Economy

she was astonished that I didn't keep the garage door locked. I pointed to my car and said, "I drive a stick shift. No one will ever steal it."

I do understand why people prefer an automatic, but honestly, more people could and should be driving a manual transmission.

I will say that when I went to purchase my current car (a 2017 Honda Fit purchased in 2018), when I went to the local Honda dealership and spoke with the salesman who approached me, he did not try to convince me I ought to consider an automatic. He simply told me he had no stick shift Fits on the lot, but would get in touch with me if any showed up. Two days later he called me to let me know one had shown up. At the time I was hoping to buy new, but of course I agreed to test drive the vehicle they now had on the lot. During the test drive, he commented that 2017 was the last year Honda put a CD player in the car. He made the sale on that comment.

What I am happiest the most was that the salesman didn't try to convert me to an automatic. I personally love a stick, and long ago decided that when I can no longer drive a stick, it's time to stop driving.

More recently my son decided to replace his 1999 Honda Civic. It was long past time, and I was encouraging him to get a new car. I did suggest he consider an automatic, but like me (hooray son!) he only wanted a manual transmission. He'd hoped to purchase a new Honda Civic, but wound up with a four year old Toyota Corolla. He's still getting used to all the many advancements in car technology since 1999.