mandpete

Used it constantly when we drove down to Florida and up to Toronto. Not much use in NJ though, too much traffic and too many absolutely sh*te drivers.

syllk

Can be handy for making sure you don't creep too far over the speed limit, though...which is easily done when chatting on the mobile, drinking your coffee and flipping off other drivers...

Pigtails

I miss having a manual, but auto is much easier when you're constantly picking up dummies and shoving them back in mouths.

Sarah

You really should let your husband talk at some point

Pigtails

Won't!!! Can't make me!!

Bob

cruise control creeps me out...bit like heated seats...but then again, the drivers seat is broken, so really creeps me out when I'm a passenger *l*

Celtic_Angel

heated seats?? never even heard of those

I don't like cruise control either....didn't some dummy win a huge amount of money when he sued because he'd used cruise control on his Winnbago and went to the back to make a cuppa ...and crashed? ...or was that a figment of my imagination?

Bob

heated seats are great when it's sub zero temps out...only prob with them though, feels like you've pee'd the seat...

BritGuyTN

I'm proud to say that my american wife

1. parallel parks very well
2. bemused the salesmen at the car dealership when she said, only call me when you get a 5 speed in

Sarah

Ooh heated seats are ace! My german friend has got an Audi TT and they have heated seats. It was very nice riding round in it having your arse warmed I can tell you
As for the dingleberry who used crusie control in his winnebago it annoys me more than some judge probably awarded him millions rather than telling him off and smacking over the head for being such a twonk in the first place!

Yorkieabroad

Used to ride in a friends Saab that had heated seasts - I never dared use them. Remember what your mum used to tell you about hot water bottles? Don't put your feet on them cos you'll get chilblains? Heated seats - same effect :scared:

Bob

Saab's heated seats are well dodgy...well in the 9000CS at least, hit a large bump and the element breaks pretty easily...so i'm well impressed that the passenger one still works...admittedly can't adjust the seat position instead all that often...but anyway, well expensive to replace as you have to replace the whole seat, well repairing it would cost around $500, plus labour, whilst a new seat is $600 and can be plonked in in a matter of mins compared to the repair....we're still looking for someone to crash a '96 to go pinch a seat

commoner

My grandparents bought my very first car, and my father insisted it be an automatic. He said they were cheaper to work on, and I needed to know how to drive one incase I needed to drive one in an emergency.

The Nissan Altima was ordered for me in 1995, and it took three weeks for it to arrive because the local dealership had to transport one with a manual transmission two states away.

Knowing how to drive a manual in the US was a priceless skill to have when obtaining my UK license. On several American expat sites that is a major source of contention with driving - American women striving to get a UK automatic license.

Why bother?

Rushman

I take it that's an error and your dad insisted you had a "Manual"?

Pimpbot

There is a stretch of road from Kingman to the Hoover Dam thats just 50 miles of straight, plain boring road. Cruise control is a must for sections like that. Otherwise I find myself doing 90mph and racing everybody while watching out for the highway patrol. It's also nice to take your feet off the pedals after driving for several hours.

I'm an automatic driver. If I had a performance car, I'd do gears, but for my SUV why bother.