Auto vs. Manual

Let me start by saying that I love my car! Well mostly. It is getting older and slowly deteriorating on the inside and out, but it still gets decent gas mileage especially on the highway. Sometimes when visiting my family up north, I can go the 200 miles on a quarter of a tank. Yeah how is that for fuel economy. It is by no means a hybrid but I feel like any car that is approaching 20 years in age that still gets gas mileage like that is allowed to put one in the win column.

The reason I like to believe it does as well still to this day, is because it is a manual transmission car. Manual transmissions are great for that type of thing, if you use them correctly. Yes when the transmission goes out it is terrible, but there are many things about driving a manual that are just awesome. There is a sense of control and power that can not be matched even in a vehicle with a hemi. I put up a good race even against my friends new Charger, and by good race I mean I lose terribly but my car tries so hard.

As day by day I watch my car disintegrate in front of my eyes, I dream of the day when I might be able to or have to get a new car. It will probably be used, so don't go getting jealous or anything, but at the same time I contemplate the eternal conundrum of automatic vs. manual. I haven't had an automatic transmission in the last 6 years. It is second natural for me now to want to shift in whatever car I might be driving, but there are serious fall backs when you are starting to have knee problems and the shifting only aggravates your joints. Maybe I will just have to move somewhere where there isn't any traffic to sit in to and from work and not have to worry about getting an automatic or knee problems.

I LOVE this magnet!!