manual or automatic, which do you prefer and why?

[/QUOTE So what kind of MPG are you getting with your auto?[/QUOTE]

I get about 17 in town and if I drive all freeway I get about 21mpg (My last road trip I set cruise control at 82 mph and over 4 fill ups I averaged 21.4).

 

It is to some extent, but as I have noticed with time and age, the quality of OEM parts goes down. When everything was put together on the assembly line, there were certain criteria to be fullfilled by the workers and they make sure that everything is done right.

With rigs like my old 78 Bronco for example, most parts I get for it are the ones that are taken apart, and re-assembled in Mexico.
To give you an idea, before the 90s hit it would typically cost around $1500 dollars to rebuild the front end in a F-series pickup made from 73-79 with the real OEM parts from Ford. The steering box would be delivered to your parts store (along with tie rods and other steering components if you needed them), and you would have to assemble the steering box your own.
The reason I use this anology is because my Bronco is currently undergoing a "new" steering box swap. I got the box in last Saturday, and it claimed to be OEM, but looking closer at the package it was taken apart, and reassembled with rebuilt factory parts in Mexico. The whole thing only cost me $180, not counting the core return credit once I return the old steering box to the parts store, then off it goes to Mexico to undergo a revitalization of rebuilt factory parts, then will be shipped off to another parts store supplier somewhere.

Tacomas are still really new, so these types of things happening in the near future are a long ways off! Just saying, enjoy the real factory parts while they last! On a Toyota they should for many years, just like my old Bronco. In the 70s a F-series pickup or Bronco could not be matched as far as durability went, and when gas was 70 cents a gallon people had a heyday!

 

I get about 17 in town and if I drive all freeway I get about 21mpg (My last road trip I set cruise control at 82 mph and over 4 fill ups I averaged 21.4).[/QUOTE]

Im getting 18 to 19 combo city/hwy....all hwy would be close to your all hwy MPG . ....I am driving a 6spd.
I get what a lot of you dont like, but its all personal preference . There are times in bumper to bumper traffic that sure takes the fun of a stick out of it and can even be a PITA. Im not in that kind of traffic on a daily basis and my taco is not my daily driver. If it were, I would have wanted auto trans for sure. But when I get in my taco, I love being more in control of the shifting and like others said, it is more fun to drive.

 

Im getting 18 to 19 combo city/hwy....all hwy would be close to your all hwy MPG . ....I am driving a 6spd.
I get what a lot of you dont like, but its all personal preference . There are times in bumper to bumper traffic that sure takes the fun of a stick out of it and can even be a PITA. Im not in that kind of traffic on a daily basis and my taco is not my daily driver. If it were, I would have wanted auto trans for sure. But when I get in my taco, I love being more in control of the shifting and like others said, it is more fun to drive.[/QUOTE]


That's the thing, I'd prefer a manual as well, but after I test drove it, it was out of the question. My combo mileage is always at 19+, the EPA rates the auto as getting better mileage as well due to the gear ratios. Gear one is too low imo and gear six is too low too. I even thought about going Nissan b/c I wanted a manual, but didn't like the frontier at all.

If I bought a 4 banger, I probably would have gone for the 5 spd manual (I'd have to test drive) but the 6 spd shifts really weird and when I pressed in the clutch the RPMs went up instead of down. WTF. I hear the ECM fixes this after a while, but I'm not going to buy a new truck that drives like the manual did.

I wish I still had my 99 tacoma manual. That was a good truck.

 

yea i have a 2004 3.4L manual i just feel offroading it doesnt put out as much power as it should

 

Do you have proper gearing? I love how much power my 3.4 manual has

 

If you don't want someone to borrow your truck--Like wife or girlfriend--get a stick.
If you are old and lazy--get an auto.
IMO much better control w/ manual-especially in snow or sticky situations.

 

OMG

 

That's me, old & lazy

 

Explain how you have more control

 

x2...the chance of dropping the clutch or engaging at a too high of an rpm and spinning (like on snow) in an automatic is zero...how much better control of slipping and spinning on snow can you have than zero percent chance of a screw up? now technical trails and rocky shit ill give it to the manual, but just by a hair. i see a much more noticeable benefit to "manuals" vs automatics on more specific off road vehicles, like dirt bikes

 

we've already been over this. Driving a manual means you have a large penis, meaning you are more manly and therefore a better driver.

 

lol. I honestly don't like them because they're boring to me. Simple as that. One is not better than the other in a light truck.

 

Well I've had my auto for nearly 2 years now. It's the first auto I've had since I drove my mom's 72 Ford Torino wagon in high school. But from 18 to 39, every car I had was a stick, and I thought I was a manual guy for life for all the same reasons people keep bringing up in this thread.

I really wanted a stick in my Taco too, but I hated that the manual gets worse MPG now (WTF Toyota) and of the 2 transmissions, it's the 6-speed with the problems (again WTF Toyota). So I went with an auto ... though I wasn't fully sold on it at the time. And 2 years in ...I gotta say I'm a convert. I love it.

And no, it's not because I got lazy or have a small dick or am old (even if all those things are true. ). I can admit that I was one of those guys who bashed autos ... but mostly understood nothing about them, or the benefits a well designed auto provide. Like hill starting on snowy slopes in 2wd without breaking free. Or crawling out of the garage when it's icy without having to feather a clutch (we don't have much room for error). Or off roading ... eliminating the stalls and the rollbacks makes it a much more pleasurable experience IMO.

In the end, it IS all a matter of personal preference. But preferences change. I will say I still prefer a stick in the Subaru (or any small vehicle or truck for that matter). If I went with a 1st gen, I'd probably go with the stick. But in the 2nd gen V6, don't knock the auto until you've tried it. There are a lot of converts on here.

 

stick for the car and auto for the truck, it makes traffic and backing the trailer easier. I love the sporty feel in the car though

 

It's not about starting from a stop. It's about when you're in motion you can control what gear you are in, therefore can control how much power actually reaches the rear wheels. You can also engine brake the vehicle by downshifting. Unless you're on pure ice, starting from a stop with a manual isn't going to make any difference. Unless maybe if you don't know how to drive stick.

 

That's an oversimplification. With how good modern automatics work (late 2000's through present), yes that's true. But for old cars from the 90's and older, that's just not the case.

 

in my truck an auto but i refuse to own a car that isnt manual haha