I drive a 2000 Honda Insight and intend to keep it for awhile. Every year it's becoming harder and harder for thieves to steal...can anyone guess? Think for a few moments, then scroll down. Only 5% of new cars sold in the US use a manual transmission. Add to that the MIMA joystick (http://99mpg.com/mima/mimaintroduction/) on top of it is essentially a 2nd stickshift...it overrides when to use the electric motor over factory defaults. For the novice, unless you gently press the MIMA joystick, my car will kick like a mule almost to the point of whiplash. I've driven a number of sticks, and what is most confusing is how they do the reverse gear: it's at 10-o clock or 5-o clock or you mash down the stick or you press a button along with the stick (tricky) or you lift up a ring while engaging reverse I had a valet nearly ruin my 5-speed because he was clueless....news reports of some thieves could not drive away because they did not know how.
This foiled three would-be carjackers locally a couple weeks ago: Teens' attempted car theft foiled by stick shift Teens try to steal car but can't drive a stick shift Sure glad we could get a new replacement Subaru with a stick shift, even in 2014.
Chuck, how's the pack holding up & how many miles on the car? That's one tough little car to compete against.
It also works the other way around. Here in Europe stick is the norm. Twice have I had friends trying to drive my CT without being able to get it out of park because they didnt press the brake. Recently it was my sister. I took point and saw her flailing her arms. At one point I saw that she even restarted the car... On the other hand, my manual with the ring-to-be-lifted-for-reverse has given no problems at all.
As PriQ said above, the converse applies here in Europe! I was at my parents on Saturday and had left the window down to keep it cool when it started lashing rain. My mother ran out and asked for the keys. She came back another minute later and asked where to put the key! I showed her that it went into the dash and you press the Power button .... her response ... "I would never have worked that out"!! That was just to get it into ACC mode, she'd never been able to "start" it or move the car
I'm of the opinion that automatic transmissions have hurt driving behavior in the US. It was one of the things that put more women in cars, but decades later enabled drivers to use cell phones and other distractions. It's counterintutitive (sp), but as cars become safer in crashes, quieter, and easier to operate, it enables some drivers to behave worse.
