Baby, Can You Drive My Car? Not If It's a Stick Shift

[Zorro]

Mary Sampietro got the scare of her life five years ago. It left her disappointed in America’s young people.

The mental health professional was in her stick-shift 2016 Jeep Patriot in a rough neighborhood in her native Houston when she rolled down the window to smoke a cigarette. Suddenly, a teenager stuck a gun in her face, ordering her out of the car. He got in but only made it to the next traffic light before stalling the engine and running away.

“I was like ‘How can you be a carjacker and not know how to drive a manual?’”

For Sampietro, who learned to row her own gears in a 1970s Datsun pickup truck with no power steering, the skill’s increasing rarity is a frequent source of annoyance. Her husband’s career requires her to attend events with mandatory valet parking. The job often attracts college students. One particularly bad experience convinced her that they often lie about being able to handle the odd stick shift like hers.

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/stick-shift-cars-valet-manuel-3a38b206?st=pae2lgy3sd988rq&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

My father forced me to learn to drive using a stick (three on a tree); I thought it was torture, considering the challenges a teenager has just learning how to steer and brake. However, it's a skill that has served me well over the decades and in foreign environments. I suppose a stick is now the ultimate anti-theft device.

[Ocelot II]

1. My first car was a stick. I figured out how to drive it on my own

(it's not that hard), kind of miss having that option. And it does make cars pretty theft-proof.

[LuckyCharms]

3. I had several standard shifts...

I drive automatics now.

If i had a standard, I'd probably never lock it because it seems no one knows how to drive them these days.

[paleotn]

12. I drove nothing but until my latest car.

They just doesn't equip cars in the US with manual transmission much anymore, so reluctantly made the switch a couple years ago. Still look for the clutch and stick from time to time.

[beaglelover]

48. I'm with you. All my cars up until around 2010 were manuals. Now it's almost impossible to find a manual car

for sale in the USA. But I made the switch over to EV in 2020 and am never going back to an ICE car.

[Spencer Martin]

87. Took me about ten minutes to figure out a stick shift.

I was sixteen or seventeen. 1985 or so. I drove a '66 Mustang automatic (these weren't valuable cars back then, just cheap used cars for teenagers).

I ran into my friend at 7-eleven. He was driving a mid 70s Toyota Celica fastback. He asked, "Let's trade cars for the afternoon."

I thought his car looked cool so I said sure!

He jumped into my Mustang and drove off. I jumped into his Celica and realized it was a five-speed. Took me several tries to get going before I realized I was in 3rd gear, not 1st. Once I figured that out, it was easy.

I've own many manual cars since then. I'd love one now but they're just not popular in America. Technological advances in modern automatic transmissions have pretty much negated all of the advantages that manuals once held.

They were fun to drive though! Unless you were stuck in traffic.

[brooklynite]

2. I learned to drive one and chose not to.

I’m dealing with traffic, directions and what’s going on in the car. I don’t need another distraction.

[Silent3]

70. It was stop-and-go traffic that I hated most with a stick

My first new car, after a few cheap clunkers, was also my first stick shift. I got a few minutes of instruction in the parking lot of the dealership, then drove it home.

Being my first new car, this was the most money I'd ever spent in my life. I wasn't very happy with myself on the drive home about that first big financial decision.

I got used to in a couple of weeks, however, and for the most part liked the car. I never, however, got to the point some others apparently do where they think driving a stick is fun. It was at best tolerable, and, as I mention in the subject, a nuisance in bad traffic.

[brooklynite]

71. It was driving on Polish roads with cows...

there weren't any automatic transmission rental cars.

[Silent3]

73. I rented a stick shift once when I owned that first new car, not wanting to fall back into old habits

But I didn't realize that this first stick shift of mine had a feature that not all manual transmissions have.

I was going up a steep hill in San Francisco and had to stop at a light. The light turned green, and all of a sudden I'm rolling backwards, nearly crashing into an expensive yellow sports car behind me. And then I had a hard time convincing the driver of that car they'd better move around me before I tried to move again.

Turns out my Subaru had a neat little thing called a "hill-holder clutch". The sudden absence of that feature was an unwelcome discovery.

