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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Agreed
Many of these recent immigrants drive manuals.
But everything has become very quiet suddenly……
Rental properties are just sitting there.
OP might need to lower price to get more attention
Also depends where OP is advertising and their own location
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.
Manual cars typically use LESS fuel so cant see how they can be harder to meet emmission requirements.
See here:
https://www.budgetdirect.com.au/car-insurance/guides/car-buy….
Also there is much stronger demand for manuals when it comes to work utes.
They are tougher, cost less to maintain and more reliable than autos.
But thats not what OP is selling.
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
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.
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.
I just steer with my knees.
steer with ur third leg
When I was younger that was not a problem.
Learn !
Easy - You eat with your right hand and only change gear on straights.
You haven’t mastered that yet?
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.
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 🪦
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
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.
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 …
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.
I daily a Manual Evo.
You only live once. Would rather have a car thats driven and not hidden.
Manual cars aren't worthless. It is cause your car is a proper commuter car. Not a sports/enthusiast car.
In saying that, people will still buy your car. I believe the market is just slowing down at the moment.
I suspect is your vehicle not the fact that is manual.
Perhaps a Mazda 3 on manual is not appealing. Or pricing. Or color. Or who knows what. A combination of factors perhaps.
Probably partly because it's manual but also because of cost of living at the moment. I've had a specific car alert set for a while and it seems like more are being listed recently. I have a feeling that some people are selling their cars or moving to one car to keep their heads above water or to smash the mortgage down because rates have gone up.
It's not definitive but it's possible that Gen Z actually want manual cars because it's a more connected driving experience. Maybe you'll get more interest from younger buyers who are looking for a first car, but again it depends on the general economy. If younger first-time car buyers aren't getting decent paying jobs then they won't be shopping for cars.
The price is to high. Every "my car isn't selling" is purely because of the price. Plenty of people can still drive manuals and may choose to do so, but 95% of people looking for a Mazda 3 are not.
Gotta drop the price if you wanna sell anytime soon or potentially at all.
Yup no value. I'll offer you $500 ;)
This is funny because my wife specifically wants a Soul Red Mazda 6 in manual and they don't exist.
manual BMWs have gone up in price for used, and only a few models have the option of manual of course in the sports range … some brands and models people buy to get from A to B some brands and models people buy because they enjoy driving and those are the brands manual has greater appeal. i have a manual BMW and love it.
32k is expensive though
Yep. Plenty still buy manuals. But theres plenty of 3's forsale out there.