[earthpeople]

In my state, if you are over 18 you do not need to take a drivers education class to test for your license.
If you're under 18, you do have to spend a certain amount of hours in a DE class. Don't recall how long though.

 

[El_Doug]

Perhaps in Europe, with your nice windy roads, a manual is indeed fun to drive. 
 
Here in New Jersey, where every road - minor, major, and highway - is a straight-line, driving a manual becomes a hassle, while not making the drive any more enjoyable

 

[JxK]

Manual transmission is fun to drive when you have room to drive. But there are few things more annoying then driving a stick shift in stop-and-go traffic. Drive slowly, shift to second, slow down, shift to first, stop, wait, repeat. Do this for an extended period of time, and you will quickly come to see the benefits of automatic in certain situations.
 
I like manual transmission as much as the next person, but for city driving it is awful.

 

[rhythmdevils]

if you have, or think you will have any love for driving, get a stick.  I just got a used 2005 subaru legacy in automatic because it is impossible to find in stick.  My old 99 legacy drove waaaaay better in every way.  Automatic transmissions disconnect you from the road, it feels like the car averages everything you do.  I don't really enjoy driving my 05 legacy at all, and I love driving.  i'm going to sell it and get an older model in stick. 
 
I guess if all you do is drive in rush hour traffic, it would be annoying.  Otherwise it's way worth it IMO

 

[JxK]

^To be fair, subaru are one of the few automakers who also use an outdated automatic transmission. While most modern automatics tend to have 5 speeds, subarus are stuck with 4. So the 5 speed manual will undoubtedly accelerate faster and be more fun to drive. Perhaps with a better designed automatic transmission your experience won't be quite so poor.
 
Edit: Perhaps the op should consider this 1991 Yugo Hatchback. It's under $1000 and has a mere 102,475 miles. I mean come on, who could resist a yugo.

 

[rhythmdevils]

well its not that it isn't zippy, or shifting is harsh.  that would be one thing.  but i just can't feel the road.  it really feels like there's way too much computer between my controls and the road.  like instead of the steering wheel physically turning the wheels, it just turns it into code and automates the turn. 
 
Don't really know more about cars.  that's just how i always feel driving automatics.  i bet sports car autos are better, never driven one.

 

[nealric]

Mazda Protege. They don't hold their value as well as Hondas or Toyotas but are generally just as reliable. 
 
I'm selling my Protege5 (wagon) with less than 100k in your price range this fall because I'm moving to NYC. Not an ad, just an example. 

 

[RYCeT]

Daily driver, get a matic, I learn to drive in manual and I prefer matic for dd, manual is ok for a weekend drive. If I want to have fun, I'll ride a bike instead. Driving a manual car is overated.

 

[rhythmdevils]

There's plenty of fun to be had in daily driving.  There's lots of places in my daily reutine like those big speed bumps that should be called speed jumps, traffic circles, and corners that I can take at a nice angle, or faster than normal, etc.

 

[appophylite]

IMO, manual is fantastic for daily driving if you've got the roads and the expanse between stops to get the fun out of it. If your daily drive routes are riddled with intersections, stops and stoplights that have you constantly shifting up and down, it may just be easier to stick to an automatic. As someone else mentioned earlier, as long as the car is well maintained and the transmission fluid is changed regularly, an automatic will last quite as long as a manual. Its actually depressing to realize how many people there are that change their engine oil with some sort of regularity, but don't realize that other fluids such as the transmission and differential fluids need to be changed with regularity as well.

 

[DaveRobertson]

I've been to a Harrisburg Used Car store that was much like Blue Knob in that they made  money on velocity and not making thousands of dollars on every car. I added the link to it there just so you could see. I think they have a big inventory and should have cars around that price range...

 

[jjinh]

Quote:

I've been to a Harrisburg Used Car store that was much like Blue Knob in that they made  money on velocity and not making thousands of dollars on every car. I added the link to it there just so you could see. I think they have a big inventory and should have cars around that price range...

So you signed up just to post that?