Parents Not Letting Their Kids Learn Manual

Can dad afford a new clutch? If not he's only protecting his investment.

When I taught my oldest I did so under the assumption it would cost me a new clutch! Luckily he caught on quickly and the clutch lasted until he installed the turbo.:scared:
 
I also had parents who refused to let me learn to drive a manual. Mainly due to the fact that we don't have one, but their reasoning was that "it's costly and no one uses it anymore." I believe it's good to have the knowledge to drive a car with a stick and even better to learn it early. Luckily enough for me, I had a friend who was willing to teach me to drive his Toyota 4Runner with a stick. As playnthru said, the cost of a clutch would be something a parent would want to avoid. My dad knows how to drive stick, but refused to teach me with no car to practice and (in his mind) no reason to. As I experienced, if your parents won't teach you, find a friend or another relative who's willing to help.

Edit: Also learned a bit with practice before driving my friend's 4Runner in some farm equipment at his house.
 
Like @LancerEvo7 said, knowing how to drive a manual transmission is extremely helpful in the event that you need to use it.

It's stupid to not teach your kids that. I think we need a poll on this thread.
 
That seems pretty rude. If my parents told me that it was too complicated I'd feel quite insulted. And it's a useful skill. The majority of cars in the world are manuals, and if you travel to Europe you'll get a manual for your hire car unless you pay 2-3 grand. Motorcycles are manuals, and a lot of machinery like tractors and such are also manuals. I find that people who can only drive automatics are quite limited outside of North America.

And besides, manuals are generally more fun, and enthusiasts often have a reasonable knowledge of how to use one before even getting in the car.
 
If anything it's good for driving to be too complicated, keep them focused on driving. Prevents kids from texting and fiddling with the radio. When teens get the idea that driving is easy, then they will try multitasking, which never turns out very well...
 
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People worrying about needing a new clutch... what kind of rocket science is driving a manual considered to be? Everyone* in Finland with a driving licence knows how to drive a manual because that's what's used for learning and I've never heard of anybody killing a clutch by sheer incompetence. And I certainly hope that our youth isn't the pinnacle of drivers because I can draw the conclusion considering what it would mean the rest to be.

*special cases such as disabled persons excluded
 
Greycap
People worrying about needing a new clutch... what kind of rocket science is driving a manual considered to be? Everyone* in Finland with a driving licence knows how to drive a manual because that's what's used for learning and I've never heard of anybody killing a clutch by sheer incompetence. And I certainly hope that our youth isn't the pinnacle of drivers because I can draw the conclusion considering what it would mean the rest to be.

*special cases such as disabled persons excluded
Click to expand...

As long as they know what a clutch is, it's purpose and how it works, a somewhat-sane teen learning stick they should have a negligible affect on a clutch's lifespan.
 
Harry6784
As long as they know what a clutch is, it's purpose and how it works, a somewhat-sane teen learning stick they should have a negligible affect on a clutch's lifespan.
Click to expand...

It's just a problem when a kid barely knows how to spell their own name, more or less drive a car with a manual transmission.
 
My problem is the only thing I could learn standard on would be a dump truck. Try replacing the clutch on those...

Maybe I could get some junky old field car.
 
It used to be required here. Its since been dropped. The fact is, most people dot give a crap about manuals. They view it as too distracting and too much work and I can totally see how parents wouldn't want a their kid learning on it.

Ill be honest, I'm still learning some things myself and I can see myself being distracted. That said, its a good thing to know.
 
I'd rather be distracted by a gear shifter (which isn't even distracting if you've been driving stick for more than a few days) than be distracted by a phone, which will always be distracting no matter what.
 
When I drive, it's my parents' manual Fit. I feel perfectly comfortable adjusting the radio while on the move, it just takes the right moment. I prefer to do it at a stoplight. I won't touch my phone until the ignition is off.
 
Interesting thought.

I will say this about North America, it's getting harder to find manual transmission cars. Everyone wants an automatic these days.

-----

About the clutch replacement, in my case, and I imagine in others? That clutch had over 100k on it already naturally I would assume it could/might give way under the pressure of someone learning. I would guess many first timers learn with old equipment. That's my thinking to why it would give... Not that the drivers are so terrible.
 
It's their kid. Stop worrying about getting other people to follow your personal idea of morality and focus on your own business.

It's pretty telling that most of the commenters in this thread are not legal adults or self sufficient.
 
This is actually amazing for me reading this, seeing as I live in Europe and automatics are considered a bit of a social crime unless you are old or disabled.
You should be able to learn manual if you want to I really don't see the issue in learning to drive manual.
 
NixxxoN
From an euro point of view this whole thread and discussion is surrealistic. 99% of cars are manual here and I dont understand why americans like automatics so much
Click to expand...

Yeah it does seem bizarre to Europeans but its totally the norm in the USA and in a way it's more progressive because in this day and age with computers and technology trying to make everything easier still having a system of moving a car which is a hundred years old when you can have something do it for you seems to be more of a emotional rather than logical approach (for non performance cars that is).

At times I do see why auto is so popular across the pond, it does get irritating after a while using a manual when commuting in traffic etc and its really only more fun if you have a car which is fun to drive. I have heard of a few people in the UK having to learn auto only because they just can't physically make their feet and hand's think together! :lol:
 
My parents think its too complicated. But from my experience (in games), it seems extremely easy. You watch the revs, depress the clutch, shift to the next gear, undedpress the clutch, rinse and repeat. I would like to learn manual, but its the possible right now for me, because my parents' cars are both automatic.

But manual is already slowly disappearing. Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, etc. are all using those paddles.
 

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