Automatic cars and young learner drivers

Both my kids are learning-will learn on my automatic EV. Will never go back.

Really do not know what we have 2 licenses here. Rules of the road, safe driving. Etc are the same whether automatic or manual. Makes no sense just give them a drivers licence.

Out of interest, if you have an automatic licence and need a manual licence, do you have to do all 12 lessons and sit your test again? Crazy as a turnaround, hill start, rules of the road etc all the same regardless of manual/auto.
 
NotMyRealName said:
I've got a 22 year old student just starting out as a learner driver. Another one probably next year too.

We have one large family car , auto, which is unsuitable for a learner. I've no intention of changing that car, so I've been starting to source a small car suitable for a learner or 2. I'm noticing that a lot of small cars , even down to 60bhp , 1lt etc, are autos. Sure it's not all of them , but quite a lot.

Is it a waste of time learning to drive in a manual, in view of the increasing availability of small autos and the continuing, ( although slowing for the moment ) uptake in EVs ? I frequently rent cars abroad and , increasingly , I'm given an auto although I never select that option.
Any specialist knowledge, advice , opinion welcome.
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I'd have no reservations about learning in an automatic, it's a wholly outdated ( though common) view that you must know how to drive a manual ,people in Ireland did indeed avoid automatic cars like the plague for a strangely long time but they are commonplace nowadays albeit still a minority.

As for the charge that you might need to drive a manual belonging to someone else at some stage, it's extremely unlikely that will be an emergency situation, someone else can step in or taxi's exist
 
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Yes driving an automatic is great. I have driven several automatic hire cars and it's very easy driving.

However I have always liked to get back to driving my trusty manuals.
I prefere the feeling of skill in driving a manual.

Both my daughter's have done their driving test in a manual. They both passed without any difficulty. They both enjoy driving the manual.

The hand, leg, mind coordination skills obtained in learning to drive a manual is very useful as a general life skill and good practice for general coordination. The sense of achievement in driving a manual is far superior to that of driving an automatic.

Then there is the cost saving in buying a manual.
Hyundai i10 bought new 5 years ago for a mere 14k.
 
galway_blow_in said:
people in Ireland did indeed avoid automatic cars like the plague
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At one time, they were significantly more expensive, prone to damage & not cheap to repair.

If you've grown up learning to drive on a tractor and / or farm car, you tend to stick with what you know ;)
 
S class said:
Yes driving an automatic is great. I have driven several automatic hire cars and it's very easy driving.

However I have always liked to get back to driving my trusty manuals.
I prefere the feeling of skill in driving a manual.

Both my daughter's have done their driving test in a manual. They both passed without any difficulty. They both enjoy driving the manual.

The hand, leg, mind coordination skills obtained in learning to drive a manual is very useful as a general life skill and good practice for general coordination. The sense of achievement in driving a manual is far superior to that of driving an automatic.

Then there is the cost saving in buying a manual.
Hyundai i10 bought new 5 years ago for a mere 14k.
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Reminds of all the posts from people who tell me they prefer the sound of a real engine over an ev, then they tell you that real engine is a 4 pot diesel. The exaggeration of the benefits of a manual in this thread is bananas :D
 
Having driven a manual for years (and high mileage), I converted to automatic and EV 28 months ago and I would never in a million years go back - from a comfort and a cost perspective.
 
Mousehelp said:
Out of interest, if you have an automatic licence and need a manual licence, do you have to do all 12 lessons and sit your test again? Crazy as a turnaround, hill start, rules of the road etc all the same regardless of manual/auto.
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You need to get a provisional manual licence and do the driving test in a manual car. You will still be considered a learner if driving a manual car so will have to be accompanied and display L plates.

You don’t have to do the 12 lessons or the theory test.

https://www.ndls.ie/about/upgrade-an-automatic-car-licence-to-manual-licence.html
 
MrEarl said:
Amazing how some people here know that we'll be in driverless cars, or automatics etc. in the next 10-20 years.


