End of Stick Shift?

South Coast Guy

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Nov 17, 2010
Location
Mattapoisett, MA
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2009 Jetta TDI wagon
Sales of new manual transmission cars are up significantly this year, on pace to hit the highest rate of sticks sold since 2006. That news must put smiles on the faces on the dwindling breed of drivers who prefer stick shifts over automatics. But the happiness might be short-lived, as analysts predict manual transmissions will basically disappear over the next couple of decades.
According to the EPA, in 1987, 29.1% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. had manual transmissions. By 2010, however, the rate had fallen to just 3.8%.
It appears as if something of a stick shift renaissance has since occurred, with 5.1% of new cars being manuals last year, and a new report from Edmunds indicating that stick shifts are on pace to account for roughly 7% of cars sold in 2012


Read more: http://moneyland.time.com/2012/08/0...ift/?iid=pf-main-lede&hpt=hp_t3#ixzz22PniKra6
 

TDIJetta99

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Port Jervis, New York, USA
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03... Faster than yours =]
Ya.. people don't buy them because most cars aren't available with a standard.. Then they say "people don't buy them"... Well.. If they would make them available, more people would buy them..

In the 80's, just about every single vehicle out there had a manual option except for higher end cars or "luxury" lines like Lincoln/Cadillac.. Heck you could buy a 80's Dodge caravan that was 5-speed AND turbocharged...
 

XXX_er

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northern B.C.
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2002 golf
Ya.. people don't buy them because most cars aren't available with a standard.. Then they say "people don't buy them"... Well.. If they would make them available, more people would buy them..

In the 80's, just about every single vehicle out there had a manual option except for higher end cars or "luxury" lines like Lincoln/Cadillac.. Heck you could buy a 80's Dodge caravan that was 5-speed AND turbocharged...

yeah but nobody bought them

my GF had one of those 89 caravans with the 2.5 turbo/ 5spd and it felt real good at 20 or 30 KPH over the speed limit ... she got a lot of tickets
 

German_1er_diesel

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Location
Ratzeburg
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BMW 118d
In Germany, Volkswagen's marketing considers it a huge success that 9% of Golfs sold are DSG, which is the highest number in the segment. That means 91% of Golfs are manuals... I don't see them going away any time soon.
 

BeetleGo

TDIClub Enthusiast, Pre-Forum Veteran Member
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Oct 21, 1998
Location
Cambridge, MA
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5-door, 5-speed Golf GLS replaced BeetleGo.
Some car companies are including them again. Cadillac, Buick, Cheverolet are putting them back in. Thank God. I will never drive an auto. Then again, others are taking them out! Honda, Toyota, BMW, VW/Audi (to name just four) are taking them off the table. SHAME!

I've said this before. It's worth repeating. Stick shifts are built-in anti-theft devises. Most thieves don't know how to drive them, or think they aren't worth stealing because no one wants one. Great~!
 

supton

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May 25, 2004
Location
Central NH (USA)
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'04 Jetta Wagon GLS
Sales of new manual transmission cars are up significantly this year, on pace to hit the highest rate of sticks sold since 2006. That news must put smiles on the faces on the dwindling breed of drivers who prefer stick shifts over automatics. But the happiness might be short-lived, as analysts predict manual transmissions will basically disappear over the next couple of decades.
The world is going to end! In a couple billion years. News at 11.

We may find that stick only winds up on upscale vehicles instead of the "common" vehicles. I can say that for my meanderings I could get by with an auto; if I had city traffic to deal with on a regular basis I'd go to auto. In fact, if I had a gasser and had to downshift for every hill I'd probably go to auto too.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Back when there were lots of cars available with them here, so few were sold that the carmakers just ended up taking them off the option list. I remember seeing only ONE manual transmission Taurus (that was not a SHO) in my entire life, ever. And I got into the field when all those first gen crapboxes were coming out of warranty.... I worked on so many V6/automatic ones I lost count. But that one lowly Taurus "MT-5" as it was called (even had a tag on the side trim) still sticks out in my mind. Brown sedan, handcrank windows, 2.5L 4cyl, and a clunky but sturdy 5speed box lifted from the Tempo. 1986 and 1987 only, IIRC.

Done one clutch on a stick shift Econoline van, the only one of those I've ever seen, an '82 model with a 4.9L.

Used to see a few Cavaliers with sticks, hardly ever a Cobalt.

Really sad, but if they are not selling, and dealers push people to buy what is on the lot rather than ordering what they really want (or need, or can actually AFFORD :rolleyes: ), then it is easy to see them going away.

