REMEMBER SAFETY STARTS BETWEEN YOUR EARS!!!
For what it’s worth, I’d echo everyone else’s sentiment and say it is important for her to learn how to drive manual! I also agree that there would not be any significant damage to the tranny / clutch. Just don’t teach her how to powershift! 
I taught both of my kids to drive manuals. however I think the one you should be asking is your daughter rather than us. If she has no interest and would prefer an automatic, get her an automatic. Manuals are not for everyone.
If at some later date it becomes important for her, she can always learn it then.
Strange how an older post gets reawakened.
But I have both…’‘new to a manual’’…and ‘‘wrong vehicle type’’ comments about that.
‘‘new to a manual’’–
My daughter’s first vehicle, also at 18, was a manual trans Ranger pickup.
She was excited when she first saw it untill…“but dad…it’s a stick :(” dejectedly.
“But we’ll just learn, that’s all it’ll take.” I responded calmly. After which my dad took her under his wing and taught her as easily as I had predicted.
SHE LOVED IT.
‘‘wrong vehicle type’’–
Then she rolled it in some black ice comming home for thanksgiving break from college.
She was not yet well practiced in winter conditions in a rear wheel drive/light in the rear end pickup so the ice surprised her AND the pickup and , zzzip , around she went and over. ( just minor injuries to her and her passenger, always belted up as she learned early on. )
After purchasing a 500 dollar el-cheapo Taurus to replace it,
she was once again dejected and actually sad…
THAT IT WAS NOT A MANUAL TRANSMISSION !
YES, get her to learn a manual.
but, GET A BIGGER CAR.-- see the pictures in the post ‘‘is my car totaled’’ is todays set of posts. That car did it’s intended job of absorbing impact.
cheap cheap cheap only goes just so far. THINK ABOUT IT REAL HARD, just how much are you really saving…in the BIG picture ?
Am I the only one who would ask their daughter what she thinks?
My daughter chose to learn manual.
Nope. I already suggested to the OP that he ask his daughter. For my daughter it was a necessity, because the car (of mine) that she was going to be driving was a manual.
Too many kids these days just want the easy way out or the latest and greatest technology, so to ask her that kind of question would result in a very predictable answer.
BUT,
My daughter was proof that , sometimes , they need to just learn the hard way…only later to greatly appreciate that experience.
She met her now husband in Honolulu and they drove accross the country to Washington DC in a manual Miata. At first , he was highly apprehesive about her driving his precious Miata untill he found out about her ranger. Since then they’ve had a manual Jeep and now his manual Civic hybrid. ( her Escape in an auto )
But the early experience has served her very well…despite her initial opinion on the subject.
Am I the only one who would ask their daughter what she thinks?
@Joseph
I also posted agreeing that the young lady’s preference was important. It’s a no brainer… unless there was already a spare car sitting in the driveway available to be used. There were other posters as well with the same thought.
Sometimes, a young person learns to drive a manual transmission by necessity. My son attended a military school for his high school years and didn’t learn to drive a manual transmission. When he was home on vacations, our cars were automatics so I didn’t have the opportunity to teach him. His grand father had him drive the manual transmission truck he owned, but my son wasn’t really interested in driving that truck. My son learned to drive the manual transmission very quickly. He hit a tool left by a construction crew in the road and the tool poked a hole in his oil pan and transmission pan. While his car was being repaired, his fiance let him drive her car which was a Ford Mustang with a manual transmission. After they were married, his wife developed a severe back problem and couldn’t comfortable drive the Mustang, so that became the vehicle my son drove. He had no problems shifting gears, but really didn’t care for the car. This past summer, they decided that they needed vehicles that both of them could drive, so they sold the Mustang and bought a Chevrolet S-10 pickup with an automatic. I cried my eyes out when I found out what they had done, but my son isn’t into cars and would rather have the utility of a truck than be sporty.
If the daughter wants to learn…I think it’s a great idea. My nephew just bought a car…It’s a manual. Never drove one before he bought this one. It was his choice. In fact he had a hard time finding one.
I learned to drive in New York City on a stick. My dad made me practice starting up at traffic lights that were at the top of hills. Then he made me parallel park on steep hills. Once he was done teaching me how to drive I never worried about driving a stick shift EVER.
My son received my old stick shift Accord as his first car. I taught him to drive in it. He cried, he whined and complained. Once he passed his driver’s test he immediately took the car out to practice some more. In two weeks he became completely proficient with it. Now he loves it and, with 199,000 miles, it still has the original clutch.
Buy a car for your kid that is safe and reliable. If they don’t like the stick shift they should shut the heck up and deal with it unless they are buying the car. That’s my two cents…
If you don’t trust your daughter to make the decision, then maybe your daughter should not be driving.
Good idea to teach you daughter (or son as the case maybe) to drive a stick shift car. Will it hurt the car? Most learners achieve competence without burning out a clutch or doing any damage to the car and transmission.
Start the process in a large parking lot that is primarily level. Break the process up into “bite sized” lessons so the new driver builds confidence without fatigue. The last lesson is usually starting from a stop on a fairly steep hill.
In the lessons coach to avoid bad habits than can burn out a clutch over time. Make sure the new driver lifts her foot completely off the clutch petal and rests the left foot on the floor between shifts. Don’t allow “hill holding” by riding the clutch. Teach the use of the tach to match engine to wheel speed when downshifting to reduce “shock waves” through the drive train. Stuff like that.