[geeks] electric cars

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 21:24:03 -0500
Phil Brutsche <phil at tux.obix.com> wrote:

> Dan Duncan wrote:
> > Diesels are hard to find in the US
> 
> They're about to get a whole lot easier to find...
> 
> > and even manual trannies are getting as rare as hen's teeth.
> 
> Blame that on the US auto customers.  The vast (and I do mean VAST)
> majority prefer automatics.
> 
> Honestly, people like you are in the minority.
> 
> > The vehicles that offer 4wd (or AWD) and a manual tranny rarely
> > offer them TOGETHER.  I ended up paying quite a bit more to get the
> > combo.
> 
> Depending on the make/model you won't find a stick PERIOD.
> 
> Stick shift Jeeps are pretty common ;) You could custom-order a
> vehicle to your liking, but otherwise the vehicles on dealer lots
> tend to appeal to the greatest number of people.

Right, and you have things like Volkswagen tying their moonroof
up in a package that includes a navigation system.  Huh?

Honda does the same thing.

Anyway, it sucks to not be able to get manual transmissions.  Not just
because you prefer manual, but because they are easier to work on,
cheaper to repair, and usually more reliable.

People are hard on clutches, but they cost a lot less to fix than the
transmission.

-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["Castles are sacked in war, Chieftains
are scattered far, Truth is a fixed star, Eileen aroon!" -- Gerald
Griffin]