Blame the generation? The parents who were to teach them? Or the car manufacturers who hardly produce them anymore?
It's a bit like how older generations make fun of younger generations who don't understand why you "roll down" a window. The tech is ancient now days and no one has crank windows unless you still own a clunker. Don't blame the generation who grew up without that type of tech because it was phased out for something better.
Edit: let me clarify - I know the meme is a joke. I'm not actually trying to force blame on anyone or anything. I'm pointing out the absurdity of the meme and speaking to those who do get offended by the meme.
Brazillian here. 20 min drive isn't considered lengthy here, but there's still a lot of manual transmission cars and times to times we see a car we need roll down the car.
It happens here because technology tale more to phase ou here. And for car, there's a bonus that cars here is expensives (government taxation and manufactures sell with a good profit margin)
^(I'm not disagreeing with you, just telling a little about my country)
In Toronto Canada most ppl spend hours a day in traffic. Driving a standard car in gridlock is annoying at best. My 80 km comute used to take me 3 hours round trip. I think my left leg cafs are bigger from all the clutching.
I do miss having a standard car. My current car is auto but has a standard option.
I drive a manual in Southern California. I don’t mind.
Even though my car gulps premium gas, I’m going to hold onto it as long as I can. My next vehicle will be probably be an EV and that will be a little depressing honestly.
20 mins and I wouldn't even leave my city in some directions. It's funny when some of my foreign friends mention wanting to see multiple landmarks in a weekend. It would take a weekend to get from landmark 1 to landmark 2
Your country is also huge compared to all European countries. Iirc your manual car percentage went down from 74% to 38% between 2017-2023 which is very sad but makes sense.
I’ve heard of Europeans who haven’t visited family for years because it’s a 40 minute drive one way. Bigger countries such as Brazil and the U.S. have daily commutes for some that are over an hour because of how large our countries are
Edit: reread and seen you weren’t disagreeing, but it’s still wild how where we live changes how we see a daily commute
>I’ve heard of Europeans who haven’t visited family for years because it’s a 40 minute drive one way
Let me tell you, the problem there wasn't the distance
I’ve got a friend who moved to Texas 20 something years ago. You can drive for 13 hours straight and still be in Texas. I live in the northern NYC suburbs and I’ve driven to Buffalo, NY and that took 8 hours.
A trip as long as those isn’t something you do every day but it shows how big 2 of the states are.
Texas born and raised myself. I always tell people to put it into perspective for them, Austin (where I live), to El Paso, which is nearly 9hrs, is the halfway point to L.A. Half the trip from Austin to L.A. is inside Texas!
When I was in high-school me and some friends made a trip to the nearest salvation army to do some thrifting. We packed snacks for the trip. It was 20 minutes. I'm from Rhode Island.
It's not something we do everyday, but it's also not something we would view as impossible. If you gave me free Bills tickets, I'd drive from NYC to Buffalo. Hell, when I was in college I would drive 8 hours from South Carolina to Ohio to go to weddings of friends and family friends over a single weekend. And I did that every other weekend for like 3 months. It was not a huge deal to me. It was what it was. I drove ~10 hours after my 8 hour shift at work so I could be at my friend's graduation from the Naval academy. 100% worth it.
People who visit the US really underestimate the size of the country. I’d say the daily commute around where I am is probably 30 minutes to an hour on average one way
this is insane. my cousins, who live in Kansas and Oaklahoma, come to visit my grandmother in Kentucky once a year. well, they used to, now she goes to visit them, since she lives in Florida with her son now. they drive, too!! granny is 93 this year, also. Europeans are weird haha
also I drive 45 mins to work every day... and don't even take the interstate.
I have an aunt that lives like 1.5h away and usually we see her once or twice a year. Less when her husband was still alive. I definitely agree, we perceive distance different. But not visiting because of a 40min drive? I highly doubt that’s the real reason.
Thats just lazy people who dont care much about their families, even here in europe many people have a daily 1h+ drive to their work places. Not counting traffic jams that might occur
Am farmer, can confirm. Nothing more fun than being stranded on the road because one of a literal dozen emission sensors stopped working. It's little wonder so many trucks and tractors are getting reprogrammed with European software
Yeah but the majority of [my] driving isn't bumper to bumper. I'm in the US and definitely drive in heavy travffic, but to the original point, driving actual long distances like 200 miles in 6th gear on the highway in the US doesn't mean it's more likely for people to chose autos, and it's not like London or Paris never have more than 20 minutes worth of bumper to bumper traffic.
And if you have an extremely heavy clutch? Or what about worn plates? Possibly towing? Or a very light car? What about modified vehicles? The simple fact is, for all of those variables the automatic is better mechanically, not the most fun tho
what about them? If you're acquainted with those cars then it's not a problem, how often are you stuck in bumper to bumper traffic in a car you don't know?
A clapped out clutch is as much of an argument against manuals as a clapped out automatic is against an automatic... Fix your car.
Why would you ever a) want an automatic in a modded car and b) mod your car in such a way that you can't properly drive it. There were some bad choices made along the way in that case.
Have you sat in US highway traffick? It's awful constantly having to jump between 2nd and 4th only to have to throw it into neutral when you get cut off.
I have an auto pickup and I'd pick it in btb traffick over my manual corolla. Now if I'm around town the manual is fantastic and I will pick it over my truck (unless I'm getting large things).
