Oh geez. I'd have been terrified of that thing. Just the value of it...

But yeah. Over here stick is what you get. If you take the test in an automatic though you're only allowed to drive automatic. And they're apparently not as common in normal cars. Taxis and cop cars and the like tend to be automatic, but I don't know anyone that has a normal car that isn't a stick.

I like to think of it in the US as an anti theft device. haha

No U.S. bashing please.

I suspect the comment about the US was simply a humorous reflection on the comparative rarity of manual transmission cars. Rare enough that I suspect many folks (including car thieves) don't know how to drive them.

Precisely.

It was a joke about how most people in the US, particularly the younger generation, simply do not know how to drive a stick.

Long time gag of mine, usually gets a chuckle.

With the sheer number of automatic vehicles there, there's really no need to learn one unless you're planning on driving a big truck. They used to cost more. Now it's the other way around.

haha.

Do note that includes myself. I was taught how to drive a stick, but to heck if I remember. Only one person in my entire family, including extended family back in the US, drives a stick, and that's my dad. It's just not common.

Wasn't trying to offend anyone. ><

I'll see myself out again. ><

This post has been edited by Sakiri: Jun 1 2020, 05:10 PM

I often joke to Dad about getting a carburator car as an anti-theft thing since no one longer knows how to manually operate a choke!

This site is a tight knit community of friends from all different countries/religions/races/genders = in order for all of us to stay close we have to make sure we respect each other and respect what the other person might consider offensive or hurtful. This is not the kind of place anyone should be made the butt of jokes in.

As Mircou pointed out = could have just said "most people these days," and it would have had the same message but without cutting down anybody.






This post has been edited by mALX: Jun 1 2020, 07:21 PM

@mALX - Saki is actually an American. From California, I think.

What bird said. I'm originally from the Pittsburgh area but lived my last several years in the States in California.

I spent 36 years there, I know the US pretty well. As I mentioned before, I did not intend to offend anyone.

Going to see myself out now. I don't feel very welcome today. And I'm legit upset about it.

I learned to drive a stick shift when I was young, and ground up some gears in the process. I think it was my brother's Omni that I learned on. It was a crappy car anyway, so it was no big deal. I believe that one had a hole in the floor that he covered up with a piece of wall paneling. He eventually wrecked it.

I later owned a Ford Escort with a stick shift. I really liked that car, and got pretty good driving a stick in it. Decelerating is the hardest part I think. I would put it in neutral when I slowed down, then tried to put it back in whatever gear I thought was appropriate when I started accelerating again. If I did not come to a full stop of course. Stopping on a hill was the worst thing.

I have not driven a stick shift since. I cannot say I miss it. If you are a real high performance person and love speed, then yeah, don't drive a sportscar without one. But for me, a vehicle is just a way to get back and forth to work or the grocery store.

My Cherokee has these little pedals on the steering wheel that let you manually shift gears. I have never used them, at least not intentionally! I doubt I could drive a stick shift very well these days. I'd probably stall it a few times trying to get into gear.

Automatics are great for driving in the city. But out in the boons, where I live, I prefer a stick. Mainly though because I'm used to it I reckon.

Khajiit never learned to drive stick and knows himself well enough to know that is probably for the best.

Agreed. Both of my cars pictured above are sticks; but they are both gone now. I have been driving an automatic for almost a decade now = it took a while to get to like it; but now I think they have made me lazy; lol.

The down side is that you can't "pop the clutch" if the automatic won't start, lol.







This post has been edited by mALX: Jun 1 2020, 08:59 PM

Automatics are becoming here more and more popular. My brother-in-law bought a used Mercedes SUV and it's his first car with an automatic gearbox, he said that he's never going back to driving a stick. My father-in-law also bought an automatic one.




My dad owned Ford Escort years ago, he said that it was one of his best cars. It was this model.

Yesterday I was driving Toyota Land Cruiser y. 2008, the model that's been made for the US market but 12 years ago some Slovenian businessman imported it to Slovenia. Gosh, that care is huge, especially from outside! It towered next to Mercedes GLS and this Mercedes is one of the biggest European cars. Inside it's spacious as well, but not as I expected, it's a bit cramped. It was fun driving it but I needed to be careful because of its width. The car is for sale in Slovenia if anyone wants it. It's been for sale about 5 months, but there's no interest, not just because of the too high price but also because a registration for one year costs around 600€. If I had more money, I'd buy it as a car for hobby / weekend driving.

This post has been edited by Lopov: Jun 2 2020, 11:44 AM

A few years ago I showed a group of high school seniors how to do that when their '57 Chevy wouldn't start (they had left the radio on for a graduation party). The boys thought it was the most amazing thing they'd ever seen.

Mine was one of the first generation, with the really boxy, angled look. I cannot remember if it was a 2 door or a 4 door, but I know it had a hatchback. Like this. I got sandwiched in the middle of a 3 car accident that bent the frame, and that was the end of that car.

You were lucky, it sounds! A guy I know got sandwiched too and he ended up with both legs shattered. I do think they patched him back together but I don't know his current condition.

Wow, you are so lucky to have survived that! Those type accidents are a gas tank explosion waiting to happen! WHEW!!!

That image reminds me of the several Ford Escorts I had as company cars, when I had a traveling support job in the UK. One of them had 5 accidents in two years - all with my car stationary. I was rear-ended twice, backed into twice, and once it was hit from the side. Three of them when it was parked, the other two at stop lights. They never did find the magnet that attracted other cars.

The European "Escort with a trunk", rather than a hatchback, was called an Orion, so I only think of Escorts as hatchbacks. I think the Escort name covered both for the US market.

A friend in the UK had one of the limited edition "Mexico" Escorts with a 300hp Cosworth race engine.

Maybe you were the magnet!

I remember that in 90s Ford Escorts and Orions were main cars used by Croatian police. Here's an example of one.