Does Anybody buy Manual Cars these days?
I am trying to sell my manual Mazda 3 Top of the range with Low KMS however it is not attracting any interest even with it being well priced. Is it a sign that Manual cars will be worthless in the future?
Look forward to your thoughts.
Mine is 1 of 3 3's my spec in Manual.
There's your answer to the level of interest. SP25 Astina? Or a G20 Pure?
G25 ASTINA
@jayez208: Nice.
It's in a bit of a weird spot in the used car market. $30k for something 3-4 years old. It's competing with brand new hatches at that price (lesser spec of course). Some people may also avoid it because of the perception that it's been thrashed, even with, or perhaps especially because, of the low K's. As with sporty variants of popular cars, true or not.
Best of luck to you! Don't let anyone on an oil rig, or on a sheepstation, send anyone to come pick it up for them.
@jayez208: "G25 ASTINA"
hmmm, not my definition of top of the line Mazda 3
https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/mazda/3/mps-badge/
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@Nugs: I used to own a 2006 Mazda 6 MPS (Premium - leather + Bose) with Stage 1+ modifications and tune. Had so much fun with the AWD system and turbo pull. I Purchased it for $15,900 in 2015 and sold for $15,500 in 2017 (Spent $2500 on modifications). I believe they're still holding their value.
Automatics are a liability in the bush.
I dunno, I much preferred my GU 4.2 with the auto once we converted it… as good as the GQ auto before that
Might have been innthe past, but the big 4wd youtube channels seem to be happy with auto on their remote touring rigs
lol, I'm sure the Bush Tucker Man loved having his new Defender put on the back of a truck up at the Pentecost River and sent back to Perth.
@flywire: It used to be the auto was largely a liability for bush work becasue you cant rol start an auto. With modern dual battery setups thats a virtual non issue. As fod reliability, i cant really comment onnthat, other than noone is not buying an auto in non-bush cars becasue they sre unrelaible. Its a well established technology that generally lasts just as well as the engine.
@Euphemistic: Don't forget towing. For all practical purposes an auto has to go on a truck/trailer.
On many occasions I've been at one end or the other of a tow, and I've had to find something to carry an auto on other occasions. Towed a bloke many kms into town in the bush once. If it was an auto he would have just walked away from it like others do.
Auto's are great for 4wd on sand and mud because the smoother gear changes = less likely to bog.
@besttechadvisor: Left foot braking while you build power can also be a good thing.
Only thing they really arent better at is hill descent where engine braking in a manual really helps.
@Euphemistic: Yeah. My old Colorado would keep shifting up a gear in hill descents even though it was in semi-auto. Not sure if that's something they could figure out with a software update. Otherwise, a great vehicle for offroading (known turbo issues aside).
@Euphemistic: Autos engine-brake just fine.. "Rev Match" with the accelerator to force it to drop gears and then switch over to manual mode (with more advanced Autos they even rev match for you)
@ESEMCE: They engine brake fine on the roads, ur in real steep terrain theyve got nothing on first gear low range in a diesel manual.
Back in the day maybe but not in 2024.
And most of those on OzB are city folk and new Australians from Sydney and Melbourne anyway who would shit themselves just thinking about driving in the bush or on the beach - and never will.
It all comes down to demand and supply, there is very little demand for manual cars compared to automatic but there are very few manuals out there so you've just got to find the right people.
Yeah, the market is smaller for manual cars. The amount of new manual cars sold has massively reduced and manufacturers are stopping some manual models. I read that manual cars make it harder for manufacturers to meet emission standards.
Manual cars also vary by class of car according to this article.
It may also be a sign that you need to drop your price.
Contemporary autos shift more efficiently and have more gear ratios, returning superior fuel economy and lower emissions. There's not much in it; VW Golf GTI manual emits 162g/km of CO2 compared with the auto's 160g/km
Contemporary autos shift more efficiently and have more gear ratios, returning superior fuel economy and lower emissions.
That depends on the right foot, and cost a bomb to repair.
You are game using figures from VW, the motor industries world greatest scammers.
@CurlCurl: BMW M CEO Frank van Meel: The manual is heavier, slower, and you get worse fuel consumption than the alternative.
Disdlosure: all of my cars are manuals, have never owned an auto
It's arguable that the more gear ratios is just adding unnecessary complicated gearboxes. Do you really need 10 speed gear boxes when most driving is done between 20-10kmh?
@Brick Tamland: You need 10 speed gear boxes to minimise fuel emissions in test results. Noone is claiming autos are more reliable.
@greatlamp: This is why cars are getting worse. Overly complex solutions for marginal fuel efficiency gains.
@Brick Tamland: Yep, same reason 4cyl twin turbos are replacing 6 and 8 cyl engines. Less reliable, but 'faster' and lower emissions in a fake test. The EU fuel emissions standards must be met at any cost.
@greatlamp: 4 cyl low boost is fine. Catching up to a 6 cyl and average 10l/100km oppose to a v6 12-13l/100km.
Username does not check out.
Is this still available?
Yes on Carsales in VIC
Ad looks good to me. I live regional and manuals sell like hotcakes. I'm guessing someone from a regional area will eventually enquire about it.
