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Comment by datashovel | Hacker News Reader

I'm in US, and am always struggling to find new cars when I'm ready to buy because of this probably. Just recently I visited a dealership where the sales guy told me flat out "manual transmissions are extremely rare anymore".

It may be a diagnose-able issue :) but I was a wreck (literally) when I first started driving because I would lose focus on the road.

Manual transmission, it seems to me, gives me a far better "feel" for the current state of the car. How fast I'm going, and because I have to change gears it keeps me more focused on the monotony of driving.

So far in my recent search I've been reluctant to even consider an automatic transmission because of what may or may not be just a psychological crutch.

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I'm always in the same situation. I have only driven manual transmission cars and trucks my entire life. I grew up in the mountains and with a lot of snow, so it was the preferred transmission for almost everyone. Now I live in sunny Florida, but I still prefer it for the feeling of being more connected to the car, more control, more enjoyable for me, and just really as a car guy I'm a bit of a purist.

What I've resorted to now that I don't live in a state where they're as common, is to buy all my cars via Autotrader/similar. It opens the market up to much more variety and choice as well as I usually find a better deal than I would locally.

Give it a try. It's scary to buy a vehicle long distance, but even with the cost of flying out and driving it back, I usually save money and always get exactly what I want. Just make sure before you go out yourself to ask a ton of questions and get a local mechanic to go take a look.

Have you tried a car with paddle shifters? There is no clutch, but you still select gears.

Now they don't provide every advantage of a manual transmission, but you can for example downshift to avoid excessive breaking.

I've tried to force myself to use paddle shifters but I just hate it. It's not remotely enjoyable, and you just ask why you're pushing plastic buttons when the car could just shift itself. Even after forcing myself to do every shift with the paddles or a day or two, I get bored and go back to automatic mode.

.. and then you still don't get the enjoyment of driving a manual, and you STILL have that thing where 10% of the time the car is in the wrong gear.

I'd rather just be "forced" to drive a manual that is zero disadvantage to me (yes, even in traffic) and guarantees I am always in the gear I want to be.

Don't they provide none of the advantages of an automatic (ease of mind in traffic), and all the disadvantages (less mechanical and power efficiency, etc..)

As far as I know, they're pretty much only useful in racing

It depends on the technology.

Double clutch automatic transmissions are manual transmissions with a robot that changes gears. The double clutch allows for the car to switch gears using clutches, so there is no jerky behavior. They give you as much control as a manual transmission, but only when you want to. Best of both worlds.

Some paddle shifters are automatic transmissions and the paddles actuate the torque converter. The worst of both worlds.

I've tried them on rental cars, and never found them remotely satisfying. If I had no other option, maybe, but fortunately I prefer Jeep Wranglers and there are still many, many manuals out there.

Are there a lot of cars on the market with paddle shifters? I am not much of a "car enthusiast", so I'm somewhat ignorant in this area. Just need one to get from point A to point B.

I wonder if there was a point where manual cars were super cheap because they had them but nobody wanted to buy.

VW and BMW are still pretty good about offering manual options in the US.

So what if you get to drive an electric car?

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