[Warpy]

4. It's the best anti theft device out there.

Just don't opt for valet parking anywhere.

I learned stick on VWs in the 70s, have always driven stick since. Automatics have been perfected, but I still prefer stick shift cars in snow, and yes, it does snow here in the high desert.

Thieves look inside, see that clutch pedal, and walk on by.

It's great.

[barbtries]

7. some of them find out the hard way

?si=LC-rVbMtnhqyf6Ou

[Deuxcents]

18. I learned to drive in my dad's red VW when I was in high school

That was 63-65. It was a stick n back then, no gas gauge..a lever under the dashboard that gave a few miles to get gas while just about empty. I loved that car but my dad wasn’t all that generous with allowing drive time. I did have one of my own later on in life..had a gas gauge, too! The true driving experience comes with a manual transmission

[Walleye]

24. Then you must remember when the first Mustangs came out

[Deuxcents]

26. I was a junior in high school in '64. I'm old!

[Walleye]

29. Ha! I was a sophomore then. We had a nerdy chemistry teacher who bought one new, wow less than $3000 I think

[Warpy]

33. I remember the guys who bought them were in midlife crisis

and they all drove like complete idiots. You saw one of those things, you changed lanes to avoid the twit behind the wheel.

They were the ultimate ride for jerks who couldn't begin to afford a Corvette.

A few years later, slightly more normal people were buying them. Good thing, because Ford sold so many of them that they became impossible to avoid. I suppose they were great cars for people unencumbered by kids and luggage or sports equipment. I was into reverse snobbery, driving old VWs that were more Bondo than body but were still cheap to drive.

[JanMichael]

65. Did it have that reverse that was weird?

Learned stick on a 77 Rabbit. The reverse was up and to the right I think. Never saw that configuration again.

But after that I could drive anything.

[Deuxcents]

72. Yes. As I remember, the reverse was in the 2nd position but you had to maneuver it

To the left and down. Kinda like a zig zag and downward. I actually had forgotten about that..good call

[captain queeg]

78. Yes I've heard that. With regular family type cars it's hard to find a car with stick.

I’ve heard only about 1% of production are stick. The ex had to order and wait a couple months when she bought a new Subaru. I mostly had stick up until 2005. I bought my first new automatic Toyota.

[barbtries]

5. When I was 17,

my older brother was going to teach me how to drive a stick in his '62 VW bus. After the lesson was over, he said to me, "You're just too much of a klutz Barb. You'll have to drive an automatic."

Well. Within a year or so I had bought that van from him and from then til now I don't buy cars that are not stick shift. My latest purchase was during the pandemic, a 2020 subaru Impreza that I bought off the lot sight unseen. I looked for that car for literally years, and was panicky that someone was going to come along and buy it out from under me lol. When I got to the dealership, I learned it had not only been on the lot for 2 months, but that they had bought the car themselves to use as a valet vehicle. None of their valets could drive a stick.

I bought it the day after the 2 week period of my first covid vaccine in feb 2021. It still has less than 10,000 miles on it and is worth more than I paid for it.

Twice when going to Duke for medical care, I left the car with the valet only to find it sitting exactly where I left it. They couldn't locate a valet who could drive a stick. When the valets who do drive manual transmission cars move my car, they almost always let me know how fun it is to drive.

My kids had to learn to drive a stick if they wanted to drive a car of mine. I've taught my sons and my grandsons, and if I ever get my granddaughter out here, I'll happily teach her too (though I suspect her father already has)

i guess my brother could have kept his mouth shut.

[hunter]

46. I learned how to drive and took my first drivers test in my dad's VW bus.

Finding the right gear required a subtle touch and the clutch was even fussier. The under-powered engine was very easy to stall.

Once you've mastered gear shifts on an old Volkswagen bus most other manual transmission automobiles are easy.

[Raven123]

6. I loved standard shifts.

[Ishoutandscream2]

8. 68 Ford Falcon

Three on a tree, no power steering or brakes. Learning to drive in that thing was taxing! Wish I had it now - it would give me a good workout!

