<p>Just so the kids would learn. To me, it’s a life skill. All three of our boys can drive a stick. S#2 is living in the same town as his grandparents, without a car. Hmmm- will they let him borrow the towncar to drive home for the weekend, or poppop’s truck? It’s GREAT that he can drive a stick.</p>
<p>Another plus - my under-powered 4 cylinder Saturn Ion feels a lot more fun to drive, and they can feel like they are doing the vroom vrroom thing, when they really aren’t.</p>
<p>Also - want to rent a car in Europe? Better know how to drive a stick.</p>
<p>P.S. All THREE of my boys have their licenses!!! I will NEVER HAVE TO TEACH A KID TO DRIVE AGAIN!!! HURRAY!! HURRAY!!!</p>
<p>Being able to drive a stick is a great skill to master. All 3 boys learned right after they got their licenses and picked it up quite easily. Every car we have had for the kids has been a standard and it continues to be all they want to drive.</p>
<p>S learned to drive a stick about a year after learning to drive on an automatic transmission car. He picked it up very easily and loves to drive H’s '59 TR3.</p>
<p>I learned on a stick when I was 17. It is a huge advantage to know how to drive stick.</p>
<p>The big thing to remember to tell her is that she should always clutch with one foot and accelerate/brake with the other. That way when she transitions to an automatic, she won’t accidentally hit the brake when she thought she was going for the clutch.</p>
<p>I learned on a stick shift too, and the first car I ever owned (Ford Econoline named Elsie) was a stick. I much prefer driving with a stick shift.</p>
<p>I can switch back and forth without thinking now. (We have one stick and one automatic.) But the first time I drove an automatic after a year with only a stick, I spaced out and I put one foot on the brake and one on the accelerator. Boy did I feel stupid!</p>
<p>On my permit, I learned to drive on my Mom’s automatic SUV (Acura MDX).
My first car was an Acura RSX 5-speed, and I absolutely love it.
I went online and learned how to drive a stick (wikipedia and wikihow), and then went out looking for cars. I found the RSX and haggled with the guy over a period of 3 months to lower his price until I could afford it. I then went and bought it (with no experience on a manual). I had my brother drive it home, and I practiced driving around my neighborhood by myself the next day. I mastered shifting in a few hours, and I only stalled twice!</p>
<p>I say go for it! Just find a nice open spot and she’ll pickup fairly quickly.</p>
<p>Backing up - one reason that I wanted kids to learn to drive a stick shift… in grad school during one summer field class I lost the flip to be the one to hike up to the top of the hill and bring the vehicle down.
I did my best but stalled over and over.
At long last someone else came up to see what was the matter… I showed her how I was following the pattern on the gearshift to get to reverse.
After about 4 more aborted atempts she quietly pointed out that the R was upside down. The old vehicle had been disused by too many grad students… when I screwed the knob back on so that the the orientation was left to right correct, we sudenly could drive. The good side, I was out of the contest the next time we had to hike back up for the truck…</p>
<p>My husband and son are car people, so only stick for them. While my daughter could drive a stick in an emergency, she would prefer not. I think she got that attitude from me, as I do not drive my husband’s car and have no interest in relearning.</p>
<p>The kids driver’s ed teacher gives all students one lesson in a stick shift car, otherwise all lessons are with an automatic. What I find interesting, not one of my son’s friends drive a car with stick. I would have though teenage boys would rather not drive automatic. Now that they are in their mid 20’s, they still drive an automatic.</p>
<p>Before the first lesson, do a little on line research for learning to drive a manual transmission. The no “gas method” is the best way to go in my opinion - no neck strain and just makes so much sense.</p>
<p>I learned how to drive a stick after I got married. H had a Honda stick. I had an old Valiant. When my car died, it was drive a stick or be chauffeured. My H tried to teach me, but it did not go well. Finally, I asked him to write the instructions on index cards which I taped to the dash, then spent some time in a parking lot perfecting it. (H tends to give too many instructions at once. He does the same thing when helping me with computers!) (My S1 told me I drive stick better than his dad. ) </p>
<p>Was glad I had the skill in Germany. And my boys learned to drive stick there, too. But when I got a new car here in Atlanta, I got an automatic. Way too much stop and go, and split second manuevering for me to feel good about a standard transmission.</p>
