- When buying a new car, the manual transmission option is cheaper up front, at an average savings of $800 to $1,000, as can be seen when viewing automatic transmission options for vehicles also offered with standard transmissions at manufacturers such as Ford, Subaru, General Motors, Mazda and others.
- Stick-shift vehicles are cheaper to service. The fluid needs less frequent changing, and when a manual transmission breaks down, usually it's the clutch that needs replacing. This repair generally costs less than half of what it costs to replace an automatic transmission, as discussed at Edmunds car reviews and pricing, Topix and Slate.
- According to fuel economy ratings by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, standard transmissions achieve a mile or two per gallon more than automatics. This applies mainly to highway driving. Manual transmissions also can achieve better gas mileage in the city, although a driver must be active to accomplish this, shifting into neutral to coast when appropriate, and avoiding driving at higher speeds in lower gears.
- A standard-shift transmission provides better control of the car because of a faster shift response, which is especially beneficial in bad weather.
- Manual transmissions are easier on brakes, because the driver is not always fighting the automatic transmission's effort to move forward.
- A driver skilled at stick-shifting will have better traction in snowy, slippery or muddy conditions, as noted by the Edmunds website. And if this driver does get stuck in snow, it's much easier to rock a car out with a standard transmission than with an automatic one.
- Finally, there's a fun aspect to driving a manual transmission. Sage Marie, public relations manager for Honda, says manual transmissions really resonate with people "who still enjoy the act of driving."
