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Mid 20s, Poland, very much can, but currently driving automatic.
Fun fact: in Poland you normally take the driving test in a manual gear shift car, but you can optionally take it in an automatic one. The deal is you have to provide the vehicle for the testing center yourself (driving schools lend them) and your driving license will have an annotation that it's only viable for this type of gearbox.
Belgium, 48. I drive a manual transmission. I never had a car with an automatic transmission.
India, been driving manual since 20 yr old , been a while and planning to get an auto
Yes, 28, Northern europe, dad taught me how to drive when I was 16. In my country you have to do your driving test in a manual, unless you're fine with a limited license that only allows you to drive automatics. Nobody that I know has that kind of license.
US late 20s. Yes I can and every car I've owned for the last 8 years has been manual
I go out of my way to find them.
In Finland synchronization in gearboxes is starting to become a thing nowadays. Double clutching for 20 years now (38).
Just kidding, got my first automatic two years ago, so yes.
Yes, I'm 45 and from the US.
Unfortunately, although my current car (Mazda3) is available in a manual, I was looking to buy a 2018 model in 2019. My options were limited to remaining inventory, which did not include any manuals. Will be looking for a manual next time, but it's becoming almost impossible to find here.
France, 30s, and I almost always drove manual transmissions. But I rent an automatic, and now I don't understand why manual cars still exist.
29, Poland/Germany. Yes, like almost everyone in Europe. Although, it is getting more popular to be automatic-only. I like driving manual, however prefer automatic due to convenience of it. I don't have a car at the moment (public transport serves me well), but if I had, I'd go for automatic.
Yes I am 25 and in Germany that is the default so nearly anyone can drive with a stick shift.
Mid 30s, used to drive stick all the time but I wouldn't go out and get one anymore. This seems like one of those things people clutch onto (pun intended) because it was at one time a useful everyday skill not everyone could do but now is completely antiquated.
I'm Italian and it's mandatory to learn how to drive stick in order to get a license. This could explain why we think driving at 16 is absurd: it would probably be difficult for a 16 years old to learn stick.
Yep. 27, Finland. I learned on a manual (in the EU, if you learn on an automatic, you're restricted to automatics only until you pass the driving exam in a manual) and drove manuals until a few years ago when my late grandma's health started declining and her car got passed down to us because she could no longer drive.
I canβt. Lots of people my age can. My teenage years there was only one car in the household and itβs an auto. I couldnβt afford to pay for extra lessons to learn manual with their car.
I was into cars and really wanted to get a manual car later on. But just never needed it. Auto cars are just more available so 10+ years later I still canβt drive manual and hasnβt affected my life at all
Yes, it's very common here (Czechia), in fact I don't know a single person who doesn't know how to drive manual.
Until recently I even preferred it, but nowadays I'd like automatic more. Well, my next car is gonna be automatic, that's for sure.
Yes. 44, Australian, drove a manual until very recently actually.
In Australia (Queensland at least) you have to pass a manual driving test in order to be legally allowed to drive a manual vehicle. At the time I was getting my license (1995 - 96) manual vehicles were still extremely common, plus I like driving a manual so it made sense for me.
Yes, but after having an electric car for about two years, I never really wanna go back to ICE, manual or auto. The acceleration is addictive
And electric cars don't really need manual transmissions.
I drove ICE auto for about 8 years, then 3 years manual and electric for the last two.
This thread is an amusing display of sample bias. Only people that want to respond yes and brag about it bothering to respond.
In reality only about 2/3rds of people in the US can drive stick and almost no one owns manual cars.
I've never driven a manual car. I've had people be like "You can't drive manual?!" and then I would respond "So are you going to teach me?" The answer is always No, of course not, not in their car (assuming they even owned a manual, which none do anymore). My parents had manual cars but sold them 10+ years before having me.
I understand how a clutch works. It wouldn't be difficult to learn. But what reason or motivation is there to learn when almost no cars are manual? They total something like 2% of new car sales. If you're buying something like a 718 GT4 RS or a 911 GT3 RS for maximum driving engagement that's great, but those cars are priced for the 1% of the 1%.
Even if you had a fun car, which I do, the drive to work is stop-and-go, roads are full, even the fun country backroads are filled with traffic on weekends, forests are burned down, gas is eye-watteringly expensive if you have a slightly performant vehicle. The time to have fun driving cars was 40 years ago.