[wryter2000]

25. I drove across country in one of those

The only manual I ever drove with the gears on the steering column.

Four women and a dog in that Falcon from Syracuse, NY to Berkeley, CA.

[Ishoutandscream2]

43. I'm sure you built up your muscles!

It was a real job driving those things!

[CanonRay]

9. I learned on a three on the tree 63 Chevy Biscayne and 60 Ford Falcon.

My 2nd car was a 70 Corolla with 4 on the floor. I often get stick in Europe,although that's changing as well.

[Biophilic]

10. I used to love my stick shifts. They were fun to drive most of the time.

My last stick was older chevy truck when I lived in rural Missouri. When I moved back to the city I gave it up. Stick's are great unless you have to deal with busy traffic etc. But I sure miss driving them. I still don't feel like I'm really driving with automatics. Sort of going along for the ride. But I'm sure my left knee appreciates just sitting there instead of working. Times change.

[Dale in Laurel MD]

11. Of the five cars I've owned in my life,

four (including the present one) were manual.

[intrepidity]

13. What's the difference

between "three on a tree" and "four on the floor"?

[leftieNanner]

19. It's the location of the gear shifter

Three on the tree has the knob on the steering column with 3 forward gears plus reverse. Four on the floor is what you usually think of with manual transmission.

[dobleremolque]

21. For real confusion, my first Saab Model 96 had

four on the tree...toward you and up = 1st; toward you and down = 2nd; away and up = 3rd; away and down =4th. Reverse was pull lever 90° out from column, towards you and up. Also free wheeling; i.e. no back-compression engine braking. Fun times!

[John Farmer]

64. I had one of those too!

[intrepidity]

22. Ah, thanks. nt

[TexasBushwhacker]

83. Ha! I had to drive that on an old van

It also had a manual choke.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

14. They are still common in Europe

I love driving a stick and it is a great anti theft device. I have one now but it is getting harder to find cars with a manual transmission.

[Walleye]

27. I bought my Hyundai Accent in 2012 manual transmission six speeds on the also think it is an anti-theft device

[paleotn]

15. I learned to drive in my dad's old manual Toyota...

Then graduated to his old Ford truck with shift on the column. Old 3 on the tree.

[hlthe2b]

16. I've had dealership service departments unable to find anyone to drive one in onto the lift...

Even when I had to take my sister's Jeep Wrangler to be serviced outside Atlanta, I had to drive it in. Presumedly they had someone coming in later who could drive it back off.

[Lars39]

20. That happened to my husband last oil change.

[MagickMuffin]

17. I had to quit the stick because of leg issues and traffic

I loved my Saturn SC. It was a smooth ride. But having to drive 30 miles to work and all the traffic forced me out.

[wryter2000]

23. They will have to take my stick shift out of my cold, dead hands

A friend made me promise to sell the car to her if I ever decided to get rid of it. Not likely.

[ProfessorGAC]

28. Funny Related Story

I flew from Rome (or was it Florence?) to Lyon. Probably around 2010, perhaps a couple years earlier.
Anyway it was a late flight that got in around 9:45pm. Airport is quiet & uncrowded & I get to the Europcar counter, lay down my paper with the reservation #, and my passport.
Three young (early 20s) women working the counter suddenly had the look of dread on their face. I thought maybe I was on a terrorist watch list or something.
In very good English, one says "We didn't know you were Anerican. I'm sorry but we have no cars with automatic transmission. I'm really sorry, maybe we can get one from another company..."
I cut her off, saying "Many Americans can drive manual transmission, we just mostly choose not to. This is not a problem, and I'll take whatever car is convenient. I still have a 75 minute drive."
They looked so relieved.
But, their assumption was Americans couldn't drive a stick.

[hauckeye]

30. I'm 70 and never learned to drive a stick

Our drivers ed cars were all automatics and after I got my license my family only had automatics.

[ProfessorGAC]

92. My Wife Is 70, Also

She knows how to drive a stick, but she wouldn't do it if her life depended on it!

[getagrip_already]

31. My kids car in high school was a ford explorer with a manual tranny

It was a 1990. A 20 plus year old car. But it ran.

