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Child Item

Learning in Automatic before official driving lessons using manual

siobhan2005

My 19 yr old daughter wants to learn to drive. I have an automatic ford Smax. Husband has a manual car but as its a fairly new/good car he is not comfortable with her learning in it yet.

She is also not going to be home much during the college year as she will be other side of country.

She is going to get her learners permit this summer and will possibly be learning away at college, she cant afford a car at the moment so the only practice will be the lessons with the instructor. We will prob end up getting double the lessons as she wont have any car to practice in between lessons.

If I take her out in my automatic, is that going to complicate things when she does start official lessons in a manual? Or would it help her at least with the procedural/observation aspects of learning to drive.

Only other thing I can think of is to pay for a couple of lessons in a manual here and then continue lessons with a different instructor when she is back to college.

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...Ghost...

My son took his lessons in a manual and practiced in an auto. He decided to take the test in an auto. I'd have preferred he had the manual test, but the prevalence of autos is much greater than ever before and now electric cars are all auto. Your daughter will likely default to the easier auto if that's what she uses for practice.

bazz26

The bigger problem I see will be that if she takes the test in an auto then her licence will be limited to driving automatic vehicles only. If she takes the test in a manual then your licence allows you to drive both. So given the choice I'd do the test in a manual and then at least she isn't limiting herself in the future.

Sam Russell

I would think it is a mistake for a young person to go for an automatic. A manual test allows greater freedom later compared to an automatic. Learn the gears - it is not hard.

In my opinion, learning the gears should be the first thing to learn, and also learning the low speed positioning of the car using first and reverse gears. I really do mean only using first and reverse (plus the mirrors - learn observation using all the mirrors).

This should be learnt before venturing onto the road competing with the traffic. This will mean, come the test, that the reverse around a corner and the three point turn will be a doddle.

It is like learning to ride a bike - conquer the balance first, then your are away. Heading out into traffic while unsure about balance and disaster will ensue.

Popeleo

I passed my first car test in an automatic as that's what I had at the time. I ended up taking the manual test about 10 years later due to an issue with a work vehicle (and I was tired of paying the 'Stupid Yank auto premium' to hire a car in Europe).

I'm not sure how important a manual test will be in a few years. Practically all electric and hybrid cars are autos and ICE cars will be phased out soon. It depends on if she can afford to keep driving autos until then. Personally, I found that learning in an auto was far better as I could concentrate on the road and other road users rather than doing battle with the clutch and changing gears so often.

I see sheep

All cars should be automatic anyway so I'd say she should learn & take the test in an automatic.

bazz26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120695200#Comment_120695200

Lots of things in this life should be a certain way but they aren't.

zg3409

I would just pay for lessons in a manual with driving instructor. Plan a routine of lessons say one lesson every Saturday and Sunday with doing a test in 3/4/6 months.

You need a clear plan to go from never driven to full licence in a short period or you start to forget the lessons and need to relearn.

Don't get an automatic licence unless really struggling to pass the test as having an automatic licence causes issues say if you need to drive a work van, free company car, or hire a car when on holidays or rent a go car or borrow a friend's car.

hoodie6029

We gave up starting cars with a crank handle a long time ago. Similiarly, the manual gearbox has way overstayed its welcome.

Be grand learning and doing the test in an auto. She can always go back and do the manual test in the future if she needs to.

Driving an auto let’s you concentrate on the more important aspects on driving, road position, hazard awareness etc without worrying if you’re going to put this antiquated stick into second or fourth or cut out when the light goes green.

Best of luck to your daughter learning and fair play to you too for being willing to teach.

tesla_newbie

This isn’t 2003 , automatic cars are plentiful and will become the majority, having a so called “ restricted “ license is no handicap today, ignore the outdated advice

most people never need to drive vans or step in for someone else ( in a manual)

DaveyDave

If she drives your automatic before her manual lessons she will still be able to get a feel for being on the road, what the acceleration and the speed limit feels like, reaction to hazards etc. It will be a big advantage to have before starting lessons officially so she should hopefully have a better time getting the hang of a manual to begin with rather than trying to figure out road positioning while also learning the manual gears at the same time.

If she's having a hard time with manual then switching to auto isn't the end of the world. Any time an automatic license comes up people always bring up car rentals or needing a van or something, it hasn't been an issue for me in the 6 years I've had a licence. With the popularity of hybrid and EVs, chances are she could even borrow a friend or family members car if needed. Rental places have a small number of automatics in their fleet and the likes of GoCar and other large rental companies even have EVs now. There's certainly options available if she needed to drive a different car on an automatic license.

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120699924#Comment_120699924

I regularly drive my dad's car, a manual, my brothers car a manual, most work vans and holiday hire cars are manual. I also drive 2 automatics and one manual I own.

If you do pass the test in an automatic immediately apply for the test in a manual. You never know the day you may get a free manual company car or need to drive a friend's car due to a break down etc. Only around 50% of new cars sold are automatic although it may be 100% in 5 or 10 years.

tesla_newbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120705105#Comment_120705105

I doubt you’re the norm , I can’t remember ever needing to drive someone else’s car as an absolute necessity , also , holiday rentals are often automatic, always an automatic available

bazz26

My own cars have been automatic for the last 10 years but I drive my parent's manual car the odd time too when needed. It's hardly uncommon or the handicap being made out by some here. Doing the test in a manual might feel redundant to generation z but there are still plenty of valid reasons why it's not a bad idea if you can. I'd rather have a choice than none.

coylemj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120705120#Comment_120705120

'holiday rentals are often automatic' is simply not true.

