September and October when the new models tend to be hitting the lots, makes for the best car wheeling and dealing, new and used. Good luck</p>
<p>(Just got home from doing my errands in our little 6 speed, top down, music kinda loud and a rare hot day in the PNW. Doesn’t get much more fun than that.)</p>
<p>Dogwood, thanks for that, as my negotiations didn’t go very well. I am asking for too much for my trade in and was sort of pushing the envelope in asking for discounts, curious to see how far the dealer would go to sell a car by the 31st day of the month. Obviously I’m not very good at the wheeling and dealing part.</p>
<p>Women should have no problems with a stick shift since they are so used to multitasking.</p>
<p>latetoschool: I’m curious - what car did you decide to go for?</p>
<p>ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad, I want a Saleen - here are the specs:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.saleen.com/s281_3v_specs.htm[/url]”>http://www.saleen.com/s281_3v_specs.htm</a></p>
<p>Still sort of torn between this and the Mustang GT. The insurance rates are very high for either one though, especially since I want to garage it in Miami. But I cannot find anything else that I like quite as much. Way back on my original car thread, someone suggested that I get off the internet and actually go look at cars, so, I did. </p>
<p>The first one I really fell for on the internet was the Dodge Charger SRT, but, went to look at it, and didn’t like it so much. Plus, that dealer was very aggressive - I got their numbers, told them I was going to think it over, and went home. They called me seven times over the next two days - and each call was a successively better offer. </p>
<p>The Ford dealer wasn’t like that at all - I had to keep calling THEM to follow up on my offer; I finally gave them a deadline that they did not meet. </p>
<p>It’s funny how when you shop for cars, the dealers try to convince you to go ahead and drive it home, right then. The Ford dealer did that - salesperson said “here, we’ll put you in it tonight, the finance people said they know this will be approved; let’s sign and you can drive it home right now”. When I refused to even consider taking the car home until I knew the deal was solidly approved, they seemed to lose interest. Tempting because the Saleen is beautiful, but, not tempting enough to make me take possession of it without having the numbers in stone. </p>
<p>The Dodge people did the same thing, but, they were very aggressive about reconfiguring the numbers - they increased the value of my trade in about four times, and decreased the price of the car about three times. At one point, I took a nap on a Saturday afternoon, woke up two hours later, and had four missed calls from them. Anyway, that process turned me off not only the car but the entire dealership.</p>
<p>Unless you need to make use of the Mustang’s rear seat, have you considered a Miata? Fast enough and a convertible…</p>
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<p>It’s not funny; its business. Because in many states the purchase is a done deal when the customer takes possession of the car regardless of other little details like financing that have not been worked out. And “taking possession” is usually defined as the moment you drive it off the lot. Some even define it as the moment the rear axle passes over the dealership property line.</p>
<p>So that’s why they are so eager to make you take it - because then they’ve got a sale. So if you’ve got any significant uncertainties, do not drive the car off the lot.</p>
<p>
This is the number one commandment for car dealers - thou shalt not allow the shopper off the lot without a purchase. They know that if you leave the lot that day without a car, their chances of you buying the car there or returning to their lot decreases dramatically. I’ve solved this problem by purchasing cars through fleet sales by getting quotes over the internet. Most dealers have this capability now as long as you know what you want. You can request a quote from all of the dealers in the, for example, Miami area and then go with the best quote. You can even try getting quotes from a few outlying areas where they sometimes deal more. you should always be able to get the cars for significantly less than MSRP. When requesting the quote, include the particular details of the car you want (GT, color, engine, etc.). If they don’t have it in stock, they generally will acquire it from another dealer in the area within a day for you. Worst (sometimes best) case, they can order it from the factory for you. I’ve done this a couple of times. you order it exactly the way you want it, wait about six weeks, and then get your dream car. This actually even costs the dealers less money since they didn’t have to store it on their lot.</p>
<p>Mustangs - I have two of them, although they’re old. I have a 66 convertible that I drive daily and a 69 Mach I that I’ve had for years. I like the new ones as well. I’d skip the Saleen (over-priced and doesn’t add enough for what you get IMO) and go for a GT convertible. You need a convertible - trust me. The GT will have more power than you’re likely to ever use and will be a fun car to drive.</p>
<p>Interesting advice, re the dealers; I started out using carsdirect.com. But I got stuck with one dealer when they wanted me to sign all of the paperwork, including the financials, but the car wouldn’t be coming for a week or so. I wasn’t willing to sign for a car without being able to actually see the exact car - not the same model in a different color, not the closest example - but rather the exact car that I would be owning, and the dealer wasn’t willing to have it delivered unless I was 100% locked in. So we were stuck. </p>
<p>I’d be VERY interested in ordering directly from the factory - I haven’t yet seen even one car that met exactly what I wanted, and that had nothing that I didn’t. But I would want to make sure that I have an opportunity to fully examine and even test drive the car before commiting my money - what if it gets scratched or damaged in transit, or, if it’s the last one they make on a Friday afternoon? But I can see where a dealer isn’t going to want to order an expensive car and then have it sit on the lot if the buyer backs out.</p>
<p>How do you get around this? </p>
<p>By the way, it’s hard not to fall madly, wildly in love with the GTs…</p>
<p>I ordered a Ford and a Dodge from the factory in order to get them optioned exactly the way I wanted. In both cases, I put down a small deposit of $100 or so but the deal wasn’t completed until I was able to fully inspect the vehicle after they arrived. I could have walked away from the deal if I wanted to. In both cases though, the vehicles arrived perfectly. They actually have a better chance of no scratches, etc. since they don’t sit on the lot getting test driven and shuffled around by a teenaged lot attendant. If you back out, they’ll just sell it anyway so it’s not that big a deal to the dealer. They handle these factory orders all the time.</p>
<p>Before ordering or querying on the internet, or even before going to the lot, go to Kelly Blue Book (<a href=“http://www.kbb.com%5B/url%5D”>www.kbb.com</a>) or Edmunds (<a href=“http://www.edmunds.com%5B/url%5D”>www.edmunds.com</a>) and determine the factory invoice price and what incentives are in place at the time. You should never pay more than a few hundred over factory invoice for a car unless it’s truly in very short supply. Sometimes you can pay even under invoice depending on incentives the dealer gets.</p>
<p>A friend of mine factory ordered a Mustang GT convertible when they first came out. He loves the car.</p>