Everything was manual.

Sexy it was not. Fast, it was not. Cool? No.

Free? Yup.

And they all know how to drive a standard.

[GreenWave]

32. The real moral of the story is: Cigarette smoking can be hazardous to your health!

[Rowdyag]

34. 54 Chevy

My first car was a 54 Chevy Bel Aire.... 3 on the tree 😺. (and it was older than me) . I love stick shift unfortunately they are tough in the "modern" world. I miss Bertha ...she was fun and quiet the conversation piece.

[brush]

35. Pishaw to the wimps who choose not to drive a stick. I knew how to drive one before moving to the...

San Francisco Bay Area. Try driving a stick on a San Francisco uphill grade at a red light and you have to balance the car deploying the gas pedal and clutch in delicate equiquilibrium so the car doesn't roll backward into the car behind.

Now that will put hair on the chest, even on women drivers.

And back in the day it was common, as automatic shifts hadn't taken completely over.

[nolabear]

37. I drove one in Seattle for many years. Same problem but still fun.

I just might have grown a little hair. I know I peeled out inadvertently now and then out of fear of stalling.

[brush]

39. Same here. Seattle has the same West Coast feel/hills as SF. I visited my brother there a couple of times.

You know where of you speak.

[GoCubsGo]

40. The manual shifts these days are a whole lot better when it comes to rollback.

Not sure about San Francisco-steep hills, but I haven't had an issue with roll-back on uphill grades in my early 2010's vehicle. It's nothing like vehicles I had that were 15 years older or more. Those rolled back, whereas my current car does not on the same hills..

[brush]

41. How do the new manuals work with no roll back? The transmissions have some kind of engineered improvement?

Last edited Fri Jul 5, 2024, 12:01 AM - Edit history (1)

[GoCubsGo]

45. It's engineered better.

I'm not doing anything different on hills now than I did 30 years ago, when I first started driving stick.

[MichMan]

62. Electronic parking brake integrated with accelerator pedal.

Usually called "Hill Hold"

[brush]

68. Thanks. So the driver doesn't have to do it.

Last edited Fri Jul 5, 2024, 12:33 AM - Edit history (1)

[MichMan]

74. Only by turning on hill hold

Hitting the gas releases it automatically

[3catwoman3]

47. I always felt like I needed a 3rd leg...

…when I had to stop on a hill in my stick shift cars. And I always hoped no one would pull up too close behind me. Very scary.

When we lived in the Washington DC area, I had a 45-60 minute drive to work. There was a section of the beltway that went down from 4 lanes to 3, and traffic was always painfully slow there. Sometimes I’d be able to file my fingernails while waiting for the traffic to creep along. If I’d still had a stick shift then, it would have been exhausting.

[brush]

50. One did build up leg muscles back then drving a stick shift.

[nolabear]

36. Everyone in my family can drive a stick.

Sadly my miserable arthritic knees make it risky for me so I have an automatic now. But I love them. We all love them. They’re just fun.

[GoCubsGo]

38. I have never owned a car with automatic transmission.

I feel like manual transmission keeps me more focused on driving. The whole anti-theft thing is a nice bonus, although I fear for my car when I take it in for servicing. I have a hunch that a lot of the younger service techs can't drive stick.

[NickB79]

42. No EV's or hybrids come with stick shifts

The future is bleak for manual transmissions.

[Kaleva]

44. I learned to drive with a hand clutch

John Deere 50.

6 on the floor between your feet with the hand clutch on the right. You had to let go of the steering wheel in order to operate the clutch with the right hand and shift gears with the left.

[brush]

56. Now that took some talent, and dexterity.

[elocs]

49. I learned on a stick which made learning to ride a motorcycle easy: know where the gears are, give it some gas,

ease out the clutch.

[madamesilverspurs]

51. Learned to drive a stick back in the '60s,

and have had, over the years, several cars with manual shift. I still know how, but my knees won't let me.

.

