April 29, 2010 at 3:32 am
#26045
SantaCruzRider
Participant
Once upon a time, manual transmiissions were more reliable, faster and cheaper to repair than automatics. Like it or not, that’s no longer the case. Add in all the baby boomers who aren’t interested in working their knees trying to get thru the daily stop-n-go and you have situation where there is very little market for the manual tranny.
Most of the time, the only reason an auto maker even has a manual tranny (or manual windows) is so that they can post some ridiculously low price on their bargain basement model. But even then, most of the entry level cars on their lot will have upgraded windows and tranny, because that’s what sells.
It won’t be long before manuals will be special order, even on “performance” rides.