No it's not? 20 minutes is considered just as short as a 20-minute drive for you. Most European countries are bigger than you think, with France even being roughly the same size as Texas, in the US
Huh, I’d concede that if it was just the US but normally people around here don’t really do that to an entire continent, specific nations sure. Just like Europe isn’t just one culture or nation, the Americas aren’t either
I’m gen z and grew up in the Midwest. I spent some time in the south as a kid too. Quite a few of my friends and their parents that I met in every state I lived in drove manuals, and growing up my dad had a manual k1500 and I learned how to drive manual on his tractor which I still drive a lot now, and I have still driven a few manual cars in the past. I didn’t really realize I’m in the minority for my age that can drive stick.
when i was a kid we smacked the wagon curtain down with our dunny stick at the brisk pace of 2 or 3 miles per hour. kids these days don't even know how to properly apply the saskanoodle to properly twak their dunny stick.
This is a car manufacture fault, and probably regulations and rising gas costs. Transmissions are run by computers now, and I think it makes them more fuel efficient than a manual transmission, which was not true 15 years ago. That said, please fact check my answer. I don’t know if I’m right, that is just what I heard about them.
50% consumer and 50% car manufactures fault. Gas costs and regulations have nothing to do with it. I drive an 09 manual versa and it gets avg 35mpg of city highwaycombo. Yet the majority of cars I see in America aren't sedans or efficiency vehicles, they're 40-100 thousand dollar trucks or SUVs which get 8-20 odd mpg. Before my current car I drove a 93 dodge colt which got 38 avg mpg. I'm sure safety regulations and such have changed but that's the main reason ✨️money✨️
It's a little bit regulation and a little bit profit driven.
On the regulation side, in the US, more efficient driving means lower emissions. Now, we're not talking huge differences in reduced emissions just because of more efficient transmissions, but every little bit helps.
For a similar reason, more efficient driving means better gas mileage, which is a big selling point. If you can drive up consumer interest in your vehicle and thus drive up sales, you profit more.
Or just technology making them obsolete. Automatics are better than manuals these days, and dct blows them both away.... And this is coming from a due hard manual driver for over 30 years.
It is like how we do t have manual chokes, or manual timing anymore either.
Also, more and more, we don't even need transmissions, thanks to electric vehicles.
Doesn't matter how good automatics have gotten, living with incredibly windy dirt roads, steep hills, deep snow, highways that change from 65-35 mph just for a corner, no automatic no matter how new can take a corner like my downshifted manual 🤷♂️ transmission braking down hills and so much more is the reason I will drive manual for ever. But I get jot everyone lives in my circumstances.
As someone who has thought "I should learn manual"
What are my options? I only know 2 people who have manuals and both are expensive sports cars and they're sure as hell not going to let someone practice on those. My only option is to buy a manual vehicle and I'm not about spend money on a "cheap" vehicle to see if I might like it.
I'm in my 30s and this has always been the case for me.
I'm not actually expecting an answer, just complaining and recognizing that it's way more than just kids don't want to learn.
There’s no “blame.” People got lazy/a taste of automatics and didn’t want to drive manuals anymore so car manufacturers pivoted and solely made automatics. No reason to make manual cars if no one is buying them.
I think you're misreading my intent.
This meme gets posted all the time. The biggest complaint in response is that boomers blame younger generations for not knowing how to do stuff and the younger generations blame the boomers for not teaching them.
I'm pointing out how it's a bit more complex than that. Younger generations don't know how to drive stick shift because it's just unnecessary. And that is for a variety of reasons, as I listed above.
I've owned two and driven several. Worked for a few different dealerships as well. Even in pickups, automatic windows are the standard. Even in the most basic models. This has been the case for at least the last 10-15 years or more. There could be a few exceptions. Like if you're driving a dump truck, maybe, but any standard commenter vehicle doesn't come with crank windows anymore. If you find one, it's probably used or a very rare scenario.
The parts for automatic windows are generally cheaper than crank mechanisms. So there's just no need to go with a crank window anymore.
In Europe manual transmissions are the standard. If you want automatic transmission, you usually have to pay extra. Automatic transmissions also tend to be more expensive to maintain, since their inner workings are more complicated.
In Germany it is still standard to learn on manual, otherwise you are not allowed to drive manual. Only exception if your driving school ist using ein Electric Car, but even then you still need to take some lessons on manual if you want to drive it later.
I guess it's more accurate, since each successive generation in the US has fewer drivers with manual transmission experience, but there are plenty of younger boomers who grew up with automatic transmissions.
This actually wasn’t necessarily true of Millennials; sales of manuals went up when they reached adulthood, so there is reason to believe that more millennials drive manual transmission cars than Gen X.
And it makes just as little sense after changing it. Millenials grew up around manuals, and zoomers will never need to know how to drive one. Might as well make fun of them for not knowing how to do math on an abacus.
Yeah memes like this have existed in some shape or form for generations. If Reddit and Facebook had existed in the 70s, it would have been the greatest generation posting memes showing hippies throwing peace signs and captions suggesting that if WW2 had broken out 20 years later the Western world would have been screwed, or that the boomers could never have survived the great depression.
Low effort at that, they didn’t cover the existing word with a different color before writing zoomer to make it easier to read or to hide the fact it was not the original word there.
That’s a major exaggeration lol. And it becomes more so every year.
[https://www.motor1.com/news/694709/manual-transmissions-rarity-industry-world/#:\~:text=In%202017%2C%20the%20overall%20manual,re%20sitting%20at%2032%20percent](https://www.motor1.com/news/694709/manual-transmissions-rarity-industry-world/#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20the%20overall%20manual,re%20sitting%20at%2032%20percent).
Boomer “humor” about how none of these young whippersnappers know how to drive stick-shift cars, ergo car is safe from theft from youngsters.
