Learning in Automatic before official driving lessons using manual

The bigger problem I see will be that if she takes the test in an auto then her licence will be limited to driving automatic vehicles only. If she takes the test in a manual then your licence allows you to drive both. So given the choice I'd do the test in a manual and then at least she isn't limiting herself in the future.

I passed my first car test in an automatic as that's what I had at the time. I ended up taking the manual test about 10 years later due to an issue with a work vehicle (and I was tired of paying the 'Stupid Yank auto premium' to hire a car in Europe).

I'm not sure how important a manual test will be in a few years. Practically all electric and hybrid cars are autos and ICE cars will be phased out soon. It depends on if she can afford to keep driving autos until then. Personally, I found that learning in an auto was far better as I could concentrate on the road and other road users rather than doing battle with the clutch and changing gears so often.

Lots of things in this life should be a certain way but they aren't.

We gave up starting cars with a crank handle a long time ago. Similiarly, the manual gearbox has way overstayed its welcome.

Be grand learning and doing the test in an auto. She can always go back and do the manual test in the future if she needs to.

Driving an auto let’s you concentrate on the more important aspects on driving, road position, hazard awareness etc without worrying if you’re going to put this antiquated stick into second or fourth or cut out when the light goes green.

Best of luck to your daughter learning and fair play to you too for being willing to teach.

If she drives your automatic before her manual lessons she will still be able to get a feel for being on the road, what the acceleration and the speed limit feels like, reaction to hazards etc. It will be a big advantage to have before starting lessons officially so she should hopefully have a better time getting the hang of a manual to begin with rather than trying to figure out road positioning while also learning the manual gears at the same time.

If she's having a hard time with manual then switching to auto isn't the end of the world. Any time an automatic license comes up people always bring up car rentals or needing a van or something, it hasn't been an issue for me in the 6 years I've had a licence. With the popularity of hybrid and EVs, chances are she could even borrow a friend or family members car if needed. Rental places have a small number of automatics in their fleet and the likes of GoCar and other large rental companies even have EVs now. There's certainly options available if she needed to drive a different car on an automatic license.

'holiday rentals are often automatic' is simply not true.

I just checked Europcar for a rental in Lanzarote in late June. They offered me 5 different models, all manual transmission. When I set the transmission to automatic, there was no availability. When I changed the dates to early September, they offered me 7 models, all manual and again, no availability of an automatic. Ditto for early October - seven manual options, no autos.

It will probably be different in large cities where you'd have more people on business trips renting and there's probably plenty of E-Class and 5-series autos available but whether you like it or not, most rental cars in holiday destinations in Europe are going to be manual. Because most people rent a smaller car than they drive at home and most small cars are manual.

I'd encourage the OP to get her daughter to do the test in a manual.

Lots of Irish people have apartments in the Algarve. Which may explain why there's better availability of auto rentals at Faro airport than at Lanzarote airport.

But there's an auto premium - Europcar have a Citroen C4 Cactus manual for €65 per day in early October while the automatic version of the same model is their cheapest auto at €96 per day. They're quoting a daily rate for a Peugeot 308 five door at €89 manual and €114 auto.

I learned to drive in the past few years.

Automatic was always tempting to me and I'll probably own one I'm not anti auto.

I like many others struggled with gears.

I researched online and here and all the stuff about having an automatic and being able to focus on the road more, etc all appealed to me.

I stuck with my manual and I'm happy I did.

After a bit of practice it all gelled together

I'm happy I've the option to drive both now and I can sit in anybodies car and drive it. (I'm one of these people who'd do that.)

Also, if it's work or anything I've the license and it won't be a drama in the future if anything comes up of having to do another test.

Whilst auto's are becoming more popular you are still tying yourself down especially if money is an issue and you want a cheap run about.

Yeah if I really needed to rent a van or something I'd just ask a friend or family member to come with me. I'm not planning on driving a car through the mountains of Europe either. Having someone drive you the odd time never seems to be brought up in these what if scenarios when people say you might need a van or car rental.

If you are learning in an automatic but doing lessons in a manual, there is really no point, do the lessons in an automatic then and take the automatic test.

A manual car takes practice, if they are only doing one lesson a week in a manual and then using the auto until next lesson defeats the purpose of lessons in a manual as they are not building up muscle memory related to clutch and gears.

Probably won't be driving at all in 10 yrs.

Even in America where the majority of cars have been autos for a very long time there are still manuals.

Did anyone even read the OP?😂😂

OP asked if practicing in an automatic between manual lessons will be beneficial.

They don’t care about transmission statistics of the USA. And seems like they aren’t even considering the automatic test.

This has just turned into an auto vs manual debate and OP hasn’t even replied since first posting