I have always called it a manual, no idea...

Steve_ seems to have gone native.

I call it manual, people seem to know what I mean. Besides, this is a british expats website.


You can equally well argue you should buy a used "standard", because the limited resale market means you have the seller over a barrel and its going to cost you less. If you drive it into the ground by the end of its life if its still going, its going to be worth $1000-1500 as a beater regardless of the transmission.

Id rather buy an old manual than an old auto, once the transmission fails in an auto its going to cost more than the vehicle is worth to fix it.

Keep looking you can find a Manual. I got a 2007 Golf, is a manual, it sat on the lot for 6 months, and I was able to negotiate pretty well since I was the only one who wanted it, haha!

It's also going to be more enjoyable to drive.

Not if this is the view on your evening commute

Grrr traffic, took me more than 2 hours to get from Barrie to York Dale!!

I thought everyone was more easy going there

As that’s a view I know from the 401 (but not on my commute)

A manual is useful in heavy traffic, you can accelerate faster and slow down much quicker and be able to move between the gaps and merge into lanes in a away an auto just can’t….


I was going to pass comment about doing it whilst listing to the matrix movie sound track, but that’s just wrong…. Mocking Canadian’s whilst weaving through them ala aggressive London/Paris rush hour is not really the done thing, certainly it shouldn’t be done to music whilst laughing, and you really do need to keep an eye out for the OPP as I’m told they’re sensitive about that type of behavior

On the other hand with an Auto you can just jog along on idle and not have a massive stroke by the time you are 50....

I hate the idiots who drive in rush hour traffic like its a race, its just not worth it. If everyone just cruised along and left the brakes alone then half the stop go caterpillar snarlups would never happen.

Why? This is North America - land of the endless straight road and complete lack of corners. I believe that is why all car commercials over here have the "closed course" caveat on them. How else is one going to see if their car can make it round a hairpin over here? Why somebody needs a performance car over here is beyond me.

I know what you are saying, but I like the connection you get with a manual. That feeling for what the car is actually doing that you just don't get with an automatic.

But that’s the big problem with the Auto, the only way to effectively make a minor reduction to its speed is to touch the brake, on come the lights, and the guy behind reacts… each reaction step is a little longer and a little harder and if you have enough cars in that chain that small adjustment results in stationary traffic..

You need to move to BC

Are you arguing to use the gears to slow down, therefore slowing without showing the driver of the truck behind that this is what you are doing? Does removing a foot from the gas slow a manual faster than an auto?