What is the best way to find out which newer cars are being made with manual transmissions?
Ford Fusion is good mid size domestic w/manual
Check the websites for vehicles in which you are interested.
to check every company’s website, and go vehicle by vehicle - what a pain! I just want it to seat 6 or more, and be stick shift.
Unfortunately if you’re buying new I don’t think there are any cars that have manual transmissions and seat more than 5.
For what it’s worth, I find www.fueleconomy.gov not only helpful for comparing car’s fuel economy ratings, but it’s also useful for checking what configurations of vehicles were available what years (including the present one).
You’re going to have to work for it. Greasy Jack offered an excellent suggestion. You might also look at Edmunds.com or cars .com to check whether a car is available with manual transmission. But just because it is listed as available doesn’t mean that it actually is available. Someone at work wanted a new Accord coupe with a manual transmission. Honda makes them, but there were none available for a few months. He finally found one. And there are 15 Honda dealers within 20 miles from home.
The only ones that I can thnk of that might have a stick and seat 6 are the Kia Rondo and Mazda 5. Check them out.
If you want a car that will seat 6 and carry them well, with a manual transmission, you might find a 49 Buick or Olds someplace.
Maybe some day car makers will rediscover the wonders of the column-mounted shifter…
Ding ding ding… the Mazda 5 seats 6 and is available in a manual!
Sometimes doing your own research is worth it. A car is a major decision. Being too lazy to do the research can cost you later.
I hope that if the car makers discover the wonders of the column shift that they make the shifters work as well as they did in the 1940’s and early 1950’s. The later column shifters didn’t work very well. I’ve owned 5 column shift cars: a 1947 Pontiac, a 1948 Dodge, a 1954 Buick, a 1955 Pontiac and a 1965 Rambler. The 1947 Pontiac, the 1948 Dodge and the 1954 Buick shifted very well. The 1955 Pontiac and the 1965 Rambler didn’t shift well at all. I think that the manufacturers were forcing us to automatic transmissions.
That was what I was looking for, a website to compare vehicles. But most sites I have found don’t mention auto or manual transmission. And then having to find one, then having it shipped (there isn’t much in the area where I live)…That is why I am looking now.
All right, what kind of car are you looking for? That could help us.