With every passing year, fewer cars with manual transmissions get sold in America. However, just because these are going by the wayside for most people, that doesn’t mean it’s pointless to learn how to operate them. That’s why this blog post is about why you should learn to drive manual transmission cars. It’ll be more beneficial than you realize.
It’s a Rite of Passage
Knowing how to drive a manual vehicle is basically a rite of passage for car nuts. That doesn’t mean you have to own one yourself. But if you’re a true car enthusiast, you should learn this skill because it can enable you to drive just about any automobile, including old models. Other car enthusiasts may also not take you seriously if you don’t know how to operate a manual transmission. Of course, just as the manual transmission itself is dying out, so is this prejudice. Therefore, this is definitely not the main reason to learn this driving technique.
It’s Necessary for Classic Cars
An even stronger reason why you should learn to drive manual transmissions as someone who loves cars is that you want to buy your own classic car someday. A good majority of these will have manual transmissions. Therefore, it will be essential to know how to drive manual cars to operate them correctly.
Even if you never own a classic car of your own, you might still end up working on one someday. If you do that for a living, you’ll need to know how to drive one so that you can move it around the lot as needed. And if you ever require standard transmission parts for the vehicles you work on, we have a large selection to choose from on our website.
It’s Helpful in Europe
While the first two points are primarily for car enthusiasts, this one will apply to anyone who wants to spend a good amount of time abroad in Europe. While manual transmissions are a thing of the past in the States, they are actually common throughout many European countries. If you plan on being overseas long enough to spend any amount of time driving, you should know how to drive a stick to save lots of time and money.
It’s a Deterrent for Thieves
While this final reason is more of a bonus than an actual reason to get a car with a manual transmission, it’s still worth mentioning. Since not many people know how to drive a stick, your vehicle will be much less likely to get stolen. You still might have to deal with a broken window, but at least your car will still be there if the thief doesn’t know how to drive it.
