I wish I never drove an Auto...

[Alberto]

me only drove an auto once in my lifetime,but i dont want again,it makes driving sooo boring

[robb]

I had a townace auto once, it took me weeks to get used to it ,I regularly tested my and my passengers seat belts by stomping with my left foot on the brake pedal thinking it was the clutch not recommended at 30 mph

[omega]

fact
autos are only for the disabled,the elderly { who shouldnt be driving] and exective limos

if you enjoy driving a auto then you dont enjoy driving

most peoples last ride is in a auto and that is how it should be.

[Bailes1992]

Been out in the BMW again today.
Quite happy pottering about in an Auto.

After my Mondeo I probably won't buy a manual again.

[Busman]

fact
autos are only for the disabled,the elderly { who shouldnt be driving] and exective limos

if you enjoy driving a auto then you dont enjoy driving

most peoples last ride is in a auto and that is how it should be.

Justify the useage of the word fact as opposed to your oppinion?

[rapport25]

Nice comments on this thread :-(:-(. I drive an auto. I'm neither old or in a wooden box. Not yet anyway :-):-)

After suffering an accident to my left foot. And feeling a lot of pain stuck in traffic changing gear. I had no choice. I decided to buy a Vw with the dsg box.

Mpg is great and is a lot quicker than the manual. There is the odd ocassion when I consider getting rid. And yes it will be another auto.

[Bailes1992]

I don't see anything wrong with Autos. Ecspecially these days with the amount of traffic on the roads.

I love driving, nothing beats a good day of mile munching!

But on and off the clutch in traffic all the time, hill starts etc does nothing for me.

[Busman]

Having re read Omegas post I find it offensive and unnecssary. If you don't like autos, don't buy one. Why is it necessary to be so deeply insulting? I have never owned an auto but I have driven lots, mostly in 45 tonne trucks which are almost all auto now. Finding a new large comerciall vehicle with a stick box is a rare thing. Indeed most no longer offer it as an option, just which auto you want. And when driving comercially, they are so much better.
I think this is one of those things where new technoligy is resisted by some who don't like change. I don't doubt that there was someone out there saying, ''electric starter motors? Never catch on, give me a starting handle any day.'' or ''roofs on cars? Never catch on.''

On the web generally, there are times that test my belief in free speach, some of these coments fall into that catagory.

[Bailes1992]

I also think auto boxes are getting better and better with age. Also with emmisons regulations and a push for better and better fuel economy Auto boxes will come more common and I think sooner rather than later CVT boxes will come big, ecspecially with hybrids.

Actually I like CVT gearboxes, just a shame they whine and drone.

Give it a few years and manuals will be a thing of the past. I'm sure of it!
We'll have small turbo charged petrols with CVT gearboxes powering the front wheels and electric motors powering the rear wheels.

[Doggy]

I have no doubt auto boxes are getting better and more people are convinced of their worth, but there are many of us who would much rather have a manual and who if eventually forced to adopt autos will serious regret that development in the same way as we mourn the virtual death of rear wheel drive. The motoring public sadly accepted FWD and now there's virtually no choice any longer. It will be a sad day indeed if manual gearboxes go the same way.

[FarmerPug]

new tractors are all automatic and in their case its a much better system for the driver especially as tractor clutches are really heavy, but they do cost a lot more to fix if they break

in the case of cars you cant start and auto by rolling it down a hill or towing it if you get a flat battery

[Busman]

I also think auto boxes are getting better and better with age. Also with emmisons regulations and a push for better and better fuel economy Auto boxes will come more common and I think sooner rather than later CVT boxes will come big, ecspecially with hybrids.

Actually I like CVT gearboxes, just a shame they whine and drone.

Give it a few years and manuals will be a thing of the past. I'm sure of it!
We'll have small turbo charged petrols with CVT gearboxes powering the front wheels and electric motors powering the rear wheels.

Being just a few years older I would hesitate to right manuals off, there are to many people who are stuck on them whatever changes on autos. I think it will be a while yet until the last manual is made. But one thing that I have always found interesting is that when you talk to people about this and ask which autos they have driven, you often get a response along the lines of ''never driven one and never will.'' One thing I always try to do is to keep my mind open to new ideas, things change and it's good to change with them.
One of the things that reulted in the virtual demise of comercial manuals is that the old argument of maual being more reliable died a death as the manuals became so full of electronics that they were just as likely to fail as autos. Autos are also less prone to driver abuse and bad driving. An auto won't let you pull off in to high a gear, hammering the clutch.
But what is really interesting to me is this idea that i've seen on some Citroens of engine power to the front wheels and electric to the rears. This seems a very good way of achieving occasssional four wheel drive, for mud or snow etc. without all the weight and complication of drive trains to the rear.
I've always thought that the demise of rear wheel drive was totaly about front wheel drive being better for mass production. You make the whole engine and drive and steering off the car, and slip it in from underneath.

[highlander]

I hope it doesn't all go the way of the Autobox. I like chucking a car down a twisty country road, flipping through the gears to get the best out of the engine. Dammit, that's FUN.

However, I realise that there are going to be more and more automatic gearboxes, and I'm not totally against the idea of a half-way house. I like the DSG "flappy paddle" gearbox or Tiptronic style, where you have the option of manually shifting the gears up and down (using either flappy paddles or by nudging a gearstick forward or backward) or just switching it to automatic.

Whether it's an automatic or a manual, though, a gearbox is full of precision components, and even modern manual gearboxes have computers monitoring them. They are all expensive to replace if they go bang.

A well-engineered automatic gearbox, if properly looked after (transmission fluid replaced regularly) will last a long time and will cover a lot of miles. The ZF gearboxes in the V6 Coupe automatics are a good example of this.

[Bailes1992]

MK2 Mondeo Ghia X 2.5 V6 Auto with LPG conversion is only £1200 for me to insure

[Roylewaa]

I would avoid the mk2 Mondeo auto at all costs, the box is notoriously weak, and has been known to go wrong every 60k