Also, what are "drivers" who don't know how to drive a vehicle with a gear stick going to do, if they are faced with needing to operate a vehicle with a gear stick, before robots take over the world and very kindly drive us everywhere that we want to go ?
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They also told us electric cars were cleaner and cheaper. Turned out to be lies. Electric cars are very expensive. Costly to run. If you've an accident the insurance companies write them off over the battery. Hertz had to write off millions in relation to a bad investment in them. Not sure now if they will buy mostly manuals, I always request a manual at Dublin airport.

My youngest is doing driving lessons in a manual this week, both our cars are manual, one is a soft hybrid the other is 19 years old, ideal for learning. Thank goodness we kept it. Don't care what dint they do to it. Already had to fork out for a broken tail light, coming home after work and could see our white pillar, and of course never told me ! It's got lovely white markings now on it, another child burst the tyre reversing too fast over the curb, had to get two new tyres because the law here is they have to be 'balanced'.

I didn't realise until the children started to drive that my old car doesn't have a 'hill start' which they learnt at the driving school, so I do them completely differently (with the hand brake). Luckily I decided not to teach them so they wouldn't have my bad habits from learning to drive a tractor when I was about 10.
 
None of those are reasons though Bronte, that's just your preference ... or at least according to one poster anyway! It seems we're just all bananas for thinking it might be good for our children to have the ability to drive a manual because they will be obsolete in the next year, 10 years or 20 years or sometime anyway. Apparently we should limit their future choices to driving automatic only, thereby reducing their potential second hand car market by quite a large portion.
 
thedaddyman said:
Not obsolete but heading that way. Almost 2 out of 3 new cars sold last year were automatic.

121,850 New Car Registrations in 2023; Electric Cars up 45%

www.simi.ie www.simi.ie

Having move to automatic 4 years ago, you'd have to drag me kicking and screaming back to a manual. So much easier.
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Well this says EV sales are not increasing.

www.bbc.com

Is the move to electric cars running out of power?

There has been an unexpected slowdown in sales of electric cars. Could this be more than a blip?
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
Bronte said:
They also told us electric cars were cleaner and cheaper. Turned out to be lies. Electric cars are very expensive. Costly to run. If you've an accident the insurance companies write them off over the battery. Hertz had to write off millions in relation to a bad investment in them. Not sure now if they will buy mostly manuals, I always request a manual at Dublin airport.

My youngest is doing driving lessons in a manual this week, both our cars are manual, one is a soft hybrid the other is 19 years old, ideal for learning. Thank goodness we kept it. Don't care what dint they do to it. Already had to fork out for a broken tail light, coming home after work and could see our white pillar, and of course never told me ! It's got lovely white markings now on it, another child burst the tyre reversing too fast over the curb, had to get two new tyres because the law here is they have to be 'balanced'.

I didn't realise until the children started to drive that my old car doesn't have a 'hill start' which they learnt at the driving school, so I do them completely differently (with the hand brake). Luckily I decided not to teach them so they wouldn't have my bad habits from learning to drive a tractor when I was about 10.
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congratulations, you have won the anti ev bingo post of the year award, i think you crammed all the FUD into one post.
 
Ceist Beag said:
None of those are reasons though Bronte, that's just your preference ... or at least according to one poster anyway! It seems we're just all bananas for thinking it might be good for our children to have the ability to drive a manual because they will be obsolete in the next year, 10 years or 20 years or sometime anyway. Apparently we should limit their future choices to driving automatic only, thereby reducing their potential second hand car market by quite a large portion.
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you should get your kids a vcr and a dvd player aswell, maybe a crt tv, just in case like.
 
Blackrock1 said:
you should get your kids a vcr and a dvd player aswell, maybe a crt tv, just in case like.
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The early uptakers of betamax got badly stung.

You have some agenda for pushing EVs and belittling those who are sticking with manual ICE cars.

My guess is that you are fearfull that you might end up like the betamax crowd.
 
S class said:
The early uptakers of betamax got badly stung.

You have some agenda for pushing EVs and belittling those who are sticking with manual ICE cars.

My guess is that you are fearfull that you might end up like the betamax crowd.
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this is a debate around manual and automatics, why are you so afraid of Evs anyway?

you have some agenda for pushing manual cars and belittling those who are moving with the times.
 
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