Some of the rarer cars in recent years I have run across with the lifetime transmission option: Lincoln LS (V6 only), Lexus ES300, Toyota RAV4, Civic Hybrid, Mazda 5, Nissan Maxima (yeah, the VQ35 is a freaking GUIDED MISSILE when bolted to the 6sp box, holy crap!!! :eek:), MB C240, and one of my favorites ever that is also NLA: Duramax Silverado with a 6sp. Man those run good.

Of course, as a throwback to those better days, we have in the shop this week (oh heck, it was here most of July), a 1967 Pontiac GTO convertible... that of course is, like all PROPER muscle cars, equipped with a good ol' 4 speed Muncie! :D (sadly, I am sure that Maxima would wipe the pavement with this GTO, though, LOL!!!).
 

turbocharged798

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May 21, 2009
Location
Ellenville, NY
TDI
99.5 black ALH Jetta;09 Gasser Jetta
Even VW is fading them out. Last time I checked my local dealer's web site, ONLY 1 out of some 8-10 TDIs were manual. Pretty disappointing.

We currently have:

00 7.3L F-350, 6 speed manual. New ones NLA with manual.
05 Cavalier, 5 speed manual. They don't even make them anymore.
and the two MK4 TDIs, both manual. Manual TDIs seem to be fading away.

Its sad. We refuse to drive anything but manual transmissions.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
The only two vehicles I currently own with automatics were only available here with said deficiency: my 2004 Passat TDI and my 1996 Honda Odyssey. I'll probably convert the Passat someday.
 

TDIJetta99

Top Post Dawg
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May 17, 2005
Location
Port Jervis, New York, USA
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03... Faster than yours =]
So far I'd say about half of the cars I work on have manual transmissions.. 3/4 of those manuals are TDIs though..

Side note.. I have driven a VQ35/6-speed Nissan and it put a huge evil grin on my face when I got into the throttle.. It made me giggle hahaha.. holy crap that car was fast for a completely stock car.. I want to drive one with 8 psi being fed to it via a supercharger..
 

BeetleGo

TDIClub Enthusiast, Pre-Forum Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 21, 1998
Location
Cambridge, MA
TDI
5-door, 5-speed Golf GLS replaced BeetleGo.
So far I'd say about half of the cars I work on have manual transmissions.. 3/4 of those manuals are TDIs though..

Side note.. I have driven a VQ35/6-speed Nissan and it put a huge evil grin on my face when I got into the throttle.. It made me giggle hahaha.. holy crap that car was fast for a completely stock car.. I want to drive one with 8 psi being fed to it via a supercharger..
Stop it~!
 

Terrawombat

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 1, 2012
Location
Eastern Shore MD
TDI
2002 Golf GLS TDI
Let me start out by saying that my vehicle fleet currently consists of 6 vehicles, of which, 5 are equipped with a manual transmission. I'm sure I'll be the minority in this thread when I say that I prefer an automatic transmission and it's incredibly easy for me to see why the sales of manual transmission vehicles has been on the decline. The mentality of today's society is do more for less, efficiency and simplicity (whether or not that translates into laziness is another discussion in itself, but I do not believe so). If we put fuel efficiency aside for just one moment (I know it will be tough for some of you), then an automatic transmission satisfies all of that. My personal preference for an automatic transmission is for my travelling companions AKA my two dogs. Since dogs are notoriously horrible at balancing in a moving vehicle, the less back and forth motion the better.

Not all automatic transmissions are piles of junk and it's a shame that VW (and plenty of other automobile manufacturer's...especially Chrysler) had to tarnish their reputation with the crap they use. I'll list an example I have personal experience with where an automatic is the preferred drivetrain of choice. When the Jeep Cherokee was introduced in the mid 1980's, Jeep sourced a manual 5-speed from Peugot (BA 5/10). They also used a 4-speed automatic transmission from Aisin-Warner (AW4). The Peugot is better used as a paperweight or a mailbox as it is known to grenade itself. The AW4, on the other hand, is a tank. I have seen many cases where people ran the thing dry or it was contaminated with water and all that was done was a drain/refill and it lasted tens of thousands of miles thereafter.
 

MrMopar

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Mar 1, 2003
Location
Bloomington, IL
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none
It's a positive feedback loop started by the dealers. I was just briefly shopping for a Subaru Legacy to possibly replace my dad's 1997.5 Nissan Altima. I asked the salesman if they had a Legacy on the lot without that CVT transmission they all come with (both my dad and I are still somewhat unconvinced about CVT) and he told me "We'd have to order it. We won't keep one on the lot."
 