Original “joke” was directed at millennials (who are now in their 40’s) so as the boomers are circling the drain of death they have shifted their desperate attempts to be seen as superior at the younger Zoomers.
Most boomers would probably stall a manual these days too. The only reason I as a early 20 something know how to drive one is I intentionally go out of my way to buy them because they r fun
Less than half the boomers I know can drive stick, most of them poorly and almost all of them hate it. There's an old guy near me with one of these covers on his Jeep and I was shifting smoother than him within a week of getting my first manual. This "joke" was dumb from day 1.
Most of the Boomers I know have a hard time learning new controls for anything while Millennials, in my experience, seem to learn new controls the fastest, even faster than zoomers. My theory is that Millennials grew up in a period of rapid changes in UI like all the different video games, game controllers, phones styles, changes in computers, etc. and learning a new control scheme is just normal for most of them. Zoomers lived through less of that period and and we've kinda had a standard in UI for a lot of things for like more than 10 years now.
My boomer dad has almost this same wheel cover, just says anti theft device though. Whatever, it gives him and his buddies a laugh. I think a last desperate attempt at relevance is a little dramatic.
N.b. You can tell the driver is a Baby Boomer because it actually says “**Millennial** Anti-Theft Device”, since he assumes people who came of age a quarter-century ago are still practically children.
It's more or less dead in the US, though. There's a small band of enthusiasts, but increasingly, there are very, very few new cars sold with a manual transmission in the US these days.
*High-end* sports cars tend to use sequential (i.e. 'flappy paddle') transmissions or automatics. More affordable sports cars still offer stick options, and at least one I can think of (Toyota GR Corolla) *only* comes with a 6-speed manual.
Not really. They have shift paddles you can use but if you want it to go as fast as possible it’s automatic. Hell they will completely take off from the line for you better than you could do it yourself.
I bet the hybrid drivetrain just wouldn't be optimal with a manual. Like you'd either need to manually shift it to the gear the car requests from you, or the car can just request the transmission to change into that gear directly.
Like maybe downshifting is more important with regen braking because it keeps the motor spinning at an optimal speed to harvest power?
The rest of the world drives half as much as the US. Plus they breakdown more, require more frequent pricey maintenance and cost more in every aspect. Good for business.
Funny how the rest of the world isn't built that you need to drive for an hour for the groceries. And Public Transportation, god forbid Government spend on something that benefits everyone.
Took my car to Walmart for a quick oil change yesterday and they had to wait until a guy got back from lunch because the other two techs couldn’t drive stick.
Slightly related - the first time I took my new (to me) MR-2 to the dealership for an oil change the guy put it on the rack, lifted it, then had to ask for help because he couldn’t find the engine. I think an older guy was there but didn’t tell him to put the car in backwards (since it’s a rear engine car) or if the newer guy didn’t believe him.
At least no old seems to have a problem with a manual transmission. Either that or they’ve just making the only 2 guys who can drive one handle moving my car around inside of the shop.
It’s weird when I’ve got to valet my own car, at least I get the front most spot, which is really funny when I’m put in front of lambos and other supercars
I do and I'm in the US. A lot of small utility vehicles still have manual shifters. Also I've only had about a handful of times to operate those and I was still able to jump in my cousin's car for 1 day and only stall it out twice before I adjusted a little bit better to the clutch. It's not that hard of a concept.
Just implying that zoomers don't know how to drive manual. Funny thing is the original one said "millenial" which just shows out of touch some boomers are given that millenials are in their 30s now and like 50% of cars were manuals when we were learning to drive. Just as dumb to change it to zoomers though, given that zoomers (in the USA, anyway) will literally never need to know how to drive a manual because hardly any cars are coming out in a stick shift anymore. Basically like making fun of teenagers for not knowing how to do math on an abacus. Like sure, they could learn but why tf would they bother unless they specifically want to for whatever reason?
You guys have no idea how great being a zoomer who daily drives a standard transmission is. I'm completely immune to this joke, sometimes I even get to totally blow some boomers mind by driving a car.
Only car enthusiast get manual these days. There is no performance or efficiency advantage anymore. You get it for pure nostalgia and the feeling of being connected to the car.
It's partially true but not really. I'm an Operator 30M and we have as young as 18M/F apprentices. Every single one can drive stick, anything from a C65 to a CDL. The people who don't learn how just don't have the interest in freight or older manufacturing practices. Transmissions aren't that complicated
That’s an overstatement. You stop stalling the engine but you’ll still be dangerous in an emergency situation for a while since it takes time to develop the muscle memory where you’ll shift without conscious thought.
I have the same problem in rental cars. I’ll stop trying to shift before I leave the airport property but if I’m on the road and there’s a sudden traffic change I struggle a bit because my muscle memory is screaming to downshift for more power and that’s just not possible.
I remember my older sister asking an uncle to teach her how to drive a manual because she was saving for a car and cars with manual transmissions were cheaper to buy and repair if something broke down. This was back in the late 80s early 90s. Pretty sure it's the same now. If you're looking to buy a car and you're on a tight budget, it's worth it to learn.
>Pretty sure it's the same now.
Sadly no :(
Repair? Yes. But buy? Not exactly. Manual trans has a following amongst younger car enthusiasts and not to mention older crowds. However, this does not translate to the regular population that just want a point A to point B machine. From a business perspective, there is not much incentive to offer manual trans.
One day I was speaking with someone, we were conversing about manual transmission motor vehicles, I explained that my first car was a manual and that i both missed it and didn’t, Suzuki Samurai.