Perhaps you should have kept your 208gti.
Can you explain why regional prefer Manual to auto?
how are you supposed to eat food and drive at the same time with a manual?
As long as your front seat passenger understands the numbers one to six, and has a working right arm, you should be ok.
Easy. Have a passenger shift for you or feed you.
Think Joe Biden with a bib. "Shifty"
I just steer with my knees.
steer with ur third leg
When I was younger that was not a problem.
This is why new cars are superior, you can eat and let it drive itself. It'll self brake, maintain speed and keep you in the centre of the lane whilst using up half the petrol (hybrid) or zero petrol (electric) compared to the old cars. Some cars even pull over to the side of the road if you fall asleep. I think these features are super affordable and essential (eg. $40k for a brand new top of the range, hybrid medium SUV) as we still have 1,200 people dying on our roads every year! Luckily this is a down trend from 1970 where we lost 3,800 people.
They are not and never have been essential.
Learn !
Easy - You eat with your right hand and only change gear on straights.
You haven’t mastered that yet?
Or applying your war paint (makeup)
You just time your gear shift in-between bites. It's an art really.
Used to eat nissin cup noodles and drive a manual on my way to work. The eating usually happens at the light and sipping on the soup whilst cruising at 60km. Shifting and clutch is muscle memory.
Yeah manuals are extremely hard to move unless its an enthusiast car.
I had a sportage (cheapest one in Australia for its year), it took 3 months to sell. Meanwhile autos for $2500 more and more K's, same spec were constantly moving.
Most people who buy a Mazda 3 are only looking for basic transport and can't drive manual.
Most people who want a manual would want it in a fun car, e.g. Mazda MX5, GR86 etc.
So in those fun cars, manuals are more sort after. In a regular car, autos are going to be easier to sell.
I think in 20 years time when 99% of cars are EV or Automatic Hybrids, manual cars will be highly sort after.
you don't normally sort manual after regular
What?
I only want to buy manuals. :D
I'm the same, pretty sure my current Amarok will be my last manual though. Definitely going the way if the dodo 🪦
Honestly thought I would drive a manual till I die but the more time I spend in melb traffic the thought of an auto is appealing.
Thats the only time id consider an auto, if i had to spend hours in heavy traffic every day. Fortunately i dont and TBH a diesel manual in crawling traffic isnt that bad. Pick a gear that suits and dont rush then stop. Try to find a speed allows you to keep rolling by letting other cars get ahead the close the gap as they slow.
no manual EVs so we'll all be going auto in time
@MS Paint: Cool, going to go well with their hydrogen fuel cells…
On a serious note, is it really going to be a transmission or is it just some BS software to emulate the feel of a transmission? A decent transmission could be useful but it probably doesn't need more than 2-3 gears realistically. They should just have a highway cruising gear IMO, EVs could get better mileage on the open road if it was a very high gear, although this prompted me to look that up and now I'm not so sure
Keep your price. Eventually, you'll find someone. Could be your pictures, took "sporty" pics at angles around ":golden hour" 6pm and had 30+ responses.
Could be your pictures
yea agree.. some pics with the bucket and soapy sponge on wet ground never appeal to me.
Agree - If the ad im looking at is the right one, it seems like the pics were taken on completely separate days and somewhat haphazardly
OP take a look at how dealers photograph cars - front/rear & 3/4; side profiles; interior from driver's door, rear seat; looking thru windscreen from back seat to show dashboard; gauge cluster with odometer visible; boot; under the bonnet.
i don't think its necessary to point out every minor blemish in the paintwork. but any major panel damage would be helpful to point out.
take all the pics in the same session, outside, with the same camera, preferably in favourable lighting conditions (not too cloudy or bright)
Thats where I got the photo tips from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLr-nby5jcA from 30:48 + he has some other ideas…
I miss having a manual car. :(
Enthusiast cars in manual will always be in demand. Everyday commuter cars in manual, not so much - unfortunately I think your potential buyer market is pretty small for a manual mazda 3.
Manuals are on the way out, except for enthusiasts. So youll need to find one to sell to. Even country drivers will buy auto nowdays as modern autos dont cost you in fuel like they used to and theyre pretty reliable too.
I drive a manual, specifically wanted one when upgrading a couple of years ago. And last week sold an auto i bought for my kid to drive while recovering from a knee injury. Kid didnt want the auto longer than necessary. Next kid seems to prefer manual too, 'Gives you more to do'. We dont spend a lot of time in really heavy traffic so a manual isnt a big hassle for commuting either.
Even country drivers will buy auto nowdays as modern autos dont cost you in fuel
As a country driver I disagree as would many of my friends. It's not about the fuel. It's about shit gearboxes. When you need to overtake a truck/caravan/ag machinery you pick the gap, select the appropriate gear and go. None of this waiting for the gearbox to decide if it's ok and then upshifting too early.
Thats a good point. One of the reasons i prefer a manual is that the conputer camt read the road ahead or the traffic it can only react afterwards.
"and then upshifting too early."
I recall my old man talking about that problem with his powerglide
.
