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Where to rent manual transmission car?

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This is a topic that comes up so frequently.

You can rent a manual transmission car in the US, just don't be expecting to be driving something ordinary. In most large cities, you can rent exotics from smaller/independent rental companies which feature std. trans.

Or just go to driving school. Skip barber has a great program.
 
Heh, its incredible how so few people know how to drive a stick in the U.S. 🙂 I learned how to drive a stick when I was 11, first time I drove an automatic was when I was about 20 🙂
 
Originally posted by: freebee
This is a topic that comes up so frequently.

You can rent a manual transmission car in the US, just don't be expecting to be driving something ordinary. In most large cities, you can rent exotics from smaller/independent rental companies which feature std. trans.

Or just go to driving school. Skip barber has a great program.
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I'd love to go to a driving school, but $$$ and :clock: are few and far between these days....
 
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Originally posted by: Insane3D
Originally posted by: FrankyJunior
Why do you think 99% of rental companie sonly have Automatic transmissions? Because of jackasses like you that want to ruin their cars.
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Ok, you're just an a$$...

WTF are you talking about?
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It's not hard to figure out. The OP flat out stated that he wants to rent one specifically because he wants to learn how to drive one.

The funny part would be watching the OP try to drive the car off the lot.
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I meant the ruin the car part...he would ruin it trying to learn? You do realize ALL rentals get abused...I don't see why the OP is a "jackass" who only wants to rent to "ruin a car"...
 
do the following,

go to a car dealership, be interested in their low end manual cars.

anything from Honda/Chevy/Mazda/Toyota etc.

ask to test drive a manual, but let them know you dont have much experience, however are very interested in the car itself.

they SHOULD let you test drive... ONE drive of a manual will not kill it.

then go to another dealer do the same.

just learn that way, its not that hard.
 
Originally posted by: Insane3D
Originally posted by: Staples
I don't think you can. The biggest reason is that no everyone knows how to drive them so they buy all auto but the other problem is that clutches cost a lot to replace and they don't want someone breaking them every few days.
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You are misinformed. Clutches are a lot cheaper to replace than internals of an automatic transmission, and they don't "break every few days" no matter how bad they are driven.
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They do break if you don't knwo what you're doing. When i was in highschool, a friend of mine decided to take his brother's prelude when he was away... and broke the clutch. And that was only one time... i don't know how long he had the car for though.
 
Originally posted by: Turkish
Heh, its incredible how so few people know how to drive a stick in the U.S. 🙂 I learned how to drive a stick when I was 11, first time I drove an automatic was when I was about 20 🙂
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Dude, IMO, knowing how to drive stick should be REQUIRED in order to get your license.
 
Originally posted by: Looney
Originally posted by: Insane3D
Originally posted by: Staples
I don't think you can. The biggest reason is that no everyone knows how to drive them so they buy all auto but the other problem is that clutches cost a lot to replace and they don't want someone breaking them every few days.
Click to expand...

You are misinformed. Clutches are a lot cheaper to replace than internals of an automatic transmission, and they don't "break every few days" no matter how bad they are driven.
Click to expand...

They do break if you don't knwo what you're doing. When i was in highschool, a friend of mine decided to take his brother's prelude when he was away... and broke the clutch. And that was only one time... i don't know how long he had the car for though.
Click to expand...

That's all well and good, the fact remains though it's highly unlikely you could "break" your clutch just learning to drive a stick. Hell, I used to drop the clutch near 6k RPM often on my mustang, and I never broke the clutch.

Even if it was easy to do, it's simply a fact replacing a clutch is minor compared to a broken AT.
 
Exotic car rental outfit would be the way to go, but honestly you need to actually drive the vehicle quite a bit before you can shift subconsciously. Look for a cheap rusted out but mechanically sound car.
 
Originally posted by: Insane3D
Originally posted by: Staples
I don't think you can. The biggest reason is that no everyone knows how to drive them so they buy all auto but the other problem is that clutches cost a lot to replace and they don't want someone breaking them every few days.
Click to expand...

You are misinformed. Clutches are a lot cheaper to replace than internals of an automatic transmission, and they don't "break every few days" no matter how bad they are driven.
Click to expand...

Well if I am misinformed and bad driving is so harmless to the clutch, then why is the OP and everyone in this thread so worried about him trying it out on presumably the new car he is going to buy?

And clutches may be cheaper to fix than the internals of an auto transmission but auto transmissions don't break because of accidental neglect.
 
Another vote for a cheap old car. I just learned last week on a 1986 Nissan Stanza wagon. It's not that hard at all.
 
Originally posted by: Insane3D
Originally posted by: Looney
They do break if you don't knwo what you're doing. When i was in highschool, a friend of mine decided to take his brother's prelude when he was away... and broke the clutch. And that was only one time... i don't know how long he had the car for though.
Click to expand...

That's all well and good, the fact remains though it's highly unlikely you could "break" your clutch just learning to drive a stick. Hell, I used to drop the clutch near 6k RPM often on my mustang, and I never broke the clutch.

Even if it was easy to do, it's simply a fact replacing a clutch is minor compared to a broken AT.
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You don't "break" it, but you wear it out. Considering how much of a pain they are to change, losing thousands of miles of wear on ONE newbie driver is a big deal.
 
Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
You have an excellent point 😀
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I know HOW to drive one and I've driven one once. I'm confident I could get one off the lot, maybe stall it once, just want to practice the rest blowhard.[/quote]

/em falls off chair laughing. Where did you learn how to drive a stick? Gran Turismo?
 
Originally posted by: Baked
/em falls off chair laughing. Where did you learn how to drive a stick? Gran Turismo?
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No on an old ass Honda Accord my friend's Dad rebuilt the half shafts in & sold for a profit, but I only got to drive it a few times. I need practice ass monkey.
 
Does anyone have a place I can host 115MB of MPEG's? I have some BMW M5 manual driving lessons I could share. I found it handy when I learned to drive stick. Of course I found these after I learned, but it still helped me to avoid bad habits like riding the clutch or coasting, etc.

Update. I have the files hosted temporarily - PM for the link if you want them.
I'm working on a better place to host them.
 
Originally posted by: Staples
Originally posted by: Insane3D
Originally posted by: Staples
I don't think you can. The biggest reason is that no everyone knows how to drive them so they buy all auto but the other problem is that clutches cost a lot to replace and they don't want someone breaking them every few days.
Click to expand...

You are misinformed. Clutches are a lot cheaper to replace than internals of an automatic transmission, and they don't "break every few days" no matter how bad they are driven.
Click to expand...

Well if I am misinformed and bad driving is so harmless to the clutch, then why is the OP and everyone in this thread so worried about him trying it out on presumably the new car he is going to buy?

And clutches may be cheaper to fix than the internals of an auto transmission but auto transmissions don't break because of accidental neglect.
Click to expand...


Yes they do, infact thats probably the one of the main reasons why a auto tranny would go out, from neglect.

BTW give me a stick shift car and I would fry the clutch up in about 15 minutes if I really wanted, so ya a bad and inexperinced driver could easily ruin a clutch.
 
The Hertz contract specifically forbids learning how to drive in their cars. I would assume the other rental places are the same.
 
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