I just checked Europcar for a rental in Lanzarote in late June. They offered me 5 different models, all manual transmission. When I set the transmission to automatic, there was no availability. When I changed the dates to early September, they offered me 7 models, all manual and again, no availability of an automatic. Ditto for early October - seven manual options, no autos.

It will probably be different in large cities where you'd have more people on business trips renting and there's probably plenty of E-Class and 5-series autos available but whether you like it or not, most rental cars in holiday destinations in Europe are going to be manual. Because most people rent a smaller car than they drive at home and most small cars are manual.

I'd encourage the OP to get her daughter to do the test in a manual.

galvo_clare

I get the feeling I’m the only one left in the world who genuinely prefers a manual. And yes, I regularly drive automatics and EVs.

coylemj

Lots of Irish people have apartments in the Algarve. Which may explain why there's better availability of auto rentals at Faro airport than at Lanzarote airport.

But there's an auto premium - Europcar have a Citroen C4 Cactus manual for €65 per day in early October while the automatic version of the same model is their cheapest auto at €96 per day. They're quoting a daily rate for a Peugeot 308 five door at €89 manual and €114 auto.

tesla_newbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120705535#Comment_120705535

even it wasn’t possible to rent an automatic ( which I don’t believe), she can always let someone else drive, those aren’t emergency situations

freshpopcorn

I learned to drive in the past few years.

Automatic was always tempting to me and I'll probably own one I'm not anti auto.

I like many others struggled with gears.

I researched online and here and all the stuff about having an automatic and being able to focus on the road more, etc all appealed to me.

I stuck with my manual and I'm happy I did.

After a bit of practice it all gelled together

I'm happy I've the option to drive both now and I can sit in anybodies car and drive it. (I'm one of these people who'd do that.)

Also, if it's work or anything I've the license and it won't be a drama in the future if anything comes up of having to do another test.

Whilst auto's are becoming more popular you are still tying yourself down especially if money is an issue and you want a cheap run about.

Kurooi

Dad is gonna have to budge, or you have to borrow a car from someone else, or buy lessons or a pre-test prep. Those tests are tough enough, you need to have a vehicle you can confidently drive.

I would offer some counter argument to posters above, of course having the option of a manual is better, but think about it realistically, if she's 19 now, not in a trade job, not really interested in cars, just wants a shiny easy drive Prius or borrow mom's automatic. Maybe 2-3 years from now she has that situation where a car rental in Portugal has manual €30 less per day. Is she going to do that? 3 years no practice, new car, new country? Go full Jackass mode to save €30? Have you seen how people drive in most of Europe? Do you want to be dodging those lunatics AND figuring out the stick again?

DaveyDave

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120705619#Comment_120705619

Yeah if I really needed to rent a van or something I'd just ask a friend or family member to come with me. I'm not planning on driving a car through the mountains of Europe either. Having someone drive you the odd time never seems to be brought up in these what if scenarios when people say you might need a van or car rental.

Stallingrad

In a similar position and my daughter will definitely be taking the test in a manual despite automatics becoming more common. Far better to have the skill than not have it, and there could be all sorts of unforeseen circumstances down the line where a manual might be the only option.

GaryKE.

If you are learning in an automatic but doing lessons in a manual, there is really no point, do the lessons in an automatic then and take the automatic test.

A manual car takes practice, if they are only doing one lesson a week in a manual and then using the auto until next lesson defeats the purpose of lessons in a manual as they are not building up muscle memory related to clutch and gears.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120705826#Comment_120705826

Clutch control is only a tiny fraction of the driving test. The remainder of the test can be practiced in an automatic, albeit practising in a manual wound be more beneficial

[Deleted User]

some of the advice is madness.

OP . She should not limit herself with doing the driving test in automatic.

Kill 2 birds with 1 stone and do it in Manual

when booking lessons. They should all be in a manual car.get some extra lessons if needed.

Daddy will have to man up and and let he practice a bit in his car if needed.

Do 2 driving tests lol…..pointless.

As of today there are manual and automatics so she should focus on that.

AyeGer

Who will still need to drive a manual in 10 years time?

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120707955#Comment_120707955

Probably won't be driving at all in 10 yrs.

Even in America where the majority of cars have been autos for a very long time there are still manuals.

tesla_newbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120707921#Comment_120707921

outdated view , this isn’t twenty years ago where automatics were like spotting owls

tesla_newbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120707985#Comment_120707985

About 1% manual in America, 30% manual in Australia, Europe is an outlier and Ireland has always been an extreme outlier with our near neurotic aversion to automatics ( until very recently)

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120708385#Comment_120708385

Its as high as 4% in some states. "96 percent of Americans drive automatics"

The reason they were so popular in the states is old school automatics were heavy and fuel and fuel was/is cheap in the states. Fuel economy wasn't a concern. Also they have long boring roads, and had the majority of their cars had the driving dynamics of a container ship.

The reason automatics have become popular in Europe, is because in the last few years economy and technology has improved to on a par or better than manual, the good ones are not slow anymore, sometimes faster, and do more long distance driving. They are also far more reliable than they used to be. Though still more expensive to repair. Even if they fail less often.

User1998

Did anyone even read the OP?😂😂

OP asked if practicing in an automatic between manual lessons will be beneficial.

They don’t care about transmission statistics of the USA. And seems like they aren’t even considering the automatic test.

This has just turned into an auto vs manual debate and OP hasn’t even replied since first posting