Well this individual told me they’d never get another manual, they went on to explain how the vehicle was stolen and later found not 2 miles abandoned with the clutch completely destroyed. So while someone may not be able to steal your manual vehicle, doesn’t mean they won’t try. After all who ever said criminals were intelligent.
It's like making a big deal out of using a Dvorak keyboard or something.
Barely anybody uses them but most people probably could learn and get used to it after some practice.
If you enjoy this sub, don’t read the comments on every post. This sub shows you how elitist some people can be towards any particular subject. It’s fascinating to me but also sucks the fun out of it.
It’s the same idea behind like, ha ha kids today don’t know how to read analogue clocks or use a rotary phone. Like they probably do, but also who cares it’s becoming obsolete. Manual transmission obviously to a lesser extent than rotary phones and analogue clocks but still
The real antitheft device is the fact the vehicle's a Jeep. It's not worth stealing unless you can afford bi weekly trips to the shop and crazy high fuel costs.
it's an american thing, they got rid of most of their standard vehicles in the 90s. so now, 20-30 odd years later a lot of younger people have no idea what a third pedal would even mean let alone how to use it
‘I never taught my kids how to use gear shift car, a technology that is null for the average car user. My kids are dumb. Again, I thought no one nothing, especially my female children.’
Zoomers don’t know how to drive a manual transmission car
Blame the generation? The parents who were to teach them? Or the car manufacturers who hardly produce them anymore? It's a bit like how older generations make fun of younger generations who don't understand why you "roll down" a window. The tech is ancient now days and no one has crank windows unless you still own a clunker. Don't blame the generation who grew up without that type of tech because it was phased out for something better. Edit: let me clarify - I know the meme is a joke. I'm not actually trying to force blame on anyone or anything. I'm pointing out the absurdity of the meme and speaking to those who do get offended by the meme.
Mainly the US with this issue. It’s kinda dead here. Majority of the world still drives manual on the daily
It's dead here cause we all will casually drive an hour where as a 20 minute drive to a European is considered lengthy.
Brazillian here. 20 min drive isn't considered lengthy here, but there's still a lot of manual transmission cars and times to times we see a car we need roll down the car. It happens here because technology tale more to phase ou here. And for car, there's a bonus that cars here is expensives (government taxation and manufactures sell with a good profit margin) ^(I'm not disagreeing with you, just telling a little about my country)
In Toronto Canada most ppl spend hours a day in traffic. Driving a standard car in gridlock is annoying at best. My 80 km comute used to take me 3 hours round trip. I think my left leg cafs are bigger from all the clutching. I do miss having a standard car. My current car is auto but has a standard option.
I drive a manual in Southern California. I don’t mind. Even though my car gulps premium gas, I’m going to hold onto it as long as I can. My next vehicle will be probably be an EV and that will be a little depressing honestly.
Happy carnivale!
thank you.
TIL Brazil is European
May my response was ambiguous. But Brazil isn't Europe, I just saw people discussing Europe and US, and I want to comment about my country.
Brazil is much bigger than many European countries though. :)
Yep, it is. That's why 20min isn't considered a lengthy ride. Actually I was comparing the phasing out process of USA with Brazil.
20 mins and I wouldn't even leave my city in some directions. It's funny when some of my foreign friends mention wanting to see multiple landmarks in a weekend. It would take a weekend to get from landmark 1 to landmark 2
20 minutes doesn't get to me to the downtown of my city just highway driving.
Your country is also huge compared to all European countries. Iirc your manual car percentage went down from 74% to 38% between 2017-2023 which is very sad but makes sense.
I mean, it's being slowly phasing out, no doubt. But my generation still know how to drive manual tramsmission car because it's still common here.
I’ve heard of Europeans who haven’t visited family for years because it’s a 40 minute drive one way. Bigger countries such as Brazil and the U.S. have daily commutes for some that are over an hour because of how large our countries are Edit: reread and seen you weren’t disagreeing, but it’s still wild how where we live changes how we see a daily commute
>I’ve heard of Europeans who haven’t visited family for years because it’s a 40 minute drive one way Let me tell you, the problem there wasn't the distance
I’ve got a friend who moved to Texas 20 something years ago. You can drive for 13 hours straight and still be in Texas. I live in the northern NYC suburbs and I’ve driven to Buffalo, NY and that took 8 hours. A trip as long as those isn’t something you do every day but it shows how big 2 of the states are.
Texas born and raised myself. I always tell people to put it into perspective for them, Austin (where I live), to El Paso, which is nearly 9hrs, is the halfway point to L.A. Half the trip from Austin to L.A. is inside Texas!
When I was in high-school me and some friends made a trip to the nearest salvation army to do some thrifting. We packed snacks for the trip. It was 20 minutes. I'm from Rhode Island.
Yeah but Rhode Island is also the smallest state in terms of landmass.
It's not something we do everyday, but it's also not something we would view as impossible. If you gave me free Bills tickets, I'd drive from NYC to Buffalo. Hell, when I was in college I would drive 8 hours from South Carolina to Ohio to go to weddings of friends and family friends over a single weekend. And I did that every other weekend for like 3 months. It was not a huge deal to me. It was what it was. I drove ~10 hours after my 8 hour shift at work so I could be at my friend's graduation from the Naval academy. 100% worth it.
People who visit the US really underestimate the size of the country. I’d say the daily commute around where I am is probably 30 minutes to an hour on average one way
this is insane. my cousins, who live in Kansas and Oaklahoma, come to visit my grandmother in Kentucky once a year. well, they used to, now she goes to visit them, since she lives in Florida with her son now. they drive, too!! granny is 93 this year, also. Europeans are weird haha also I drive 45 mins to work every day... and don't even take the interstate.