[agingdem]

52. get this...I was 14 years old in 1962..

and if I took Driver's Ed I could get my license (think about that!!)...and my mother said ok...the car was1955 standard Chevy Bel Air ...and after all these years I can still hear the gears grinding, and the "we"re gonna die!" screams from the kids sitting in the back seat as the car was sliding down a hill before the instructor, a football coach, slammed on his break...and I remember the instructor saying.."when your car is an automatic, you're riding a car but when your car is standard transmission, you're driving your car"...years later when I could afford to buy my own car, I bought an old 3 speed stick shift Mustang just so I could "drive" my car...

[MOMFUDSKI]

53. Had a Peugeot while in England with my Air

Force husband in the sixties. 5 speed. I only ever drove my dad’s automatics. Off I would go and it was a hoot! Ex-husband was a lousy teacher. In the English countryside there is not much traffic. I would keep it in second and barely roll to a stop. When she started shaking I would give it the gas and carry on!!! A blast and a fond memory. My present husband is a great teacher so I could easily drive my stick Toyota. Fun

[brush]

57. I heard those Peugeots could ride and stay upright on three whells.

Last edited Fri Jul 5, 2024, 01:20 AM - Edit history (1)

[TlalocW]

54. I never learned to operate a cotton gin

A computer that took punch cards or used a compass. However, I did take the science that says smoking is incredibly bad for you seriously.

I think I'm ahead.

[WarGamer]

55. can't drive a stick shift... can't check their oil level... can't switch a firealarm battery...

But they sure as hell can set up their new iphone and watch TikTok.

[Deep State Witch]

58. My Friend Who Lives In DC

Drives a 20-year-old VW Golf with a stickshift. She says that it's her insurance policy against it being stolen.

[MurrayDelph]

59. I drove stick from 1982 to 2002

It became quite painful using a clutch in the LA traffic (left knee has since been replaced), so I switched to automatic. Just about the time I started thinking getting a stick would be fun, the replacement knee started asking to be replaced.

On the other hand, when I was still driving them, I taught my niece how to drive stick just before going off to college, on the ground that if she went out with friends who've had to much to drink, she doesn't have to trust the owner of the stick.

[LeftInTX]

60. I had one when hubby and I were dating. He borrowed it once. I warned him to put the parking brake on.

He parked it on a hill and didn't listen......

[brush]

79. Have to curb the front wheels too. In SF curb your wheels signs are everywhere.

[Xavier Breath]

61. When I took driver's ed at school in 1982

they taught us on an automatic. My uncle was puzzled by that and said I'd regret not learning to drive a stick beacuse I would have to at some point and then I'd be sunk. Forty two years later and I've never driven a stick, or ever had the need to. But, I guess I can still reminisce about them via this anecdote.

[Straw Man]

63. I learned to drive on a stick.

'63 Dodge Dart with "three on the tree." Later in life, I worked as a parking valet at a swanky resort hotel. More than one prospective valet lied on the application about being able to drive a standard. There was no test. They then proceeded to learn on customers' cars.

There's something bizarrely appropriate about that, in a class-conscious sort of way.

[JanMichael]

66. Broke my right ankle a few years ago.

Automatics ever since.

Using the clutch with a broken right foot sucks.

[A HERETIC I AM]

67. I've driven a 3 speed, a 4.....

a 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13 and 15. The three to the seven speeds were mostly cars, but I have driven a box truck with a 5 speed. The car I owned prior to my current one was a 7 speed manual. The one I have now is an 8 speed dual clutch auto.

I prefer to have 3 pedals, but these days the trucks I drive are mostly 12 speed automatics.

[Zeitghost]

69. All three vehicles in our family are stick

My teens are a bit annoyed but they’re learning.

Can’t stand sloppy autos especially the new CVTs.

[betsuni]

75. I inherited my family's old second hand Volkswagen Thing, stick shift, and that was what I drove

for the couple of years I commuted, sometimes late at night. Still have the occasional nightmare of being at a red light on a steep Seattle street. Was drafty and the heater rarely worked, poor visibly out of plastic windows with the rips taped up, was really loud. But that car never broke down, never failed me. Thank you, VW Thing!

Never liked automatic, made me nervous.

