20 thoughts on “Vehicle Theft”

  1. They are the most common variety here in Europe. The people with automatic gear cars are usually disabled. The cars with automatic gears are more expensive and it is one more component to break so people don’t buy them that much.

  2. Can’t say. What I can say is that I’ve been shopping for a used Honda the past few months, and the ratio of manuals to automatics is nearly 1-1 here in southwest Ohio.

    Alas, that includes the kids who can’t wait to get their hands on a hatchback just so they can “improve” it with all the rice-burner stuff.

  3. Could someone do me a big favor and tell me what the page Rand linked shows? Specifically, how it suggests preventing auto theft? Just a one sentence summary would be great. I’d love to read it, but all I get is a facebook “This content is unavailable” message. I suspect that it’s restricted content: you need to have a facebook account to see it.

    Thanks.

      1. Thanks Rand.

        So what you’re saying is manual transmissions are harder to steal? I’ve owned both automatics and manuals, and that surprises me. Any idea why manuals are harder to steal? My guess; it’s true in the US because a heck of a lot of Americans can’t drive a manual, and that includes car thieves. 🙂 There would also be less demand.

        In my area (Northern Arizona) automatics outnumber standards by about 10-1 or more, with most standards being sports cars.

        When I’m overseas, I rent a standard – they tend to charge a premium for automatics. This does, however, make for some stress if I’m a bit out of practice and find myself getting re-aqainted with a stick in the hectic traffic (such as in Rome) after a 20 hour trip. I find it even harder if I’m also dealing with driving on the left and shifting with my left hand.

        1. So what you’re saying is manual transmissions are harder to steal?

          Yes, for people who don’t know how to drive a stick, which is many people who are inclined to steal cars.

          1. Many car thieves do seem somewhat deficient between the ears. 🙂

            When I was in college, a friend of mine was renting a place in a higher crime area. He had a fairly nice souped up car, and usually locked it in the home’s tiny garage.

            However, one day he was doing some work on it and had it curbside. He left it there for a lunch break. A thief walked up, shut the hood (which ought to have been a clue) got in, hotwired it in seconds, and roared off. My friend and several of his roomates gave chase on foot.

            Still on the table next to my friend’s lunch was the master brake cylinder, which he was rebuilding. The thief did not get far.

        2. I drove manual transmission vehicles for over 20 years before switching to automatics due to knee pain and over 20 traffic lights each way between home and work. I can drive either although I’m rusty with stick shifts. When I went to England a couple years ago on a business trip, I rented an automatic. It was enough of a challenge driving and navigating on the other side of the road without the added chore of trying to shift with my left hand.

          1. I hear you, Larry. I’ve had my left knee repaired twice, and while I love driving with a stick I appreciate the convenience of the automatic.

            Of course, the paddle shifters on the 6-speed auto in the Mini Cooper S are a blast when you’re on a winding mountain road… it may offend a purist, but it’s still a lot of fun. I back off when the stability augmentation system starts growling at me.

  4. I’ve always owned manuals, and will continue as long as manufacturers build sports cars with them.

    But on the England topic: I have no problem driving on the “wrong” side of the road. My brains sets some sort of “mirror bit” and I do fine, even through roundabouts. (Which I actually like.)

    EXCEPT shifting gears… because the damned shift pattern is NOT mirrored. So I’m always finding first gear when I’m seeking fifth, or vice versa.

    I pay extra for an automatic transmission in the UK, BVI, etc.

    1. I have a hard time sleeping on planes (which is a good trait for a private pilot but lousy for an airline passenger), so I’d been awake for about 24 hours when I got to the car rental company. When I sat in the right seat, it just seemed so wrong. The place where I was working was over an hour outside of London. While I’m used to the occassional roundabout, they seem to use them for most intersections in England. Navigation under those conditions was an interesting experience. I’m so glad that I rented an automatic. Combining fatique, unfamiliar navigation and left lane driving were challenging enough without adding left-handed shifting to the mix. My rental car was considerably larger than most other cars which made driving on the narrow roads even more fun.

  5. I’ve always wanted to obtain an early 60’s Falcon (column shifter and manual choke) and leave it downtown with the windows rolled down and the keys on the seat and film people trying to steal it.

    The Wired article (which I read earlier today) is simply stupid. The hardest part about learning to drive a stick is understanding how to let up the clutch from a dead stop. Nobody needs feedback on when to upshift in the form of a vibrating stick handle.

