Why You Should Buy an Old Manual Car
With the rise of Electric vehicles, advancements in driver assistance systems, and the invention of extremely efficient and smooth automatic transmissions, it is the perfect time to buy an old gas-powered car that doesn’t have any of those features. Sounds counterintuitive, right? Here’s the thing… the cost to repair and maintain these new systems far outweighs the cost to repair and maintain older manual options. While these cars are shiny and new, they may not need to be in the shop often, but once they do, boy, does it hurt. Maintenance cost is just one of the reasons I think you should go buy an old manual car, however!
In an attempt to make sure this article is accessible to non-car folks, I am going to quickly explain what a manual transmission is and how they work. (If you are a car person, you can skip forward to just after the picture of the sick manual car!) A manual transmission is a system that allows the driver of the car to manually select which gear is being used in the car. It works through a shifting knob that moves the selected gear into place. To keep the car from jerking or the driveshaft from being damaged during a “shift,” a system is used to momentarily disconnect the driveshaft from the engine and then reconnect it using a clutch. The third pedal that exists in manual cars operates this clutch system. Check out the diagram above for a better basic idea of the system. Deep understanding isn’t necessary for this piece, but it's important to understand that most of these systems are purely mechanical and don’t rely on computer input.
So why should you buy a manual car? With the complexity of cars increasing, we are also seeing an increase in the costs of repairs and a decrease in the number of people who can fix them. Similar to Apple products, many car manufacturers are including systems that can only be repaired by their dealership technicians and not your local mechanic shop. As a big proponent of supporting local businesses, it hurts to explain that many local mechanic shops are going out of business and don’t look poised to be replaced by other locally owned shops. The issue with this is twofold: more money from local economies will get siphoned out of the community and will help supplement executive salaries, and there will be an opportunity for price gouging from car companies since they will have an effective monopoly on car repairs for their vehicles.
An example of this phenomenon is seen in Tesla repairs (surprise, surprise), which have been known to cost exorbitant amounts for issues that could be fixed for much cheaper by a third party. More specifically, battery cell issues in Teslas are expensive and done inefficiently. One customer was quoted a $16,000 repair for a faulty cell in his Tesla’s power bank. After consulting with a third-party mechanic, it was determined that the issue could be fixed with a $700 cell and some patience. This is not my condemnation of electric cars, as they are still much better for the environment long-term, but it does highlight an issue with how manufacturers are handling repairs. A whole power bank being thrown away for one faulty cell is incredibly wasteful and could leave some customers in terrible financial situations.
As I am sure you have deduced by now, manual vehicles (particularly older ones) are much simpler to repair and often cost much less. This is, of course, dependent on the type of vehicle and the type of problem that arises. A 2018 article by Cars.com found that the average repair cost of a non-luxury manual transmission ranged from $1500-3000, while their automatic counterparts ranged from $2000-4000 with CVTs (a CVT is a transmission being heavily used in more modern cars that is more efficient but more complex) being on the higher end of that range. This also does not factor in that many manual transmissions can be repaired by replacing single parts, while many automatics, especially modern ones, require a full replacement when damaged. This is also a full replacement that puts you at the mercy of whatever manufacturer will be repairing your car, but there is another reason you should buy an old manual that I think is equally important!
Manual cars require more focus and technique to drive! While you may be thinking that this is a drawback, let me explain why I disagree. In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the number of car accidents caused by distracted driving. While cars have been made much safer (something I will go more in-depth on), there is now an epidemic of phone use while in the car. I don’t even mean just a call or someone responding to a text at a red light. As an experiment, I challenge you to really pay attention to the drivers around you next time you are on the interstate. You will be shocked to see the number of people texting, scrolling social media, or even watching YouTube videos while driving at 70+ mph. This is much more difficult to do when you are having to focus on clutch application and watching your tachometer to determine which gear you need to be in. Not to mention that by paying more attention while driving, you may even find yourself enjoying it.
So why now? Well, simply, they don’t make 'em like they used to! Manufacturers will also likely never make them this way again, with more and more computer systems being seen as essential features for the modern driver. As we get further from the days of manual transmissions being included as an option on almost every vehicle, the number of available vehicles will decrease, and prices will increase. The window for owning an “apocalypse-proof” car is closing all the time. While I don’t expect most of you to run out and buy one immediately, I hope that I can at least make you consider the importance of having a vehicle that can be repaired cheaply and potentially even at home if you have the patience. (You can rent tools from auto parts stores, even!)
For this next section, I would like to give you a few options for manual cars I think are neat:
Cars: Toyota Corolla (2004-2008), Honda Civic (1992-2000 or 2006-2011), Acura Integra (1995-2001), and the Volkswagen Golf (1997 or 2006). Be careful with used Golfs as they can have some engine issues if they were driven hard.
Sportier Options: Subaru WRX (2000-2008), Mazda Miata MX-5 (basically any year even new ones), and BMW 3-series (E30, E36, or E46). I would encourage only enthusiasts to go for the WRX or 3-series as you WILL spend time fixing them due to how they were driven by previous owners.
Trucks: Toyota Tacoma (1995-2000, 2011, 2012, or 2015), Nissan D21 Hardbody (1987-1997), Ford Ranger (anything post 1993), Chevy S10 (1994, 1998, 2003, and 2004), and of course F-150 (depends on what you can find in manual!)
I want to end on a few thoughts about the future of cars and why I have such a strong opinion about old manuals. As I am sure you are all aware, it seems that every year we see a growing imbalance in what percentage of the population has all of the money and resources. While there are a multitude of reasons for this issue that I won’t go into, I do think that buying products that can be repaired by yourself or a third party is a great way to help keep money in your local economy and in your wallet. As the wealth gap grows, more and more products will be designed for people for whom money is no object and couldn’t care less if a repair costs as much as a used vehicle. While I honestly don’t encourage you to only have an old manual car and to drive it at all times, due to the advancement of safety technology and the potential complications of your only vehicle being out of commission. I do encourage you to consider saving up to have an old manual that you can drive around your town (keep those miles off the new one!), and keep it just in case the price to fix your new fancy car might put you out of your house.
