Sorry this is going to be a long one...

I have driven manuals for 45 years and i have just one question. How are you going to get it home?

 

These are all good ideas I’m glad you guys are talking some sense into me lol. Before I got the before I got the forester I had a 2002 Tundra. I loved that thing. It was the perfect size.

To answer a couple questions usually I have 2-3 other people in the truck when I go biking. I have a Thule hitch mount for the bikes. The 5.5’ bed is too short for the bikes as well.

I’m the only one that drives my truck. My dad does know how to drive stick if someone else needed to drive it.

I’ll have to see if I can talk my dad into teaching me how to drive stick on his mustang. All my buddies have sold their cars with manual transmissions.

 

Would it be the most sound financial decision? No probably not. Would it be fun? Hell yeah. Obviously it would be better to learn on someone else’s beater like everyone has said but I doubt you’re going to roast the clutch if you’re a fast learner. This manual is probably the easiest one I’ve ever used, plus it brings the truck to life and you can sit back and smile while everyone on TW complains about their autos hunting for gears.

 

I won't own a vehicle that isn't stick. You have more control and it's a more holistic driving experience. Get your butt to the dealer and row some gears!!!

 

Try learning on a motorcycle. Sounds crazy, but you really get a solid understanding of clutch/throttle interplay and monitoring engine speeds.

 

Think about how much you'll save not having to register two vehicles!

 

I bought my manual Tacoma because I wanted to save $3k on my truck. It's great out on the freeway or in open road conditions but trying to keep up with start and stop traffic it feels (and sounds like) I'm drag racing every person on the road. The truck is still very fun to drive and I don't regret buying it, one of my previous vehicles, a Ford Flex with a similar power v6, gave me just as many acceleration headaches.
I feel after a few months I will just get used to how it handles and accept it's not a V-8 truck with tons of low end power like my last 2 trucks I've owned.