    2. I put 67,000 miles on an 66 Ford Econoline van (I called it Pigvan). It was cheap and served its purpose (hauling airplane parts and other big stuff) but not much fun to drive. Half the guages didn’t work (gas guage read half when the tank was full). I was pulled over by a state trooper once who asked me if I knew how fast I was going. I honestly told him that I didn’t. He took another look at the van and let me go. The front end could never be aligned properly and the wheels toed out, meaning it ate tires and had a built-in ditch-seeking guidance system. It didn’t have seatbelts but I rigged one for the driver’s seat. It wouldn’t have helped very much. In a wreck, the bolts likely would’ve pulled through. There was very little structure in front of my feet so any significant impact would’ve probably cost me both legs. The column shifter sometimes jammed so I’d have to park the van and reach through the grill to unjam it.

    3. I think our first 4 or 5 cars were 3 on the tree or floor shifters 4 and 5 speed.

      I had a 1966 Ford Falcon VAN. 3 speed column shift. The guy I bought it from, had tried to change both front tires by lifting the van with a floor jack under the oil pan. It made a HORRENDOUS noise with the crank shaft banging on the inside of the oil pan.

      We called it, The Tank.

      We had a 1969 Challenger, about 17 feet long, 11 feet wide [or so it seemed], 3 speed on the column, it was some weird ‘Crap Copper Flake’ color, so we named it the Brown Beast. The car had been in a cross intersection wreck, hit by two cars, one on the front right quarter panel, one on the left rear quarter panel. The frame was twisted a little and when the clutch got ‘old’ it would shudder violently when you took off in 1st gear. And old was around 6K to 10K miles, I delivered pizzas in that puppy, so 6K to 10K got there fast!.

      We drove that thing for 2 years, or 6 to 7 clutch assembly replacements, which ever came first.

      I got so good at replacing that clutch assy, on my back, in the driveway, front tires on ramps, that the last 2 or 3 took less than an hour, from tires on ramps, old one OUT, new one IN, driving away, ramps in trunk. That was the 1st ride my wife worked on. She could do the clutch, alone by herself, in about 3 hours.

      I do NOT miss those old days, not one…little…bit!

    4. How about Madigan’s Millions, where Dustin Hoffman fresh from The Graduate plays Jason Fister, a clueless sleuth on the trail to Italy of a deceased mobster’s ill-gotten money?

      The scene where he gets into a Lancia or similar Italian sedan with a four-speed “on the tree” and tries to drive it like an American automatic had me on the floor howling. Didn’t see the rest of the movie — it was one of those weekend TV movies and I guess I had other stuff to do.

  6. We bought my wife a little 5 speed Kia after we moved out here to the boonies. The car is paying for itself in gas savings alone over the F-150, and I do understand the engine size is the deal.

    But when we bought it, I was shocked at the number of ADULTS who could not and had never driven a straight drive. I didn’t expect too many younger adults to have the skill. But about half the people our age, late 50’s, we know cannot drive a stick.

    When my wife told one of her MALE, 30something work mates that she had a new 5-speed car, he asked her if she used to drive a truck before she became a computer engineer. Being of sound mind, she reminded him she had the F-150, but it’s automatic. She let him stammer on with,

    .
    .
    “…NO, I meant like a big truck, over…the road…one of those…..tractor….trailer….. type things….for a living…”.
    .
    .
    I tried to teach my then 20 year old niece to drive the 5-speed, while she was living with us. She’s not prone to break downs or tears, but she cried and told me it was too much trouble to learn to something “almost nobody cares about now”.

  7. I have owned manuals in the past, and understand their advantages even against the best current automatic transmission technology. The key one, I believe, is that as the driver you know what you intend to do next (take a turn, pass a car, etc.) and can shift proactively for your planned action; an automatic can only shift reactively to your control inputs (until they get mind-reading controls*).

    So even as an American who drives an automatic I can appreciate why Europeans like manual transmissions. I also think I understand why Europeans seem bemused about the American preference for automatics. The key advantage for automatics, which is just so frequently used here in The States that most Americans probably just assume it is common knowledge needs not explaining, that it is easier to drive an automatic with one hand and shoot with the other may not be as important (or even taught!) in Europe.

    I understand from their PR material that Europe is much more environmentally friendly than the United States and can only assume therefore that they typically carpool, which would allow the driver to focus on driving and delegate the task of shooting at other cars, careless pedestrians, cute animals, and minorities to the passengers.

    1. Sticks are also simpler, more robust, and more reliable than automatics. On the other hand they reduce the value of a car, if you worry about resale prices.

      On the gripping hand, they’re absolute murder in stop & go driving. I don’t think I could own a stick if I lived in a city.

    2. C Taylor,
      the very thought of a mind reading car is so frightening that it would keep me off the roadways. No one will ever have a car read a BLANK mind or one that’s drunk/high, pissed off or texting.

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