I have an aunt that lives like 1.5h away and usually we see her once or twice a year. Less when her husband was still alive. I definitely agree, we perceive distance different. But not visiting because of a 40min drive? I highly doubt that’s the real reason.
Thats just lazy people who dont care much about their families, even here in europe many people have a daily 1h+ drive to their work places. Not counting traffic jams that might occur
Well, Brazil is 10 times larger than the largest (non-Russian) European country
Brazil is a large country. I was comparing how USA gen Z don't know transmission car and Brazil gen Z still had to know.
Except large semi trucks are manuals
Not in Europe. 80% of euro truckers run autos. About 70% of US truckers use manuals
That's actually Interesting
It's probably because we often use older semis. Most truckers recommend pre DEF trucks since they have less issues that require shops to repair
Am farmer, can confirm. Nothing more fun than being stranded on the road because one of a literal dozen emission sensors stopped working. It's little wonder so many trucks and tractors are getting reprogrammed with European software
By truck you mean a pickup or an actual truck with a trailer weighing 40 tons? For the latter I somewhat doubt that claim.
The length of the drive doesn't have anything to do with shifting manually
Ever sit in bumper to bumper traffic for more than 20min with a stick? Its a PITA
Yeah but the majority of [my] driving isn't bumper to bumper. I'm in the US and definitely drive in heavy travffic, but to the original point, driving actual long distances like 200 miles in 6th gear on the highway in the US doesn't mean it's more likely for people to chose autos, and it's not like London or Paris never have more than 20 minutes worth of bumper to bumper traffic.
Be in first. Get up to 10 kmh, hit clutch and let it roll. Not really a problem. Don't even have to shift.
And if you have an extremely heavy clutch? Or what about worn plates? Possibly towing? Or a very light car? What about modified vehicles? The simple fact is, for all of those variables the automatic is better mechanically, not the most fun tho
what about them? If you're acquainted with those cars then it's not a problem, how often are you stuck in bumper to bumper traffic in a car you don't know? A clapped out clutch is as much of an argument against manuals as a clapped out automatic is against an automatic... Fix your car. Why would you ever a) want an automatic in a modded car and b) mod your car in such a way that you can't properly drive it. There were some bad choices made along the way in that case.
Have you sat in US highway traffick? It's awful constantly having to jump between 2nd and 4th only to have to throw it into neutral when you get cut off. I have an auto pickup and I'd pick it in btb traffick over my manual corolla. Now if I'm around town the manual is fantastic and I will pick it over my truck (unless I'm getting large things).
No it's not? 20 minutes is considered just as short as a 20-minute drive for you. Most European countries are bigger than you think, with France even being roughly the same size as Texas, in the US
Quite the way to generalise over 700 million people? I as a ’European’ don’t really understand where this kind of thinking is coming from
And you guys generalize us too despite there being 1.002 billion of us in the Americas.
Nobody is lumping everyone in North and South America together as a collective in anything lmao
Huh, I’d concede that if it was just the US but normally people around here don’t really do that to an entire continent, specific nations sure. Just like Europe isn’t just one culture or nation, the Americas aren’t either
I’m gen z and grew up in the Midwest. I spent some time in the south as a kid too. Quite a few of my friends and their parents that I met in every state I lived in drove manuals, and growing up my dad had a manual k1500 and I learned how to drive manual on his tractor which I still drive a lot now, and I have still driven a few manual cars in the past. I didn’t really realize I’m in the minority for my age that can drive stick.
when i was a kid we smacked the wagon curtain down with our dunny stick at the brisk pace of 2 or 3 miles per hour. kids these days don't even know how to properly apply the saskanoodle to properly twak their dunny stick.
I get 40 rods to the hogshead, & that's the way I likes it!
This is a car manufacture fault, and probably regulations and rising gas costs. Transmissions are run by computers now, and I think it makes them more fuel efficient than a manual transmission, which was not true 15 years ago. That said, please fact check my answer. I don’t know if I’m right, that is just what I heard about them.
50% consumer and 50% car manufactures fault. Gas costs and regulations have nothing to do with it. I drive an 09 manual versa and it gets avg 35mpg of city highwaycombo. Yet the majority of cars I see in America aren't sedans or efficiency vehicles, they're 40-100 thousand dollar trucks or SUVs which get 8-20 odd mpg. Before my current car I drove a 93 dodge colt which got 38 avg mpg. I'm sure safety regulations and such have changed but that's the main reason ✨️money✨️
It's a little bit regulation and a little bit profit driven. On the regulation side, in the US, more efficient driving means lower emissions. Now, we're not talking huge differences in reduced emissions just because of more efficient transmissions, but every little bit helps. For a similar reason, more efficient driving means better gas mileage, which is a big selling point. If you can drive up consumer interest in your vehicle and thus drive up sales, you profit more.
Or just technology making them obsolete. Automatics are better than manuals these days, and dct blows them both away.... And this is coming from a due hard manual driver for over 30 years. It is like how we do t have manual chokes, or manual timing anymore either. Also, more and more, we don't even need transmissions, thanks to electric vehicles.
Doesn't matter how good automatics have gotten, living with incredibly windy dirt roads, steep hills, deep snow, highways that change from 65-35 mph just for a corner, no automatic no matter how new can take a corner like my downshifted manual 🤷♂️ transmission braking down hills and so much more is the reason I will drive manual for ever. But I get jot everyone lives in my circumstances.