I got a manual for a few reasons, but the big one in my mind was fewer moving parts, and something that I can actually maintain myself. I've actually rebuilt a transmission before, and while it's not the easiest thing to do, I already have the tooling required to pull a transmission and disassemble it.
I'm not redlining my 2002 v6 pickup truck so it's not a performance thing. It's just something I like. I like the engagement even if it's a pain in the ass sometimes.
While I have noticed that Americans do like to brag about driving manual, it should be noted that outside the US being able to drive manual isn't bragworthy in the slightest. You're just part of 99% of drivers. From boy racers to grandma.
Hell, my driving school even taught a guy with down's syndrome to drive manual. It took longer, but he passed all the tests, so off he went. Apparently it wasn't even a close thing, and the driving test is quite stringent here in the EU. There's no need to make fun of people with down's syndrome, but if they can manage to drive manual with practice anyone without a disability can too.
It's not difficult. It just takes practice. If your parents drive a manual, which is likely in the EU, you can practice in their car. If your parents have an auto, which is likely in the US, you can't practice shifting gears so why bother?
Late 30s, Canada, and absolutely I can.
Germany, mid 30s, all the cars I've owned were manual so I would say - yes :D
First time I drove a rental automatic I did an accidental hard stop at about every second crossroads as I intended to hit the clutch with my left foot and lacking one just hammered the breaks instead >.>
When driving combustion I prefer manual but I've recently driven some EV, I could get used to that feel :)
I'm in my 40s and live in Europe (NL), and in my country, if you don't take your driving exam in a manual transmission car, you receive a restriction on your license that prevents you from driving manual transmission vehicles. As a result, both I and nearly everyone I know can drive a manual. Automatics are also a fair bit more expensive, so most people don't opt for them. Tho I expect this will change with the rising popularity of electric and hybrid vehicles.
Yes, 29 from Belgium. I got my first automatic transmission in January. Everyone around me drives a manual
36, Canadian, 10/10 would recommend. Winter driving is way more fun with manual, and it can be a lot easier on gas if you're in the mood.
37, Eastern PA. I CAN drive a stick, but I don't like to. It's another distraction I don't need while driving. Can pay attention to all the other idiots on the road when not worrying what gear I'm in or when to shift.
Italian, 45 here. Always driven manual.
All my cars, bar one, have been manual transmission, as is my current one. To be honest, as I'm lazy, I do prefer auto, but it's easier to buy a car with manual transmission here in the UK, as you have more options.
USA, 33, daily drive a stick.
Bought my first car with my own money in 2013, a 2014 WRX, it only came in manual. I've been driving it since.
Yes Midwest, U.S. 40y
I'm in my 30s grew up in FL and I can
I only learned on a riding lawnmower but I can do it. I actually went looking for a car with a manual, figuring that it would be cheaper up front, cheaper to fix and cheaper to run. I couldn't really find one in any model of car I wanted, so I ended up having to go with a manumatic with paddle shifters, the worst of both worlds!
Yes, almost 40, USA. I don't currently own a manual, but used to. It was a great way to save a few thousand on a car and it's a lot more fun to drive. But very few cars in the US have a manual option these days.
30 years old. US. I can and do drive a stick shift.
Really hard coming from a family with only automatic cars. Very few people have stick cars, and even fewer are willing to teach you in their own car.
Can't even rent a stick shift to practice on. Your best bet is to sign up with a driving school that offers stock shift lessons, which I almost did.
Instead, a buddy of mine was kind enough to let me practice for 2 hours with him in a beater he had. Then I went and picked up my brand new WRX. Stalled like 12 times on the way home. But I figured it out!!
I'm 36, I live in the UK, and I've driven a manual car since I was 17. I've only driven an automatic twice in my life and I'll probably never own one.
Nope, never learned. I'm 31 in the US. Never had the need to learn as I was raised with automatics only.
I'm 19-20 and I'm from the eastern part of the US.
In a car, I have about 8 hours of experience and could do it in a pinch, although I'd feel unconfident with it.
On a motorcycle, I have about 20 hours of more recent experience and I feel fairly comfortable with it.
...american; when i learned to stick-and-clutch fourty years ago (driving fifty-year-old used cars) we still called it a standard transmission...
...we like to say that i married my wife because she drove a standard, but when she traded in my last hatchback the manufacturer only offered automatics in the new models; would've been a dealbreaker for me but she liked the car...
Yep - been driving for around 30+ years here in Australia (I'm late 40s). Grew up driving manual, have owned several manual vehicles, including my current one.
Yes, 40, Germany. And I actually do.