You should not drive an automatic car either with an injured arm as you need two hands for the wheel anyway.
Read each vehicles owners manual, concentrating on the service tables, do the math for yourself, and enjoy your purchase!
In over 40 years of driving I’ve never slipped into a trance while driving. Honestly.
Yes they are, ATs are for up market and larger cars generally.
Though the Brits are starting to get fat and lazy, ATs are on the increase.
If you take your driving test with an auto in many Euro countries, you get a restricted license. You have to take another test to drive a stick.
It should be clear by now that there is no one answer for this.
Your question is like the old Apple vs orange question. There are many differences and they are not all one to one issues.
I will suggest this one as the overriding single issue.
Which one you do prefer driving?
To that I will only add that manuals tend to get better real world mileage than automatics, but not a great amount.Certainly no problem for my car.
Manuals promote more driver involvement so you’re more likely to be more focused if/when imminent danger occures. This allows you to pickup on the danger faster and react quicker.
I would suggest that for some drivers that would be better described as “more distracted” than “more involved.” It really depends on the driver.
Lastly, automatic transmissions are heavier than manuals.
So???
I think this may play into what the previous anon. poster was talking about also with the racecars being only manuals, since a lighter vehicle then would be able to go faster and with its light weight respond more quickly to obstacles, compared to a heavier vehicle (just thinking of compared to a semi or something traveling along, which can yes get going fast eventually, but then takes a long time to stop).
YES! There was a news report somewhat recently here about a robbery and the they found a getaway car but it was a manual transmission, which they didn’t know how to drive, so they ended up getting caught and arrested.
Also, along these lines, having a manual car then lends the excuse “Sure, you can borrow my car. Oh, just gotta mention it’s a stick shift, by the way,” and that usually then rules out people borrowing my car (this was an issue in college and I enjoyed being able to tell people this–and it was true, so I didn’t feel bad about telling this excuse).
Manuals do have some disadvantages if you drive “in traffic” a lot, tho:
It is considerably harder to steer with your knees and read the paper with a manual shift car.
It is also harder to hold a cell phone up to your ear, steer, and shift at the same time. Text messaging is tough, to.
You can hold a Big Mac or a large chocolate shake, but not both.
This made me laugh. Who the heck reads the paper while driving? 
Also, concerning the driving properly part, but not concerning the clutch, when I went to a dealership recently, I was told that the thinking behind manuals getting better gas mileage over automatics is not really applicable by todays standards (even if it might read on the car’s mileage info). This is because of the way people drive their manuals–not shifting properly and thus not consuming fuel efficiently–and the way automatics are now designed, the technology in transmissions now make the automatic shifting much more ‘smart’ so the car can be better equipped to shift when need be and consume the proper amount of fuel.
Check out civicforums.com. There is a whole huge thread about this issue, specific to the civic. There are also many horror stories of Civic automatic transmissions prematurely wearing quickly.
MT:
Pros: Better mileage, more control. In a civic the powerband is pretty high up the RPM gauge, so if you want to accelerate more quickly, the MT is your way to go. Clutches for the MT Civics last about 80-105K miles and cost about $500 to install including labor. Generally Honda’s MT gearboxes and synchros are built well. Engine braking in an emergency if you have the foresight to use it. You can push start a stick-shift in an emergency.
Cons: Driving in city traffic with a stick is no fun. Learning to drive a stick may or may not be fun. Teaching someone to drive a stick may or may not be fun. 01-05 civics (and possibly the newest 06-08 ones) have an issue with the input shaft bearing on the MT going bad. It isn’t a must-fix, but can be annoying. If you are a gearhead and love the power, you might start driving like a jerk and jackrabbit starting.
AT:
Pros: Less to think about in an emergency - just hit the brakes. City traffic is merely annoying rather than exasperating as you don’t have to keep shifting. Better for less experienced drivers as it is one less task to load them down with. Smoother shifts and ride comfort. In an emergency anyone could drive the car. Electronic shift controls mean less headaches than in the past, and better gas mileage.
Cons: Replace auto tranny: $1500 or so. Honda auto trannies in the 01-05 civics were the weak link, and I do not know for sure if they beefed them up in the 06-08 models. If you drive hard, you aren’t just wearing through a clutch - you are wearing through the tranny which needs to be completely taken out if repairs are necessary. Auto tranny fluid in 01-05 civics gets pretty hot due to a barely adequate cooler, and I’m not sure if honda fixed it in the 06-08 line.
In both the MT and AT I’d recommend changing the fluid every 24k miles, possibly even 18k. An aftermarket transmission fluid cooler for an AT model would be a wise investment.
If you are good about fluid changes and heat, there’s no reason why an AT wouldn’t last through the same life as 2+ clutches.
That being said I personally prefer a stick. One poster summed it up beautifully:
“I can change a clutch in a few hours in my garage. Fixing a dead automatic tranny is more difficult by several orders of magnitude”
Just a few clarifications:
You can certainly drive a manual while (falling down/ can’t see/ can’t walk/ don’t know your name) drunk. I had one in college, 'nuf said.
