Help me understand the manual preference

Starter dead? You can start your manual and drive it home.
Battery "dead"? You can start your manual and drive it home.

But then you wont get to sit next to the sweaty burly man in the tow truck, which some people like to do, so it can be seen as a negative.

 

You forgot the joy of waiting for sweaty burly stinky man to show up.

 

Kinda like that 3rd genner that got a flat tire, blamed it on toyota, then waited 3 hours to get somebody to change his tire instead of doing it himself.

 

Yes. At least it gives you time to rearrange the tampons in your purse.

 

And your jaw relaxed.

 

I don't know about better, but I do think manuals can be more fun. Trying to control three pedals while climbing a tree-root-stepped section of trail is a challenge which makes it fun. That said, I couldn't get used to the throttle hang on my 2010 TRD OR AC and my 2016 has an auto.

As far as reliability, time will tell on my new truck but I have only been stranded twice, in any vehicle by mechanical issues (had 5 manuals and 7 autos), and both times were related to the manual transmission. First time the master/slave cylinder went out and second time the clutch went out. There was no early warning on either. Now they were both on a 2000 Dodge 2500 5-speed so..