Stick-shift vs automatic for learner

we went with an EV for our daughter, it was really, a combination of costs and practicality considerations.

We managed to get a slightly rear damaged 232 VW E up for 8.5k, fixed up for 2k, so 10.5k in total, Insurance was €1,270 in her own name comprehensive, considerably cheaper then other cars, leafs and Zoes were all 2k ‘ish, she charges on home charger, which is peanuts, at under 8cent, night time 4 hour charging window.

She had 8k saved at the time, and has nearly paid us back the balance, so she didn’t need to take any loan.

There are certainly a few issues to consider, if the young person is going to be driving a van in their job, and some other situations, where an EV won’t be suitable. but most people will be perfectly fine, with an automatic licence.

eUp is has CSS and decent charging over the Zoe and Leaf . Always liked them. Pretty much a smaller eGolf so it gets more out of the same battery.... and is cheaper.

This issue with this is and correct me if I'm out of touch but most people learning to drive do most of their learning in their parents car.

As more and more households are EV only, or automatic only it's going to become harder and harder to get access to a manual car.

As a parents do I want them to learn in my EV or go to the hassle of buying an old manual banger for them to learn on.

Unless they've shown a preference for a career that they would need to know how to drive a manual (driving a van, etc) I'll just let them learn in mine.

From kids I know You can do the test in the instructors car also so no familiarity issues.

Kinda thought that was obvious. Open to correction. But no one has ever insured their instructor. But you are right.

I guess people here don't have much experience with insuring a learner driver other than own experience learning a few decades ago. They haven't tried to teach or insure a leaner on their Tesla S Plaid with it's "insane" mode, or their 300bhp phev.

I know people who've bought a banger to learn on, a new manual BMW to learn on, using only the instructors car, using the family massive SUV to learn on.

I know when I did the test in a previous century I only used the instructors car to do a couple of pretests to learn the route. Otherwise I drove a van because I was working. I rarely got the family car but used it for the test. But it's a different world now.

I'm holding on to a old manual for the kids. But if having big bills. I'll replace it either with another manual, or an EV.

If have assumed not. But a few people told me that's exactly what they did. Also it occurs to me not everyone has access to someone's else's car. I guess we've got to look beyond our personal experience.

Auto hold handbrake is a game changer.

My daughter was starting to learning to drive recently. On her first lesson the instructor asked her about the cars at home and whether she had a preference for manual or automatic. My daughter said that the two cars at home were automatic and that she didn't care whether she learnt on was manual or automatic.

The instructor said to her that unless there was an manual in the family that she could use that she should learn on an automatic — easier to drive, much less to learn and (which was music to my daughter's ears) easier to pass the test.

Looking on Donedeal today there are over 90,000 cars listed — almost 44,000 are automatic and 43,000 are manual so it is 50:50. There must be a few thousand which don't state whether they are manual or automatic.

I don't find car websites reliable they often have the wrong details entered making a mockery of the filters. Sellers and Dealers don't seem to put much care and attention into filling out the categories.

I discovered this when looking for a manual petrol car. Would often show diesel autos. Mileage and price is also often a useless filter.