You can drag start some automatics, but not all (read your manual).
Manual transmissions do tend to have a longer life, but you still have to periodically replace the clutch.
IMHO, automatics and preferable in some types of cars for some types of driving, but manuals are more fun in a sports cars/motorcycles. I’ve owned a few of each and they both have their place.
Allow me to wax poetic about the virtues of the MT:
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I’m surprised only one person mentioned the most important factor: the roll start. On a AT, losing either the battery or the starter motor (both have happened to me) means an inop car. I’m not fond of single-point-failure engineering at ALL. When I lost my starter at Mesa Verde (middle of nowhere, CO), it warmed my heart to know I was driving a stick. It would have been an unscheduled overnight otherwise.
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Once you learn, you can borrow ANYONE’S car. This is reason enough to learn, even if you never would own one yourself. I’ve also gotten jobs that had “operating a stick” as a pre-requisite.
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Economics. As someone who takes joy in “driving it 'till the wheels fall off,” an AT has TWO components that could total a higher-mileage vehicle; the MT, but one. Also, used MTs in anything other than a “sporty” car are undervalued in the market, IMO.
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All the previously-mentioned stuff about efficiency, fun to drive, etc.
The main disadvantages would be:
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If you’re too tired/sick/drunk/whatever to drive, your friend might not be able to help you out.
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If resale value is important to you.
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The broken arm thingy. (For those who said not to drive one armed, are those missing a limb not allowed to operate an unmodified car? Should they be?)
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I’m not completely sure I trust mechanics to drive my car 'round the lot.
P.S. Since I mentioned the roll start, I’ve been told the battery can’t be totally dead; that you need a couple of e-s to “energize the windings” of the alternator and get the first spark. True?
Slipping the clutch to hold a hill has got to be just about the worst clutch abuse that someone can do. The people that do this give manual transmissions a bad name.
Much better is to hold the hill with the brake until just before taking off. Then, to prevent the car from rolling backward before the clutch is engaged, pull up on the handbrake to hold the car. As the clutch engages, release the handbrake.
“P.S. Since I mentioned the roll start, I’ve been told the battery can’t be totally dead; that you need a couple of e-s to “energize the windings” of the alternator and get the first spark. True?”
You need some charge in the battery to push start the car, not just for the spark but also for the EFI. Usually a battery that’s too dead to crank the engine will still provide a spark.
Yes, the alternator needs a small amount of voltage in the battery to exite the field winding. If you rev the alternator really fast, the residual magnetism in the rotor may generate enough voltage in the stator to exite the field but that will probably happen at a higher rpm than you could achieve by pushing the car.
There are clutches in automatic transmissions also and they can wear out too. Automatics shift by engaging and disengaging various clutches, usually with oil pressure. That’s why you can’t push start automatics. Without the engine running, there is no transmission oil pressure and without transmission oil pressure, the clutches are all disengaged and your transmission is in neutral, regardless of the gear selector position. Some old automatic transmissions had a second oil pump on the output shaft and you could push start these automatics. I remember push starting an old '59 automatic Chevrolet.
I recently came across another disadvantage of manual transmissions:
On a slight upgrade on ice, a guy with a manual transmission in front of me kept trying to move away from a stop sign. Each time, he slid sideways, and then slid backwards after he quit applying power (I am glad I stopped several car lengths back - he was already in trouble when I arrived). He ended up with the car sideways across the road with a culvert parapet wall 6 inches from each bumper.
I had to turn around and go another way.
The type of car depends on which transmission I prefer. If its something like a big truck or sedan with a powerful V6 or V8, an automatic is a much better fit.
However, if its a small economy car with a little 4 cylinder motor, it needs a manual. Autos pared with a 4 cylinder motor are dogs. With a manual, it will be faster, and more importantly, it feels like you have a lot more power.
Also, depending on the car, a manual can get much better highway mileage due to a tall overdrive gear. Cars like Trans Ams, Corvettes, etc. can cruise at 1500rpm at 70mph and get 28-30mpg. An auto might get around 24 in the same car.
changing a clutch on a front wheel drive is a hell of a job.
One very good point. There are many more
I STARTED DRIVING IN 1948. In 1953 I bought a new Buick with automatic, and have never bought anything but automatics, and never will. I have driven many sticks and hate them. In '01 I was driving for an auto parts co. and they bought me a new
S-10 with automatic. When I left the co. in '06 the truck had 204,000 miles on it and the engine and tranny were still OK. most of which was city driving. I am sure they would have replaced a clutch or two in that time. I believe that if you have an auto that will start off in 2nd gear, you will have better control in snow than a manual. Well, I could go on for hours but it is late and I need to get to bed. Becides this arguement is 9 months old so probably no one will read it. By the way, someone in one of these posts said that automatics should be reserved for the disabled. I believe that a manual should be reserved for the retarded!!