Manual Transmission Rental in US

SMM · 02-02-2008 10:45pm #1

Hi,

I'm planning a driving holiday to California during the summer hopefully for 2 or 3 weeks. We're planning to rent a car in San Francisco to travel around and maybe fly out of San Diego (plans very preliminary!). I've been looking on some car rental websites to get quotes: budget, avis, argus & hertz. However, all of the available cars are automatic transmission. Does anyone know of american rental companies that have manual cars available? I've never driven an automatic and would prefer a manual.

Any advice would be great. Thanks

dingding · 03-02-2008 12:12am

SMM wrote: »

Hi,

I'm planning a driving holiday to California during the summer hopefully for 2 or 3 weeks. We're planning to rent a car in San Francisco to travel around and maybe fly out of San Diego (plans very preliminary!). I've been looking on some car rental websites to get quotes: budget, avis, argus & hertz. However, all of the available cars are automatic transmission. Does anyone know of american rental companies that have manual cars available? I've never driven an automatic and would prefer a manual.

Any advice would be great. Thanks

You would probabaly have difficulty getting a manual, the automatics are very easy to drive, just don't use your left foot and you will be OK, a common mistake is to accelerate with the right and break with the left, but you will press the break to hard with the left.

Also done the journey from SF to San Diego, there is a old coast road I think it is highway one, had a great time.

We stopped for a few nights in each of the following:-

Carmel / Monterey

Santa Barbara

LA

Wishbone Ash · 03-02-2008 12:17am

SMM wrote: »

I've never driven an automatic and would prefer a manual

It will take you about 10 minutes to get used to an auto and then you'll wonder why anyone would drive a manual! Go for it - two pedals - go and stop.

dingding · 03-02-2008 12:20am

purchased an automatic myself after a visit to the states

phog · 03-02-2008 11:02am

Not sure if this will help the OP but my first time in the states and hired an automatic and before I was out of the car park I was well happy with myself.

There was only one scary moment - I couldn't start the car, IIRC, the car has to be in neutral to start the engine, I thought it was something to do with the steering lock.:o

So like all the previous posters go for it, if you have a long trip planned then it's a must -you can even experiment with cruise control.

Zaph · 03-02-2008 2:00pm

phog wrote: »

There was only one scary moment - I couldn't start the car, IIRC, the car has to be in neutral to start the engine, I thought it was something to do with the steering lock.:o

We had a similar problem because none of us knew that you had to have your foot on the brake pedal before you could put the car into drive. Once that minor, and slightly embarrassing, obstacle had been overcome (we asked one of the guys working in the car park, I don't think he thought we were serious), it was plain sailing. I drive an automatic now myself, and it's so easy to drive that I'd never go back to a manual.

mike65 · 03-02-2008 2:03pm

Auto rules. As said after 10 mins you will wonder why a manual makes much sense.

Mike.

Tipsy Mac · 03-02-2008 2:05pm

Auto is much easier than manual to drive, stalling the car is no longer a problem.

dingding · 03-02-2008 8:55pm

Also getting petrol can be different, some of the pumps may need a lever turned when you remove the hose from the pump to turn on the motor.

Had to get help from another motorist the first time.

Our man in Havana · 04-02-2008 1:28am

dingding wrote: »

Also getting petrol can be different, some of the pumps may need a lever turned when you remove the hose from the pump to turn on the motor.

Had to get help from another motorist the first time.

Them be ye olde fashioned pumps.

rainbowtrout · 04-02-2008 1:40am

Did a few weeks of driving out there 2 years ago, booked the car through carhire3000.ie . I think there was an option on the website if you wanted a manual car, but to be honest it's not worth the effort, it would be like trying to hire an automatic here, even if they have manual cars you won't have much choice.

We did a few laps of the car park in the automatic and we were off, it's like driving a bumper car! Got so used to it that I kept stalling my car at traffic lights and roundabouts when I came home, I had become so used to putting the foot down on the accelerator and not having to worry about gears.

I'm definitely thinking about getting an automatic in the future

dave2pvd · 04-02-2008 2:49am

dingding wrote: »

Also getting petrol can be different, some of the pumps may need a lever turned when you remove the hose from the pump to turn on the motor.

Had to get help from another motorist the first time.

Hard to find those now! They're out there, but rare.

What you will find plenty of in CA are the new pumps with a fume system that requires the filler nozzle to kept jammed into the filler neck - or the petrol will not pump. Took me a while to figure that one out.

Don't worry about auto transmission. Instruct your left foot to go to sleep. Press right foot on brake. Start engine with key. Move shift lever to D. Move right foot to accelerator. Steer. Brake occasionally.

Have fun!

Our man in Havana · 04-02-2008 11:59am

Keep you foot on the brake at traffic lights as automatics will tend to creep forward with no foot on the accelerator.

Third_Echelon · 04-02-2008 7:22pm

Yeah as the others have said, its like trying to find a needle in a haystack... very, very rare to get a manual at a car rental place in the states..

Automatic is better for 'tourist driving' anyway. Cruising friendly

renmorescout · 06-02-2008 9:23am

Go with the Auto ! I did a lot of driving around the Boston area last summer, and found the automatic to be a pleasure to drive. And I would also recomend you get the SatNav with the car. We found it never let us down, and ment we didn't have to be looking at maps all the time. It took us door to door! Enjoy your trip.

Zaph · 06-02-2008 7:58pm

renmorescout wrote: »

And I would also recomend you get the SatNav with the car.

That's a very good suggestion. They weren't really available with hire cars when we were there a couple of years ago and we found that trying to get decent road maps of California was nearly impossible. Even with the best one we could find we ended up getting so lost that a 1 hour trip took us nearly 4 hours because the scale was too big to see all roads.

Our man in Havana · 06-02-2008 8:09pm

Hertz seem to have the best sat nav. Worth every penny. I would not consider it viable to be driving in California without it as the local maps are terrible.

Patrickof · 13-02-2008 11:25am

Also, a neat little trick for the first few miles of driving an auto is to keep your left leg pressed right back against the front of your seat (i.e. nearly trying to tuck it in under the seat). This way you won't jam on the brakes when you try and slow down (as your left leg automatically will try to clutch and hit the larger brake pedal).

But as others have said, after 10 mins you'll wonder why anyone drives a manual.

Manual Transmission Rental in US

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