Pass test in manual or automatic
Discussion
My son is 17 and autistic. He claims PIP and is entitled to a motability car. He has expressed an interest in learning to drive and I have been trying to teach him the basics in my old manual car but he is having difficulty in co-ordinating himself with the clutch and changing gears.
Mrs Cupcake is saying that he should persist with trying to get to grips with a manual but I am thinking that most electric cars are automatic and IF the government do stick with outlawing new petrol and diesels after 2030, my son would be learning a dying art and if he goes down the motobility route, he will be in an electric car in 7 years or so.
My thinking is that he should just pass in an automatic to gain his independence as quickly and easily as possible.
Anyone else have any thoughts?
Mrs Cupcake is saying that he should persist with trying to get to grips with a manual but I am thinking that most electric cars are automatic and IF the government do stick with outlawing new petrol and diesels after 2030, my son would be learning a dying art and if he goes down the motobility route, he will be in an electric car in 7 years or so.
My thinking is that he should just pass in an automatic to gain his independence as quickly and easily as possible.
Anyone else have any thoughts?
Go auto 100%. Plenty of choice in the used market now and with EV's becoming more popular driving a manual is already a defunct skill for anything but enthusiats.
Do take into account that insurance quotes will be higher for those with an auto only license though. Never been quite sure why.
ETA - Been through this recently with my 2 and with the s
tshow that is booking a driving test at the minute the quicker he can get going and reduce the chance of failure/re-test the better.
Do take into account that insurance quotes will be higher for those with an auto only license though. Never been quite sure why.
ETA - Been through this recently with my 2 and with the s
tshow that is booking a driving test at the minute the quicker he can get going and reduce the chance of failure/re-test the better. Auto is mainstream now, the car hire companies all have autos when 10 years or so ago it was difficult to get one in Europe.
All my hire cars from the last few years have been autos, there's not really a price penalty in renting now auto either.
My own cars have all been autos, and there is a huge stock from all main dealers.
With EV, auto is the future too.
All my hire cars from the last few years have been autos, there's not really a price penalty in renting now auto either.
My own cars have all been autos, and there is a huge stock from all main dealers.
With EV, auto is the future too.
Deffo auto, and as someone above said, he can always take a test in a manual at a later date should he wish or need to.
Better that he feels comfortable with the other (more important) aspects of driving than having difficulty with changing gears (which he need not do). Decent auto boxes these days are brilliant, and obviously for BEVs there aren’t any manuals anyway, so at his age, he’s far less likely to ever need to worry about encountering them.
Better that he feels comfortable with the other (more important) aspects of driving than having difficulty with changing gears (which he need not do). Decent auto boxes these days are brilliant, and obviously for BEVs there aren’t any manuals anyway, so at his age, he’s far less likely to ever need to worry about encountering them.
98elise said:
Auto. It's not the limiting factors it was a few decades ago.
Last time I checked almost 50% of cars on AutoTrader were auto and it's only going to become more common.
As it's a rainy Bank Holiday Monday, I took a quick look on Autotrader Last time I checked almost 50% of cars on AutoTrader were auto and it's only going to become more common.
It's actually way more biased towards auto than I realised already:
Age Auto Manual Total Auto %
10 199,869 155,189 355058 56%
9 192559 143695 336254 57%
8 183206 130864 314070 58%
7 172008 117149 289157 59%
6 158594 103128 261722 61%
5 141733 88741 230474 61%
4 121201 72179 193380 63%
3 88347 45561 133908 66%
2 64697 27399 92096 70%
1 42788 16650 59438 72%
Even up to 10 year old cars, 56% are auto!
As above, auto all day long. Not that I like autos, but EVs are all 'autos' so it makes sense.
Way I see it is he either switches to auto and passes his test much faster or he continues to be frustrated with manual and might even decide he'll give up.
Switch to auto, get that freedom. If you want to buy a small banger for him to drive as his first car it'll cost a little bit more than an equivalent manual but every car after that it'll be irrelevant.
If he's going to get a car from Motability there's even less reason not to.
Switch to auto, get that freedom. If you want to buy a small banger for him to drive as his first car it'll cost a little bit more than an equivalent manual but every car after that it'll be irrelevant.
If he's going to get a car from Motability there's even less reason not to.
TheDeuce said:
Go auto, it's plainly all that is required as of today and all that will be available in the near future.
The only exception would be if he was likely to take a job that requires driving a van at some point - but as others have said, it's not a big deal to upgrade to manual later on.
Even then, all of the supermarkets have auto fleets for a start!The only exception would be if he was likely to take a job that requires driving a van at some point - but as others have said, it's not a big deal to upgrade to manual later on.
As a motorbility eligible person he should be able to get 40 hours of lessons paid for by the scheme.
Quite a few driving schools around my way have Zoe and Kona which are EVs available on the scheme. Being able to find an instructor with the actual vehicle he fancies on the scheme might be hugely beneficial.
Btw there’s also a grant for charge point installation. Or he can get a polar public charging card with a discounted rate.
Edit : know people on the motorbility scheme who have got their first car and passed their test in the last 12 months.
Some EVs on the scheme may be 25 years old as the driver. You can get two named additional drivers on the vehicle too. He can also get the vehicle delivered and drive it under provisional / learner driver conditions prior to passing his test. If he needs more than 40 hours of lessons I think he can apply for some (don’t know anyone who’s done this yet though).
Also if he needs any adaptive aids (such as a steering wheel “handle” / steering knob but doesn’t want to use it every time he’ll need to pass in a car without those aids installed. If he passes the test in a car with such steering / adaptive aids then those restrictions will be on his license and wouldn’t be able to drive cars without them installed.
I guess at the moment his best bet would be to get an auto on the scheme. The choices of EVs on it seem to grow each year and when he’s eligible it’d be a good transition
Quite a few driving schools around my way have Zoe and Kona which are EVs available on the scheme. Being able to find an instructor with the actual vehicle he fancies on the scheme might be hugely beneficial.
Btw there’s also a grant for charge point installation. Or he can get a polar public charging card with a discounted rate.
Edit : know people on the motorbility scheme who have got their first car and passed their test in the last 12 months.
Some EVs on the scheme may be 25 years old as the driver. You can get two named additional drivers on the vehicle too. He can also get the vehicle delivered and drive it under provisional / learner driver conditions prior to passing his test. If he needs more than 40 hours of lessons I think he can apply for some (don’t know anyone who’s done this yet though).
Also if he needs any adaptive aids (such as a steering wheel “handle” / steering knob but doesn’t want to use it every time he’ll need to pass in a car without those aids installed. If he passes the test in a car with such steering / adaptive aids then those restrictions will be on his license and wouldn’t be able to drive cars without them installed.
I guess at the moment his best bet would be to get an auto on the scheme. The choices of EVs on it seem to grow each year and when he’s eligible it’d be a good transition
Edited by caseys on Tuesday 11th April 08:30
Edited by caseys on Tuesday 11th April 08:32
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