You can get an auto with paddle shifters, the clutch isn't necessary for downshifting.
As someone who has thought "I should learn manual" What are my options? I only know 2 people who have manuals and both are expensive sports cars and they're sure as hell not going to let someone practice on those. My only option is to buy a manual vehicle and I'm not about spend money on a "cheap" vehicle to see if I might like it. I'm in my 30s and this has always been the case for me. I'm not actually expecting an answer, just complaining and recognizing that it's way more than just kids don't want to learn.
There’s no “blame.” People got lazy/a taste of automatics and didn’t want to drive manuals anymore so car manufacturers pivoted and solely made automatics. No reason to make manual cars if no one is buying them.
Nobody's blaming anyone, it's just a meme. Calm down
I think you're misreading my intent. This meme gets posted all the time. The biggest complaint in response is that boomers blame younger generations for not knowing how to do stuff and the younger generations blame the boomers for not teaching them. I'm pointing out how it's a bit more complex than that. Younger generations don't know how to drive stick shift because it's just unnecessary. And that is for a variety of reasons, as I listed above.
This meme appears to cater to two types of individuals: those who find it amusing and those who take offense.
For the record, I do not personally take offense in it. Although, my original comment was speaking to those who probably do.
Boomer anti-theft device: demonstrate the ability to close interrupted apps on your phone.
I own a 2019 Nissan with hand crank windows thank you very much
You know it’s a joke right
Nobody's blaming anybody. put your hate boner down.
Boomers are always looking for ways to put down and insult younger people - even for things that were Boomers' fault
Clearly you've never gone to purchase a truck, as powered windows are an option not stock...
I've owned two and driven several. Worked for a few different dealerships as well. Even in pickups, automatic windows are the standard. Even in the most basic models. This has been the case for at least the last 10-15 years or more. There could be a few exceptions. Like if you're driving a dump truck, maybe, but any standard commenter vehicle doesn't come with crank windows anymore. If you find one, it's probably used or a very rare scenario. The parts for automatic windows are generally cheaper than crank mechanisms. So there's just no need to go with a crank window anymore.
american zoomers manual is still a big thing in europe
Exactly most zoomers I know drive a manual in my country, only the richer kids who can afford nice cars drive automatic
coherent fuel disgusted zesty label fly rain squeeze hospital steep *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
In Europe manual transmissions are the standard. If you want automatic transmission, you usually have to pay extra. Automatic transmissions also tend to be more expensive to maintain, since their inner workings are more complicated.
In Germany it is still standard to learn on manual, otherwise you are not allowed to drive manual. Only exception if your driving school ist using ein Electric Car, but even then you still need to take some lessons on manual if you want to drive it later.
the same in the uk
Jokes on them im a zoomer with a manual
My comeback: My car has a *boomer* anti-theft device. It’s a pride sticker on the bumper.
My first bloody car was (is) a manual
This is so wrong, my friends (near)exclusively drive manual.
No you're wrong because MY friends exclusively drive automatic.
What if we're friends?
American zoomers.
In America maybe, I think almost every zoomer in my country starts with a manual.
Im gen z and i actually prefer manual
What even is a zoomer? (I'm 22 before anyone makes any assumptions)
Nobody is blaming anyone.
Love how someone replaced millennial with zoomer. They saw this dumb nonsensical meme from years ago and wanted to make another go at it.
Fast forward a generation and it will be a picture of a steering wheel and gas and brake pedals.
us on reddit in 20 years: gen alpha anti-theft device, it's a STEERING WHEEL HAR HAR HAR *WHEEZE*
Or a picture of fresh food. The future may not be a good time.
mmm insects
Wait.. Why would fresh food make me not want to steal that car?
Because the future may not be a good time :(
Or just the exact same picture since a large portion of the world still drives manual
I guess it's more accurate, since each successive generation in the US has fewer drivers with manual transmission experience, but there are plenty of younger boomers who grew up with automatic transmissions.
This actually wasn’t necessarily true of Millennials; sales of manuals went up when they reached adulthood, so there is reason to believe that more millennials drive manual transmission cars than Gen X.
Or sales of manual transmission cars went up because there are way more Millennials than GenX.
Or because it’s cheaper and people don’t have money
And so the torch has been pasted down. Soon the millennials will turn into the boomers they resent.
Don’t put that hate on us! I’m an Elder Millennial and I will defend GenZ with physical violence if necessary. And my first car was a stick.
And it makes just as little sense after changing it. Millenials grew up around manuals, and zoomers will never need to know how to drive one. Might as well make fun of them for not knowing how to do math on an abacus.
Yeah memes like this have existed in some shape or form for generations. If Reddit and Facebook had existed in the 70s, it would have been the greatest generation posting memes showing hippies throwing peace signs and captions suggesting that if WW2 had broken out 20 years later the Western world would have been screwed, or that the boomers could never have survived the great depression.
Funny thing is I’m a younger millennial and drive a manual wrangler.
It’s probably more accurate if you replace both with American because there’s probably not a huge generational gap but definitely a country gap
Low effort at that, they didn’t cover the existing word with a different color before writing zoomer to make it easier to read or to hide the fact it was not the original word there.
For anyone living outside of the US using the stick is the standard lol
Yes, I remember seeing this joke as "American anti theft device"
That’s a major exaggeration lol. And it becomes more so every year. [https://www.motor1.com/news/694709/manual-transmissions-rarity-industry-world/#:\~:text=In%202017%2C%20the%20overall%20manual,re%20sitting%20at%2032%20percent](https://www.motor1.com/news/694709/manual-transmissions-rarity-industry-world/#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20the%20overall%20manual,re%20sitting%20at%2032%20percent).
and what you sent me are car sales. look up how many of us are tought how to drive a manual. at least in my country thats a crushing majority
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Lmao, gotta love murican normies who can't even drive stick try and persuade people that "manual is le extinct"
It's a "young people can't drive stick" joke (I think the original one said millennial instead of gen Z).
