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Can you or your family members drive a stick shift?

Learned to drive a stick from the start. My wife, on the other hand, not so much and refuses to. Basically means that I plan on having a third car and it will be a stick....on purpose.
 
I can and wife can. Asked my daughter the other day if she could drive a standard and she "of course" but she is not that good with a manual.
 
I haven't driven one in probably 18 years so not sure how that would end


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My first car was a 4-speed manual Camaro. Had to learn real quick how to drive it. If your father tells you "if you want to have your drivers license then you better learn how to drive on a manual first, cause you never know when it might come in handy." Plus one of my jobs way back when was driving a truck for UPS. These kids nowadays ... don't know how good they have it. LOL
 
mancest said:
Learned on a stick, drove truck and tractor for several summers then bought my first truck that is a stick shift. Since moving to a bigger city I don't plan on going back to a manual anytime soon as sitting in traffic is bad enough, then have to be riding the clutch the whole time, screw that.

It is definitely something that when I brought up with younger coworkers they just looked like at me like "what are you talking about grandpa?".

I am in my mid 30s, they are in their early 20s, and would give me the same look when I brought up tapes/cassettes, and awesome movies like Weekend at Bernies, Big Trouble in Little China, The Burbs... I am getting a little off topic me thinks.

Lost art for sure.
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Yeah I think I would hate having a stick shift in a bigger city or anywhere you deal with a lot of traffic. That would probably get old really quick.
 
ken419 said:
Not as much a "thing of the past" as you might think.
I've seen a few articles that manuals are making a comeback; parents getting them for their teen drivers to discourage texting and driving.
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That's actually a great idea. I never thought of that as being a way to prevent texting.
 
Technically, I can and have in the past. It's been probably 10+ years since I've driven one though, so I don't think it would be pretty. I've basically lived in an area with pretty heavy traffic since I learned to drive so driving stick doesn't appeal to me.
 
I can drive a stick and owned a manual for around 5 years. I attempted to teach my wife, and that didn't go over very well.

When we were out looking for a new car for my wife this summer, I can count on one hand the number of sticks I saw in the lots.
 
I can absolutely drive a manual transmission. My first car was a 1985 Subaru in 5 speed and I was told that it could be mine from neighbors that we were getting rid of the car. All I had to was learn to drive it, I spent countless hours in my neighborhood learning. Next car was a 5 speed Acura Integra then on to a 2002 Jeep which was also stick. Now with kids and a family no more stick but man do I miss it...
 
I easily could and I'm betting my wife could as well. We are both in our early 50's. I owned 2 cars with manual transmissions when I was young. I highly doubt any of my 3 children have ever driven one though.
 
I definitely can, and have pondered getting a new vehicle with a stick. Only time I didn't like having a stick in the past was bad traffic days.
 
Being 65 yrs old,I learned on a stick and have kept one for most of my driving life.My last car was a 2004 Mustang GT 5 sp and my current car is a 2013 Focus with 5 sp manual.The salesman had to look around for a manual when I bought the Focus.The wife can drive a manual but,she has a Honda Civic auto at present.When my now 29 yr old son was getting his license at 16,I insisted that he learn on my old 5 sp manual Ranger.Now he loves driving a manual but with a wife and young child ,they have two cars with autos.
 
I can drive stick shift. I learned shortly after I got my license and have been driving a stick ever since. My parents are the only people in my family who can drive a manual transmission


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I learned in Greece 20 years ago (because the only car available for me to use was stick), drove that car for 3 months....never drove stick again.
 
I grow up in Kansas. We were driving tractor, pick-ups and hay trucks all with stick by the time we were 12! In Kansas we had our driver's license at age 14. It was supposed to be for farm work and to and from school! It was amazing how much farm work needed to be done at the drive-in on Saturday night!
 
Deano said:
It's funny how here in the UK it's the complete opposite as most people learn to drive a manual rather than an automatic. I would guess that it's upwards of 90% of drivers that use a manual or at least learnt how to drive in one.
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On a side note I've always wondered if I went overseas how hard it would be to shift using my left hand. I'm not overly coordinated with my left side.
 
haha nope! when i was 11 or 12 my dad let me drive his pickup that had a stick shift. other than that i have no experience. my wife has a little more experience with it growing up around farms, but i don't think she could slide right in without a steep learning curve.


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Me and my wife can but not so sure the kids can although it is what they were taught on!!
 
I can drive a stick shift. Neither of my adult kids can. They both learned to drive on automatics. It had been many, many years since I'd driven a stick until I had a manual car rental in Ireland a few years ago.
 
I've had at least one manual in the driveway from 1977-87 and 1994-2015, and I miss it. My son's also a stick maven although he doesn't have one at present. My wife learned to drive a stick on the hills of Pittsburgh, but she's not crazy about it.
 
I learned how to drive using a stick shift mounted on the steering column. Did not drive an auto transmission until I purchase a full size Ford Powerstroke.....glad I opted for auto.

Then a couple of years ago, I was fortunate to buy a Porsche Boxster......yes it is stick shift.

BTW, have an interview today for a seasonal UPS driver position, ability to drive a stick shift is a must.
 
First vehicle was a motorcycle, then first car was a manual 81 Mercury Capri. Love manual transmission vehicles.


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Yep, learned on an old Isuzu hombre, my dad was very patient
 
#Cookie said:
Yes, I can. In the process of teaching my 15 year old son to also since the Jeep we bought him is a standard....he doesn't have a choice nor will he a chance to jack with his phone while driving. :)


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At least not until he gets up to speed. Uh oh!
 
I actually can't. My father always had at least 1 car that was manual shift, and one way to keep me from driving it was to not teach me how I guess. I'll be honest though, I don't see it as a need.
 
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