MrMopar

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Location
Bloomington, IL
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none
The other end of stick shifts is coming in pickup trucks - i.e. the Ford F-250, Ram 2500, Chevy/GMC 2500. Seems that diesel emissions have a role in making sure that automatic transmissions are the future.
 

Farfromovin

Torque Addict
Joined
Apr 9, 2005
Location
Ventura, CA
TDI
03 Golf 2dr- PD150 6m
So far I'd say about half of the cars I work on have manual transmissions.. 3/4 of those manuals are TDIs though..

Side note.. I have driven a VQ35/6-speed Nissan and it put a huge evil grin on my face when I got into the throttle.. It made me giggle hahaha.. holy crap that car was fast for a completely stock car.. I want to drive one with 8 psi being fed to it via a supercharger..
Great, my wife's is an auto. Now I just gotta wait for that tranny to start slipping so I can "repair it " to a 6spd and accidently force 8psi into it while its down for surgery :)

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 

PDJetta

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Nov 6, 2003
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Northern Virginia
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'04 Jetta GLS TDI Pumpe Duce Platinum Grey w/ Leather
I remember when U-Haul rental trucks were equipped with manual transmissions. Its been so long I can't remember how many gears, but I think 4. I enjoyed shifting those without using the clutch. And I did not clash the gears either.

I also remmeber in the 1980 taking a tour in a motor coach (tour bus) that had a manual transmission.

--Nate
 

hevster1

Vendor
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Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
One of my all time favorites was the Toyota Cressida 5 spd. I also loved the original 85 MR-2.
Currently 2 out of 3 are stick, not to mention the Motorcycles of course.
 

AlcoC420

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Mar 6, 2010
Location
Southeast U.S.
TDI
.
Even VW is fading them out. Last time I checked my local dealer's web site, ONLY 1 out of some 8-10 TDIs were manual. Pretty disappointing.
We were fortunate to find our JSW on a local (U.S.) Dealer lot. My wife and I drive nothing but manual transmissions (we just enjoy it) and have had to otherwise special order every vehicle we have owned because of it. We plan our purchases, so don't mind the wait.

It's tough finding family cars like our JSW manufactured with a manual transmission option. Thankfully VW, Subaru, Hyundai, Kia and a small handful of others haven't forgotton that some Moms and Dads still enjoy rowing a gearbox.
 
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yo2001

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Jun 16, 2012
Location
Birmingham, AL
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2012 JSW Black 6mt w/pano
We were fortunate to find our JSW on a local (U.S.) Dealer lot. My wife and I drive nothing but manual transmissions (we just enjoy it) and have had to otherwise special order every vehicle we have owned because of it. We plan our purchases, so don't mind the wait.

It's tough finding family cars like our JSW manufactured with a manual transmission option. Thankfully VW, Subaru, Hyundai, Kia and a small handful of others haven't forgotton that some Moms and Dads still enjoy rowing a gearbox.
Same here on us luck into getting a manual trans on our JSW. In our stable we have, mk4 golf w/ 5 speed, now JSW w/ 6 speed, 1977 Chevy 3/4 ton truck w / 4 speed on the floor, and 74 Datsun 260z... Manual as well. We like to shift.

Subaru are switching to cvt trans now and dropping the manual trans. At least in Japan.
 

VWBeamer

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Jan 1, 2009
Location
GA
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2004 Jetta Wagon
manual, diesel, wagon and AWD. Must have for next car. I'm waiting..
 

turbofan

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Jul 13, 2012
Location
Portland, Oregon
TDI
'14 JSW
I really don't feel like it is the dealerships' fault. These days, at least for VW dealers, the dealer doesn't really select which cars they get -- VWoA decides for them. Also, dealers don't care what people buy, onoy that they buy. I don't understand why some people think that dealerships have this hidden agenda to remove fun from the lives of the general populace. They only care about making money, and if you want to buy a manual transmission city bus they won't stop you as long as they make a commission.

I do believe, however, that it is the fault of the manufacturers in conjunction with the general populace. The manufacturers would rather not build and engineer a car that will sell in small numbers, so they stop. The trend towards more automatic vehicles is not due to the manufacturers' unwillingness to build them but because of people's unwillingness to buy them. Greater congestion and, probable a larger factor, greater indifference towards driving involvement (it's gotta he awfully hard to talk on the phone and do your makeup while driving if you have to shift too! Or eat a hamburger and shave...). People want cars to be comfortable, make them look good, and get them from.place to place. Add the fact that many new cars achieve greater fuel economy numbers with their automatic transmissions and it is very obvious why manuals are on the decline.