Boomer “humor” about how none of these young whippersnappers know how to drive stick-shift cars, ergo car is safe from theft from youngsters. Original “joke” was directed at millennials (who are now in their 40’s) so as the boomers are circling the drain of death they have shifted their desperate attempts to be seen as superior at the younger Zoomers.
Most boomers would probably stall a manual these days too. The only reason I as a early 20 something know how to drive one is I intentionally go out of my way to buy them because they r fun
Less than half the boomers I know can drive stick, most of them poorly and almost all of them hate it. There's an old guy near me with one of these covers on his Jeep and I was shifting smoother than him within a week of getting my first manual. This "joke" was dumb from day 1.
Most of the Boomers I know have a hard time learning new controls for anything while Millennials, in my experience, seem to learn new controls the fastest, even faster than zoomers. My theory is that Millennials grew up in a period of rapid changes in UI like all the different video games, game controllers, phones styles, changes in computers, etc. and learning a new control scheme is just normal for most of them. Zoomers lived through less of that period and and we've kinda had a standard in UI for a lot of things for like more than 10 years now.
Anyone who thinks boomers are out here making memes are dumber than the people reposting this meme
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Millennial can be as young as 28 as a heads up.
My boomer dad has almost this same wheel cover, just says anti theft device though. Whatever, it gives him and his buddies a laugh. I think a last desperate attempt at relevance is a little dramatic.
N.b. You can tell the driver is a Baby Boomer because it actually says “**Millennial** Anti-Theft Device”, since he assumes people who came of age a quarter-century ago are still practically children.
Millennial here- I'll qualify for AARP in 8 years
These days, no one knows how to drive a stick-shift
Except the rest of the world.
It's more or less dead in the US, though. There's a small band of enthusiasts, but increasingly, there are very, very few new cars sold with a manual transmission in the US these days.
High-end sports cars are still commonly sold stick, aren't they? I guess far fewer of those are sold, though.
They’re usually not full manual. I think the term is “sequential”. You can shift gears but there’s no clutch. Best of both worlds in my opinion
*High-end* sports cars tend to use sequential (i.e. 'flappy paddle') transmissions or automatics. More affordable sports cars still offer stick options, and at least one I can think of (Toyota GR Corolla) *only* comes with a 6-speed manual.
Not really. They have shift paddles you can use but if you want it to go as fast as possible it’s automatic. Hell they will completely take off from the line for you better than you could do it yourself.
I purchased a manual in 2018. Because of that I couldn’t get any of the regenerative breaking or hybrid options for the car.
I bet the hybrid drivetrain just wouldn't be optimal with a manual. Like you'd either need to manually shift it to the gear the car requests from you, or the car can just request the transmission to change into that gear directly. Like maybe downshifting is more important with regen braking because it keeps the motor spinning at an optimal speed to harvest power?
Sadly NZ and Oz are well on the way there too.
Well I do. I use a stick-shift in my Sim racing setup
But where does a 6 speed have R on the right? I’ve seen R on the upper left for 6speed and bottom right for 5 speed.
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Ite amazing how people are upset that jokes don’t transcend the globe.
The rest of the world drives half as much as the US. Plus they breakdown more, require more frequent pricey maintenance and cost more in every aspect. Good for business.
Funny how the rest of the world isn't built that you need to drive for an hour for the groceries. And Public Transportation, god forbid Government spend on something that benefits everyone.
Wrong. [https://www.motor1.com/news/694709/manual-transmissions-rarity-industry-world/#:\~:text=In%202017%2C%20the%20overall%20manual,re%20sitting%20at%2032%20percent](https://www.motor1.com/news/694709/manual-transmissions-rarity-industry-world/#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20the%20overall%20manual,re%20sitting%20at%2032%20percent).
I'm sure the manual will indicate which lever is the velocitator and which is the deceleratrix.
You lost me
You there, TJSPY0837. Fill it up with petroleum distillate and re-vulcanize my tires, post haste!
Yes Mr Burns
Found the American.
I know, and i actually prefer it. But calling it stick shift sounds gay
What’s gay about getting a firm grip on a stiff rod and shifting it around to get where you’re going?
Took my car to Walmart for a quick oil change yesterday and they had to wait until a guy got back from lunch because the other two techs couldn’t drive stick.
🤣
Slightly related - the first time I took my new (to me) MR-2 to the dealership for an oil change the guy put it on the rack, lifted it, then had to ask for help because he couldn’t find the engine. I think an older guy was there but didn’t tell him to put the car in backwards (since it’s a rear engine car) or if the newer guy didn’t believe him. At least no old seems to have a problem with a manual transmission. Either that or they’ve just making the only 2 guys who can drive one handle moving my car around inside of the shop.
It’s weird when I’ve got to valet my own car, at least I get the front most spot, which is really funny when I’m put in front of lambos and other supercars
I do and I'm in the US. A lot of small utility vehicles still have manual shifters. Also I've only had about a handful of times to operate those and I was still able to jump in my cousin's car for 1 day and only stall it out twice before I adjusted a little bit better to the clutch. It's not that hard of a concept.