I know what you mean but just like someone who doesnt know which gear to shift down to, auto's can have bad programming too. Manual cars you have per-empt your move, shift, pull out and go while an auto needs to process which gives the impression of gearbox lag. You can omit this by telling the box to shift down, then you pull out and go. Auto boxes cant read your mind which is why there is manual override for
Then there is the variable of how far youre pushing the pedal. In a zf 8 speed on the highway shifting down 1 gear probably isnt enough to overtake quickly over broken lines. Push the pedal further and it will go into 6th or 5th. In this case it has determined you require more power
Some, you can hold down the shift down paddle and it will go into the lowest gear that will allow you to accelerate
Wifes car has a 8hp box, yes they are good, it does some weird stuff programmed by the OEM, some of it can be tuned out with a flash but it can never be 100%. wife has always driven manual and it took her a while to understand that sometimes, as a manual driver you just have to tell it what to do. E.g her car will hold first gear on light throttle up a hill to prevent you from bogging into 2nd, she would say "shift, shift, shift" when all she has to do is pull on the flappy paddle. Our area is hilly and very narrow streets so its less of an issue to other areas. Every auto I have driven around here has trouble because its such a unique area.
Transmissions are incredibly time consuming to map for everyone in every situation, then throw in different engines they put them behind which changes everything. Its nearly as time consuming as mapping an engine ecu. Once you understand its limitations and stop expecting "perfect" and that it cant read your mind, use the shift paddles/sport/manual mode when needed they work well for over 90% of the time
You can't in a DSG if the next pre-selectd gear is up and you want it down. Very slow down shift toward a 90 degree bend after a long straight. Quicker with heel toe.
Hear me out: Automatic transmission might be the first to disappear.
Within the next decade or so, most cars will transition to electric. The only internal combustion engines left will be in enthusiast, racing, or special-purpose vehicles – all of which will be manual.
I think it will take longer than you think. The average age of the Australian car fleet is a touch over 11 years.
Even if today, every new car was an electric vehicle, the turnover time would be more than a decade. Realistically a lot of early adopters are facing the prospect of terrible resale value due to the dumping of BYD vehicles and the ever decreasing prices.
A lot of auto makers are rolling back their battery dreams, because only Tesla and state subsidised BYD have reached profitability. So only Tesla really. Ford, for example, has stopped manufacturing big pickup battery utes in the US, because they were losing more then $100,000 on each one sold.
Current electric vehicle sales are around 10%. They will pick up for sure, but expect to see petrol stations still operating well into the 2040s.
It's like nuclear fusion which has been only 20 years away and has been for 50 years.
Or, I could be wrong.
Or, I could be wrong.
Well sounds like you basically agree with me.
Well I can drive a manual unlike 90% of my children’s generation.
They seem to make for a cheap 2nd hand car that is not attractive to thieves because they also can’t drive a manual 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I only have manual gearboxed vehicles in my life. I love them.
Unfortunately I'm looking to upgrade my 2002 and 2012 vehicles but can find nothing newer suitable with a manual.
I really want a low mileage Subaru Outback 2004-2009 with a manual transmission. I've been looking for years and are very thin on the ground even with $8,000 (which is silly money for the age).
So sad hardly new cars aren't available in manual anymore these days :(
Manual for performance cars I hope remains in place but manual for a Mazda 3 is a bad financial decision
Using Carsales listings as a data set, manuals represent 3% of new, near new & ex-demo; 15% of used with n=30,855 so numerically plenty still out there
I got rid of an 06 manual outback in dark green, cream leather interior. Best looking, driving, handling car I ever had. Worth the money if you can find one. Every time I see one in the same spec as my old one I feel a tinge of regret! We sold ours for around 6k a couple years ago with a freshly rebuilt transmission, carplay/android auto head unit and new speakers. Helluva lot of car for the money.
Bite the bullet and get one, they'll go for 300k kms easy - you will just have to budget for some drivetrain works at some point. Head gasket and transmission issues seem to be fairly common to come up against within that lifespan. If you do a lot of long trips or highway driving, some sound deadening or refreshing the seals would be worth doing. There are some great specialists around for Subarus that will look after your car well. I genuinely don't think you can get a car that clearly beats it for under $25k (assuming an Outback is reflective of the capabilities you need in a car).
As mentioned.
Depends on the vehicle.
If it's a sports car or enthusiast vehicle manual will be in very high demand.
Who wants an auto skyline or MX5.
But for a daily putt putt no one wants a manual.
But for a daily putt putt no one wants a manual.
Unless is real cheap …
You would be suprised on the MX5. I have an NC, the owners are either boy racers (probably me) who want a manual. Most of the "club" members are retirees or close to and happy with an auto.
Who wants an auto skyline or MX5
Children, the lazy, and those with a disability?
They won't know enough cars to appreciate an MX5. That's why VW are selling well.
well priced
According to you. Apparently it isn't
Give your car a nice detail (interior and exterior), then take some nice pics of it - would also include pics of the logbook, spare keys etc.
Yep. Plenty still buy manuals. But theres plenty of 3's forsale out there.