[Skittles]

76. HA! I drove a three-on-the-tree with minimal training

because my stupid boyfriend got so wasted I had to hijack his keys

[dflprincess]

77. I never owned anything but sticks

Until last year when I bought my first automatic. It was something of a concession to age but even after 9 months I still have mixed feelings about it.

[ornotna]

80. I love my 1999 F250

with 7 on the floor. Yes I do.

[The Wandering Harper]

81. I spent at least a year looking for the last car I bought

A Toyota Yaris sedan with a manual transmission for $3K or less.
When I get behind the wheel in an automatic I almost feel like i forgot how to drive.
I credit my stick shift skills with some avoided accidents in some treacherous weather.
And I like small cars.
And Toyotas have longevity.
And I'm poor.
I hope this turns out to be the last car I ever need to buy.
Not counting on it, though it seems like a reasonable hope.
Found a 2010 with 265,000 miles on it.
But highway miles. It was in relatively beautiful condition.
They asked $3K for it but it needed a new clutch so I got them down to $2K.
There was about just enough clutch left to get it home and then to a shop.
That was about 2 years ago, it's closing in on 300K miles,
still runs like a champ.
And it has never been stolen

[AllaN01Bear]

82. my mom learned how to drive using grandads buldozer . i remember seeing it on the propertyy

when i was little . it wa s
a small property tractor.

[Gore1FL]

84. I bought a hybrid in 2020. It was my first automatic. nt

[patphil]

85. My daughter learned to drive on a stick shift car.

Her first car was a high school graduation gift; a 5 speed Honda Accord. None of the boys she new could drive it. They thought she was awesome.

[Bayard]

86. I learned to drive a stick on an old '51 Ford 8N tractor

I loved that machine, and still miss it. It had a front-end loader.

[Martin Eden]

88. My wife and I both drive manual transmission cars

I have a 2016 VW Golf, and she has a 2023 Subaru Crosstrek.

2023 was the last year Subaru made the Crosstrek with a manual for the US market. Before that she had a 2014 Outback, the last year that model was offered with a manual transmission.

We both prefer to shift our own gears because we feel we are more engaged as drivers and in better control.

I still have the original brakes on my Golf, at 95k miles. A lot of those miles are on the interstate. For local driving I see no need to keep my foot on the gas when the light turns red ahead. I downshift, and often don't have to completely stop before the light turns green.

My Golf has a 1.8 turbo 4 and is a lot of fun to drive rowing its 5 speeds, especially on twisty mountain roads when I'm on vacation.

[Buckeyeblue]

89. I agree that manual transmissions make you a better driver

And, as you pointed out, are better on brakes. I also think they last longer. I sold a Chevy Cavalier to a friend. It was a 5-speed. Had over 150k on it when I sold it. He ended up getting 300k. I gave my Toyota Camry to my BIL. It had over 150k. It was a 5-speed as well. He still drives it. It has over 350k miles on it.

I'm currently driving a Mazda3. It's a 6-speed. About 80k miles currently. And I'm not getting rid of this one until it falls apart.

[Martin Eden]

91. I came close to buying a Mazda 3 instead of my Golf

Deciding factors were length (Golf is 7+ inches shorter) and cargo space. We keep both cars in the attached garage, and have to walk behind my car to enter the house.

Manual was available only in base trim, which meant I couldn't get the better sound system. Since I boulght it new for $16k (5k off list) I splurged on $3k aftermarket sound system.

I built the subwoofer box myself for a 10" JL shallow mount. Made it out of stacked concentric circles of MDF exact to cubic inch spec for the speaker. The smaller diameter nests in the small spare tire, while the larger half fills out the cube.

The Golf has a 2-level cargo floor in the hatch. In the upper position (4" higher) the sub fits under it with a couple inches gap above the speaker.

Really delivers a bass punch, and you'd never know it was there until you heard it. That stealth cargo space also holds my Alpine 5 channel amp and Audison digital sound processor.

[Bucky]

90. I prefer manuals. They're cheaper to repair too.

But it's harder to find them when you're car shopping.

Fortunately this article has convinced me that it's easier to just buy a gun and go car jack one.

So thanks for posting this, Zorro. You've saved me a bundle!