<p>My D does not know how to drive a stick (she wasn’t 18 yet when we lived in Germany), but H is considering getting a manual in his next car, and teaching her.</p>
<p>S learned to drive a stick while he still had his permit, altho he took his driving test on an automatic (still felt more comfortable with that at the time). Started in empty parking lots to get used to the clutch, progressed onto relatively quiet streets (avoiding uphills to start; didn’t want to frustrate him too much), then to routes he might take on a regular basis, then to the highway. He’s had his license for almost one and a half years and the car’s holding up just fine.</p>
<p>Wow, the verdict is clear - ok, the little clutch dance it is. You’re right - we live in Minnesota, so while it’s city driving, at least it is FLAT city driving.</p>
<p>I never doubted the value of learning to drive a shift, I was just questioning the timing of this - trying to learn the skills while still a novice driver. Given the newspaper article this morning about the shortage of hybrids in the car dealerships, we may have quite a burn-in time before D is forced to switch to a standard transmission.</p>
<p>Trying to decide whether to go hear Obama in St Paul today. Could be an interesting speech!</p>
<p>I learned how to drive when I was 15 by driving a garbage truck with a manual transmission. It was part of a summer job I had for $1.25/hr. They just tossed me the keys and told me to drive out to the campground and collect all the garbage from the garbage cans. </p>
<p>The real excitement came about two months later when somebody discarded some burning charcoals in one of the cans which in turn set the garbage in the back of the truck on fire. I saved the truck by jumping up into the garbage and flinging all the flaming trash off the truck with a pitch fork. I was never so relieved; I would never have lived it down if I had burned down the garbage truck.</p>
<p>I never regretted learning to drive a stick shift. More skills are always better than fewer.</p>
<p>Another good possible outcome I learned of from a friend. Her boys both learned to drive a stick and that is the kids’ car, and since their friends do not know how to drive a manual, that took care of her worries about her boys loaning out the car!</p>
<p>My first car was a stick, and I honestly have to say that I don’t miss it. However, I find that it’s a skill that stays with you, and when I had to borrow a car with a stick recently, I had no problem driving it, even though it had been at least 20 years since I last drove one.</p>
<p>lots of good comments … I would much prefer to be involved in all aspects of my kids learning how to drive rather than trust an unkown college friend or the cutrate “ACME driving school” they may pick while at college … so, for us, yes we’re teaching our kids how to drive a stick while in HS.</p>
<p>Just got a Geo Metro 5 speed to drive around town and teach the 15 year old S on. Averaging mid thirties MPG, all city driving.</p>
<p>Took the metro in to get a stereo installed. The installer stalled the thing out half a dozen times before I took the keys back and moved it myself, so may also be a plus on the job search front.</p>
<p>My first car was a stick shift. Mom paid the owner and drove home and I bumped along behind in my awesome Pinto! That same year got a job that required driving the company truck to the post office to pick up the daily mail. They asked if I could drive a straight drive truck. I proudly said “oh yes”. Imagine my surprise when I got in the truck and found out it was a shift on the column…a whole different animal. I learned quickly though and am still proud to say I am the only driver in my house (of all men) who can drive a shift on the column!</p>
<p>I think it’s better to learn basic driving skills on an automatic and then learn a stick if you have a very cautious new driver and a lot of hills/traffic. There are so many things to pay attention to when driving that adding on the combo of hills and stop signs just makes it that much more scary. Our daughter first tried the stick when she was learning to drive and got very frustrated because she just couldn’t get it. A year later after driving the automatic, she was ready and got the hang of the stick quickly. The downside was when she took the car to college she had no one that could share the driving with her for her 16 hour drive back from college to home.</p>
<p>Our 21 year old son won’t touch the manual car even though it’s hands down the most fun one to drive. Our neighbors have a similar situation in their family, two of their three kids like the manual, one (a son) never learned and doesn’t want to.</p>
<p>My husband and I both learned on sticks and have always had one car or truck that was a stick but if I’m going to do city driving, especially city with hills driving, I prefer the automatic.</p>
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