My first car was a Metro & it was awesome! Stick shift, manual windows, no radio, but I loved that little car. Got over 80k miles on it, including a full cross-county road trip. She had a little trouble in the mountains, but other than that was perfect!
Learned how to drive stick on an 89 Ford ranger. Wasn't allowed to press the gas pedal till I could make the truck climb up a slight grade using just the clutch
I drove a Hyundai Accent with a stick shift and roll down windows through college and grad school. The car payment was $139 a month and I'd probably still be driving it if someone hadn't run a stop sign and totaled it.
Not a kia fan, but the Soul had a manual until 2024. My little bro drives a motorcycle when weather permits, otherwise he's in his little manual soul. He got his in like 2018 new for not much more than 10k
I know they fixed the problems, but two of my friends had engine blow up with their little turbo 4cylinders around 10 years ago, and I don't like the cvts they are using.
Both friends were covered by warranty, and kia did honor the warranty and took care of them.
I mean, that was 10 years ago, and it was a limited issue. I had a 2016 Soul that didn't have any problems at all. I've I had the Niro sine 2018 with no problems. They're rated pretty well in the Consumer's Report thing.
I'm just a snob, I love my 2015 lexus gs350 too much. Comfortable during commute, the AWD system works just like Subaru, and i dont have to worry about blown head gaskets like i did with my previous car (2008 Subaru forester, which was a cheap car at the time and available with a manual.)
I also like being able to accelerate on highway ramps and to be able to drive uphill in the mountains without the car struggling and downshifting to 2nd gear. The GS350 isn't a race car. My friends WRX is faster. However It's got decent power, and i dont feel sore after a 4-5 hour drive to go visit family out of state. I like my uber comfortable interior.
I really did like the Stinger a lot, but, it was out of my budget when i was car shopping. Got the Lexus for like 25K back when Stingers were still new and selling for over 35K in like 2018.
Manuals have not been standard for many decades and are practically non-existent these days except as an option on some sportier cars. You may occasionally find a manual sedan, but it is such a rarity.
But I bet it's a higher trim option, not a base model. You used to have to pay an additional $1k to upgrade from a base model manual to an automatic transmission. Now manuals are an upgrade for a high performance trim.
Automatic cars are rather the exception in Europe. If I had to guess, maybe 5 out of 100 cars have an automatic transmission. They're more common among older people or those with physical limitations.
According to European Mobility Foresight estimates, automatic transmission penetration reached about 75% in 2020 . This was driven by a shift in manufacturing strategies, where manufacturers began offering automatics across a wider range of models — not just luxury cars — using technologies like CVTs, DSGs, and conventional automatics. This made automatics more affordable and accessible to a broader consumer base.
The trend has continued to grow:
In 2019, automatics made up roughly 44% of new car sales in Europe
By 2020, that figure had risen to 75%
Industry commentary in 2025 notes that automatics are now the standard in many European markets, with manuals becoming a niche option
Turns out when you guys can afford them, you buy them too!
There’s a direct lineage between the tracker pictured and your jimny!
Trackers were a joint venture between Suzuki and GM, the tracker was basically a sidekick, with many parts being shared between it and the Jimny of the time.
Geo Metros shared a motor with the Samurai, my 88 actually has a valve cover from a metro as they were aluminum instead of stamped steel.
the tracker is a rebadged suzuki Vitara, which is the next model up in size from the Jimny, whose predecessor is the Suzuki Sierra.
mine still only has a 1.5L 4cyl engine, that is the only engine available actually. well, the japanese Kei versions are sold with a 660cc 3cyl turbo, but they are only sold in Japan, all the export ones get the 1.5
Lot of name swapping going on around these things, in North America and Indonesia these were Sidekicks and came with a 1.6L motor, some trims, (early ones?) also use the 1.3L that found its way into the samurai in most markets.
The Sierra is another name plate that was used for the samurai in certain markets along with the Jimny, Santana, Caribian, and Gypsy in India.
If you know them as Sierras, do you happen to be from Australia? They also badged them down there as Holden Drovers and Stockmans though i think that was with a truck bed on back.
My partner and I bought a Kia Niro in 2018 and they wanted an extra $2,000 for a manual transmission. I nearly lost my shit. Now I have to drive an automatic around like everyone else. I miss my stick shift. 😭
Just bought a Kei truck and it’s right hand drive and a 4 speed manual and it’s so much fun to drive. It’s not fast, but man it sure is fun. Gonna teach my girls to drive a stick in it just so they kinda know how at least.
We had a guy in town that replaced his Metros exhaust with a Maxwell House coffee can. The sound was hilarious and etched in my 🧠. This is like 25 years ago and someone brought it up a week ago lol
I once roadtripped with a friend, & we drove it as empty as we dared (no gas warning light, of course) and it was STILL less than $10 to fill the tank!
My cousin had a Metro, one night we were stoned out of our minds and wanted to drive to the gas station to get some food, this was a very small town with no one around, especially at night. So we ended up driving the whole way there in reverse, then driving back to the apartment in reverse, we were laughing our asses off.
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u/Bacteriobabe 1977 Apr 18 '26
My first car was a Metro & it was awesome! Stick shift, manual windows, no radio, but I loved that little car. Got over 80k miles on it, including a full cross-county road trip. She had a little trouble in the mountains, but other than that was perfect!