This is contingent on the type of driving you do. We live in citified environs (suburbia). I once owned a car that I bought new that was a manual and I enjoyed it, but the clutch was shot by 40K miles. Not that I don't know how to clutch, (believe me, I DO). But realize that when you drive almost exclusively in city traffic you cannot avoid needing to clutch and shift a lot, a great deal more than if you are in a rural environment doing mostly highway driving.
So for us having automatic transmissions is a 'must'. And changing the automatic tranny fluid helps too. So far none of my vehicles have needed transmission repair with over 100K miles on each, whereas one with a manual clutch would have worn out and needed replacement several times by now.
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