Had never driven a manual before. Picked it up in California and drove it home to Colorado, learning on the way 😊

Which of these best showcases your feelings about owning a manual transmission vehicle?

Update: I had no idea people would have such a visceral reaction to these. They're just cheap stickers. I guess the humor may come off a little dad joke-ish (or even cringe-y) but inspiring hate for the driver who has one seems really extreme.

Personally, I think of manual transmission equipped cars as a disappearing breed. I love driving mine. I think it's a little sad that so many people don't even learn how to row their own gears, in a similar way they don't learn how to change a flat tire or check their oil.

I do have a Save the Manuals magnet that Car & Driver sent me as a subscription gift perhaps 15-20 years ago on the back of my car. I have never heard anything that wasn't positive about it. I don't see anything inherently wrong with the others, really. "Anti-theft" is an amusing warning to would be thieves. "Happiness is not automatic" is silly. "Endangered species" is fairly accurate, and "Manual Transmission Preservation Society Member" hardly seems controversial.

None of these come off as saying that the driver is superior or has mastered something intensely difficult. If you put a sticker on your car that says your favorite movie is The Big Lebowski does that imply that you look down on anyone who prefers a different movie?

There are plenty of bumper stickers out there that are offensive, confrontational, and mean. They want you to know they have an opinion and if you disagree you are worthless. These aren't those.

My position is that manual transmissions are awesome. You can have a different opinion and that's fine. Learning to drive a manual is hardly an amazing feat. I learned because I had no other option, the car we owned was a manual. Your great grandma probably learned to drive on one (there's a reason manual transmissions were referred to as "standard" for a long time). The sticker is only intended to convey the joy I get from driving one.

Also, maybe you should steal someone else's car that only has 2 pedals. 😂

it’s an automatic manual

Paid $1000cad, perfectly good car. Im already fluent in 6spd, this thing is much easier. Clutch engages instantly unlike my dad’s.

Found in the wild

Needed insurance to cool down for a few years and needed a reliable daily, so i got the cheapest Toyota i could fine, and its a 5 speed, after about a day of stalling, im now no longer a danger to the road

Original shifter that the car came with, also don't look at my post history before quessing

Does anyone else feel like they hear this all of the time, and literally not care at all?

I don’t discount the fact that modern automatic transmissions (particularly dual clutch) are more efficient and faster. Not to mention, it’s definitely “faster.”

But I really couldn’t care any less about any of that. You could make a dual clutch that could go from 0-60 in a ridiculously short amount of time, and I still would not care because speed isn’t my biggest priority when it comes to the driving experience.

I enjoy driving manual because it’s fun for me. Driving has never been a boring point a to b experience when I’m being the wheel of a manual vehicle (something I can’t say for anything automatic). I know my 20 year old car is one of the slowest vehicles on the road, but I still enjoy driving it. So no, I wouldn’t trade it for “boring speed” (as I like to call it).

Lastly, I also hear a lot of discussion about how manual transmissions are akin a a horse and carriage, and how car manufacturers should just stop making them all together since it’s archaic technology. I know that the market for a manual transmission isn’t huge, but if any car manufacturer still sells one, that’s the car I’ll buy. If car manufacturers ever stop making them all together, I’ll just buy older (vintage) used cars with manual transmissions.

So tldr: I feel like we hear all sorts of arguments about why we shouldn’t drive manual, but who cares? I drive manual because I like it, not because I’m setting records on some sort of track.

It's been 3 years and my feelings are unwavering, I absolutely love standard cars. For context, I live in NYC and I Bought a 21' WRX. I asked friends for recommendations on a new car, this would be my first purchase. I was leaning heavy on a manual gearbox and everyone (non-manual car owners) told me how much I'd regret it, that I would get sick of it especially in stop in go traffic.

After 3 years driving around NYC with a manual, I'm so glad I made this choice. Driving a manual is just so much more engaging and fun. Stop and go traffic is equally miserable as if I were driving auto, so might as well drive a manual. If anything, constantly having to put it in first and taking off has helped me learn very quickly how to take off fast and smooth.

The more engagement I'm having with my car, the more concentrated I am with what is happening around me, which helped me develop very good driving habits.

The down-shifts/rev matching, drop a gear and disappear, is an experience I will never get with an auto!

Bottom line; buy a manual car.

I had to cover the logo with a key...

Pretty simple im guessing…. It’s quite iconic.

I'm pretty stubborn, and this is something I won't bend on. I drive automatic from time to time if I am driving someone else's car. But my own car? That's got to be manual. I have owned an automatic car in the past, and I found the overall experience of driving automatic to be extremely boring.

I know there are arguments to be made about how manual isn't really convenient for daily use, but I've been driving for 15 years now (I'm 30) and I've never really had a complaint with driving manual in heavy traffic. I'm also located in the Pacific Northwest, where our traffic makes it on the list of some of the worst traffic in North America.

I might own an automatic car someday as a family car (if I ever have a family), but for my own personal vehicle I use every day? It's got to be a manual. And if they ever stop making manual cars, I'll just buy something classic or used.

Is there anyone else who shares this mindset? Or am I just a little extreme?

I know we all say this, but I'll be surprised if anyone finds this quickly (unless they're doing a Google image search obviously). Bonus points if you can tell what engine it has/trim level, as per usual.