manuel?

[DavidKim91]

hey, im looking into buying a car and i perfer manuel..
well not perfer but would like to learn.. using a crap manuel car..
n e on have n e suggestions?
no budget but ovbiously not too expensive cuz i dont wanna screw up a nice car learning how to stick shift??

thanks

[PlayStation3]

if you only have like 4k and want something that is not a square and is realble i would get a saturn either a sl2 (sedan) or a sc2 (coupe)

[Andydg]

Anything cheap really...older Hondas, Toyotas, Saturns, etc.

[Fire-3]

Hondas and Toyotas aren't cheap

[Andydg]

Originally Posted by Fire-3

Hondas and Toyotas aren't cheap

Yes they are...

[CivicSpoon]

I got my '94 Honda Civic for $2,000, and it was in mint condition (minor rust spot and small dents but other than that it is mint). I learned to drive a manual tranny with it. It's especially good because it has long gearing, so even if you shift it into a lower gear while trying to shift into a higher one, you're probably not going to do any damage to it. Even the older ones '88-'91 are good cars and can take abuse (also even cheaper). Just find a rusted poop box that runs well and doesn't have any major issues, and it should be fine to learn with.

[Fire-3]

Hondas like yours go for like, twice that amount regularly. Any time you see one for sale for a decent amount, it's gone in less than a day every time. The more rural you get, the more overpriced the Hondas are for some reason. The ratio of Cavaliers/Sunfires to Hondas/Toyotas is literally like 25:1 in the local used car market. I just searched NYC craigslist for the hell of it, and they all seem reasonably priced there.

[72' Stang 351 H/O]

I learned in a 1994 Mazda B2300, she was a bitch to shift. But a great teacher. The whole tranny was forgiving since my dad had put the most high strength clutch components in it. Cheap truck pretty good little engine. Even though it only has 90 horse she could get up and go if you wanted her to.

But If I were you I would find some throw away beater car. So if you destroy the clutch you can just get rid of it.

[DavidKim91]

well i have a ford taurus right now.. pretty beat up.. but its not manuel..
so i was thinking about getting a old jetta..

[klohiq]

Originally Posted by Fire-3

Hondas like yours go for like, twice that amount regularly. Any time you see one for sale for a decent amount, it's gone in less than a day every time. The more rural you get, the more overpriced the Hondas are for some reason. The ratio of Cavaliers/Sunfires to Hondas/Toyotas is literally like 25:1 in the local used car market. I just searched NYC craigslist for the hell of it, and they all seem reasonably priced there.

search autotrader.com and you can find a lot of newer civics for less than 4k...just don't try to find an EX or Si...a regular '99 DX hatch can be had really cheap...the older ones are really cheap...like 2-3k quite often

Older preludes and accords are cheap too. Older camrys, sentras, maximas, and other imports are pretty cheap...look around on auto trader and you can find a 96-99 maxima for about 4-6k...

[sickcallawayc12]

i suggest a honda civic, i hear they are good vehicles to learn stick w/out worry of any damage, or a saturn possibly to a lesser extent; can't remember how strong sattys stock clutches are. and thank you for wanting to learn the manual, it should be a requirement for a driving test IMO. Very easy, more power for the car, more control of the car, and keeps your attention on the road (versus a cell phone for example).

[klohiq]

as long as you don't try to spin the tires or upgrade the engine/tires you will most likely not do a lot of damage to the trans...the clutch however will probably suffer no matter what kind of car you learn on, how much depends on who teaches you and how smart you are

Civics and integras are cheap and easy to shift, but they do have weaker trannys than a lot of other small, somewhat sporty compact cars. Any car with a beefy trans will usually have more power than you need to learn on and will make it so it's harder for you to learn.

Geo metros are a dime a dozen and cheap to aquire (nearly all I've seen are less than 1k)...and the metros I mean are from like 91-92 before GM started building them, but keeping the Geo name/logo...the version I'm talking about uses I believe a 1 liter engine mated to a 5 speed fwd transmission and was produced for GM by Suzuki. Also sold as the Suzuki firefly I believe.

I learned on a 98 cavalier, which seems to also be a really cheap and easy to learn on vehicle.

I would try to avoid cars with v6 engines, 6 speed trans, rwd, turbos, and anything that will make it harder to drive the car and learn. after you learn then buy something with a little more power and maybe then jump up to whatever you want with however much hp you want

[DinanM3_S2]

I would suggest finding a cheaper version of whatever you hope to own in the future. If you are into BMWs, you might want to look into late 80's 3-series, or if you like VW GTIs, you might want to look into an old Rabbit or something. Different companies transmissions will feel different. I've known guys that have driven manual cars nearly their entire life that had a hard time with BMWs, and BMW guys that struggled with a Ford Ranger.

[sickcallawayc12]

I think they were called the suzuki swift weren't they?

[klohiq]

Originally Posted by sickcallawayc12

I think they were called the suzuki swift weren't they?

swift = geo tracker....they are really small SUVs, not anything close to a metro other than size...

very fun in the snow, so long as you don't flip them