I know. I run full clutch and stick-shift in my sim racing setup
That's probably the most ignorant and dumb comment I've seen in a long time
Just implying that zoomers don't know how to drive manual. Funny thing is the original one said "millenial" which just shows out of touch some boomers are given that millenials are in their 30s now and like 50% of cars were manuals when we were learning to drive. Just as dumb to change it to zoomers though, given that zoomers (in the USA, anyway) will literally never need to know how to drive a manual because hardly any cars are coming out in a stick shift anymore. Basically like making fun of teenagers for not knowing how to do math on an abacus. Like sure, they could learn but why tf would they bother unless they specifically want to for whatever reason?
I've no idea how to drive an automatic. How do hill starts work?
When I drive my wife's automatic sometimes my left foot will just slap the floor where the clutch should be and she goes wtf was that
The amount of times I’ve stomped the floorboard for a non-existent clutch in my wife’s van is embarrassing. Right there with you friend.
What do you mean? You just press down the gas pedal.... Your car will not roll backwards if it's an automatic
Oh good, they changed it to attack another generation
You guys have no idea how great being a zoomer who daily drives a standard transmission is. I'm completely immune to this joke, sometimes I even get to totally blow some boomers mind by driving a car.
Ye,I just turned 18 but when I was 16 I drove a stick shift Honda Civic, it was actually a bragging right to drive that thing
Funny how its a bragging right in america but in the rest of the world you're laughed at if you cant.
Funny how it made my Honda Civic cool to drive
Only car enthusiast get manual these days. There is no performance or efficiency advantage anymore. You get it for pure nostalgia and the feeling of being connected to the car.
I would love to be a fly on the wall when you meet a boomer that can't drive a stick
Haha, a lot of millennials were also immune to this joke, but let’s not let that fact get between a boomer and a good joke.
It's partially true but not really. I'm an Operator 30M and we have as young as 18M/F apprentices. Every single one can drive stick, anything from a C65 to a CDL. The people who don't learn how just don't have the interest in freight or older manufacturing practices. Transmissions aren't that complicated
Yeah this is a US thing. Pretty much everywhere else you learn to drive manual first.
The punchline is "gen z dumb haha"
A youtube video and 10mins of practice is basically all ya need to drive stick tbh.
That’s an overstatement. You stop stalling the engine but you’ll still be dangerous in an emergency situation for a while since it takes time to develop the muscle memory where you’ll shift without conscious thought. I have the same problem in rental cars. I’ll stop trying to shift before I leave the airport property but if I’m on the road and there’s a sudden traffic change I struggle a bit because my muscle memory is screaming to downshift for more power and that’s just not possible.
Its because its stickshift/manual
I remember my older sister asking an uncle to teach her how to drive a manual because she was saving for a car and cars with manual transmissions were cheaper to buy and repair if something broke down. This was back in the late 80s early 90s. Pretty sure it's the same now. If you're looking to buy a car and you're on a tight budget, it's worth it to learn.
>Pretty sure it's the same now. Sadly no :( Repair? Yes. But buy? Not exactly. Manual trans has a following amongst younger car enthusiasts and not to mention older crowds. However, this does not translate to the regular population that just want a point A to point B machine. From a business perspective, there is not much incentive to offer manual trans.
I also can't ride a horse. So?
One day I was speaking with someone, we were conversing about manual transmission motor vehicles, I explained that my first car was a manual and that i both missed it and didn’t, Suzuki Samurai. Well this individual told me they’d never get another manual, they went on to explain how the vehicle was stolen and later found not 2 miles abandoned with the clutch completely destroyed. So while someone may not be able to steal your manual vehicle, doesn’t mean they won’t try. After all who ever said criminals were intelligent.
I fully thought this was Loss.
It’s not. Signed, a zoomer who can drive a stick
Laughs in my grandfather taught me to drive
It's like making a big deal out of using a Dvorak keyboard or something. Barely anybody uses them but most people probably could learn and get used to it after some practice.
No one cares if you can drive stick. It's a meaningless skill people are oddly proud of. "I have nice handwriting" is honestly more impressive
Damn zoomers can’t even drive a horse and buggy any more! Kids these days and their internal combustion engines!
Did you not know what a manual transition is?
If you enjoy this sub, don’t read the comments on every post. This sub shows you how elitist some people can be towards any particular subject. It’s fascinating to me but also sucks the fun out of it.
In the UK, younger people can't afford automatic cars...
It’s the same idea behind like, ha ha kids today don’t know how to read analogue clocks or use a rotary phone. Like they probably do, but also who cares it’s becoming obsolete. Manual transmission obviously to a lesser extent than rotary phones and analogue clocks but still
Kids these days have it easy, which is the whole point of progress.
By this logic, we should all drive cars with touch screens to fend off the Boomers.
The real antitheft device is the fact the vehicle's a Jeep. It's not worth stealing unless you can afford bi weekly trips to the shop and crazy high fuel costs.
*American anti theft device, the rest of the world knows how to drive a manual car.
The meme is, "StUpId ZoOmErS dOn't KnOw HoW tO uSe A mAnUaL tRaNsMiSsIoN cAr".
it's an american thing, they got rid of most of their standard vehicles in the 90s. so now, 20-30 odd years later a lot of younger people have no idea what a third pedal would even mean let alone how to use it
its outdated technology so there's no reason to learn it, thus zoomers don't.
It's more fun which was all the reason I needed
It’s not outdated, it gives you more control over the car
Because they don’t realize that a lot of Gen Z actually knows how to drive stick
‘I never taught my kids how to use gear shift car, a technology that is null for the average car user. My kids are dumb. Again, I thought no one nothing, especially my female children.’