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My first new car was purchased in 1973. I'm em-bare-assed to say what it was.
But it had a manual transmission. Every car after that , up to 2008 , was a manual. Then , I bought a 2008 Civic LX , and for a number of reasons ( one being higher EPA highway rating ) I chose the 5AT. The 5AT worked well , and did about 50-51 MPG at 55-60 MPH ( summer , minimal A/C use ). But I recently got the itch to drive a manual again. So I bought a 2014 Civic LX with 80K miles. I still have my 2015 Prius which does most of my commuting , and I drive the Civic to work two out of six days and a bit on the weekend. I believe both types of transmissions have certain advantages ( so I have two cars ). As far as maintenance and repair , I have NEVER had to replace a clutch ( 229K miles and 14 years in Civic Si , eight years 64K miles of city driving in Mazda GLC. ). I'm not a huge fan of hydraulically actuated clutches , they usually need a bit of work on the master or slave cylinder now and then. But I recognize that's all they have for the last 20 years or so. I'm still re-learning to drive a manual , but my first full tank in the Civic was about 50 MPG ( summer , mixed highway and suburban driving ). Needless to say , my Prius does considerably better , but 60% of the Prius' miles are on suburban streets which are conducive to hypermiling.
Yes, I used the "H" word. I have huge respect and admiration for the DIYer's here who can and do modify their cars , but I'm not one of them. There is a LOT of good info on thsi site and I think I'm going to spend a lot of time here. Edwin
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