I don't think they will go away forever. But I think their availability will continue to decrease.
 

kjclow

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Charlotte, NC
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2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
I think that it also has a lot to do with who taught you to drive. When I was growing up, it was a sign of prosperity to be able to afford a new car with an automatic. We had a couple of old Volvos that were manual but those were in the scrap heap before I learned to drive. Only cars we had were autos. My wife taught me how to drive a manual with a 67 ford 2 door fairlane or 500 with a three on the tree. My first stick was our 82 subie that we bought as our wedding gift. From 90 - 2000, we only had autos but then bought the beetle, which I used to teach my oldest to drive. She is now driving the 03 passat with a 5 speed. I am starting to teach the youngest to drive my 07 canyon with a 5 speed stick.
 

MrMopar

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Mar 1, 2003
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Bloomington, IL
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Also, dealers don't care what people buy, onoy that they buy. I don't understand why some people think that dealerships have this hidden agenda to remove fun from the lives of the general populace. They only care about making money, and if you want to buy a manual transmission city bus they won't stop you as long as they make a commission.
Dealers only care that people buy = they stock what sells.

Manual transmission = hard to sell to the average Joe

If you want to buy a manual transmission they are kinda jerks about trying to get you one. I want to trade my tiny crackerbox Hyundai Accent for a VW Jetta S with a manual transmission but none of the VW dealers near me have one that I can test drive. They WILL NOT order one unless I'm willing to commit to buying with a large deposit. I don't know that they would be able to keep my deposit if I did follow through but decide not to buy, but that is where we sit. They WILL NOT get one for me to test drive.
 

Turbojäger

Active member
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Dec 31, 2008
Location
Kentucky
TDI
2000 Golf TDI
Clearly there aren't massive amounts of people who want a car with a manual trans, but I feel like those who do REALLY want one, and are often disgusted and take their business elsewhere when they are informed that a non-slushbox model isn't available.

Hell, make it an option, just like the auto tranny is currently. I know the philosophy there is that an automatic transmission costs more to build, along with the outdated tradition of always having the auto the option, but when you build and sell way more of them than manuals... wouldn't keeping the manual as an option make more sense than doing away with it altogether?

I also hate the way that the American car-buying philosophy has negatively impacted the buyers ability to really get what they want, a manual transmission being a perfect example. Dealerships want to sell what they have on the lot, and that suits most people's needs because (apparently), Americans often buy cars on a whim after dropping by at a dealership. You hear this a lot, however nobody I know personally has ever done this...

Related to that, I do remain hopeful that my generation's tendencies (I'm 24) will help to change this. We research exactly what we want online, for the best features and price, and we're used to waiting a week for it to show up on our doorstep.

Additionally, we haven't yet amassed the financial resources of previous generations, and likely never will. There are fewer jobs available, those jobs pay less and are less secure, the cost of living and buying things will continue to rise, and many in my generation are starting out in life upwards of $20,000 in debt. We'll buy fewer new vehicles, and likely be much choosier about those we do buy.

Those factors lead me to believe that the American car-buying experience will eventually HAVE to become more of an order-based one, because the new generation of consumers will demand it, and there won't be enough people who can afford to impulse buy a car, at least not in the "normal car" price range, whatever that winds up being.

Back to the original topic: My girlfriend just bought a Fiat 500 Sport 5 speed. Long live the 3 pedal (and the cute girls that drive them)!!
 

jkowalski

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Oct 13, 2011
Location
Arkansas/Northern Illinois
TDI
2012 Jetta Premium 6MT
No manuals because how is the typical fat American supposed to have a double Whopper in one hand, his large Coke in the other, his cell phone pinned against his ear, AND be bothered to do something like shift?

*I love my manual.*
 

adimex

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2012
Location
East Lyme, CT
TDI
2010 TDI Cup 6MT (sold), 2014 JETTA TDI 6MT (recalled), 2014 JSW TDI 6MT & 2015 JETTA TDI DSG
Manual = less maintenance/failure. Clutches aren't that bad to change.

Auto = more maintenance required (dsg maintenance is a rip off) and more prone to failure. If they break, usually more expensive to fix than replacing a clutch.

Therefore it is in the best interest for dealers/auto makers to sale something that will return some money in the end.
 
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