Or should I say "Do dealers no longer stock them?"

Wife is interested in trading in her 2010 Clubman S with 32K on it for a new one - two requirements
1. Must be stick
2. Must be a cool color (she has the laser blue now but would consider red - but none of this tan/off white crap)

However... even satisfying option #1 seems nearly impossible. I can't believe there are no stick's around! What gives? I thought this was the car for stick? Had no issues in 2010 - did times change that much in the last 8 years for Mini?

 

The automatic is now a free option on all except the base/classic line, so it's doubtful dealers will stock them in anything but a true base model since most buyers want an automatic anyway.

Chili red is one of the color options with the base model though.

 

Just be thankful you can order one with a manual still!!

If I was buying new, I'd custom order to exactly how I wanted it. Do it!!

 

Last I read, sticks accounted for about 3% of car sales in the USA. Probably less now. Probably higher at MINI but not by a lot.

I'd have one if I had two cars for myself, otherwise I'm content when in traffic that I don't have to use a clutch anymore.

 

I wouldn't buy one without being manual

 

We've all gone soft. People are lazy. Look at whats happening to our society and it makes clear sense why no one is buying manual cars. Sheep! It's truly sad but I am not surprised.

 

Won't drive anything but manual at this point. Wife has autobox if I need to rest my leg....

 

Hate to admit it but I stopped using one of these a few years back and switched to a computer. I guess I went soft!
Also I used to talk to people face to face, now I just hit some plastic keys on a board and press that enter button - soft once again.

 

Mini's should only come in manual

 

I was in the local Porsche / BMW / MINI dealership last night picking up a part for my MINI. When I was in the Porsche showroom I asked why they don't have any manuals in stock. I was told that they get sold as soon as they come in. I think the real answer is that the manuals have a smaller customer base therefore the dealerships order fewer of them forcing a smaller customer base and so on. While I didn't ask this time, the last time I asked only the most extreme models are stocked with a manual.

Mazda on the other hand still sells (or at least my local dealership stocks) a lot of manuals. In a quick search, the local Mazda dealership (with 3 locations) has 79 manuals and 633 automatics. 53 Mazda 3, 8 Mazda 6, and 18 Miatas.

 

If you ask the Porsche/Corvette guys that have automatics (which must be 80% of them), they always say "The automatic does 0-60 in 2.9 seconds and the manual is 3.2" Hahah. That's when you ask them, "Does your wife have you by the ballz??"

I keed I keed I own an automatic, 2011 F-250. I hate driving it though!

 

When I got my 2007 MCS I think it was about 50-50. Now it's probably 90-10. And 75% four door.

 

We only drive manuals in our house!

I'm glad to hear that your wife won't compromise. I've found that different dealers stock cars with different options. When we bought the 435, one dealer had no manual cars to test drive while another had several. The sales person I ended up buying from drives stick and told me that he recently sold his father a 4 series with a stick. Perhaps that's why he kept some in stock. When I bought the Clubman two years ago, both dealers that I visited had several manuals in stock.

Here's how Merriam-Webster defines it:

shift·less
ˈSHif(t)ləs
adjective
(of a person or action) characterized by laziness, indolence, and a lack of ambition.
"a shiftless lot of good-for-nothings"
synonyms: lazy, idle, indolent, slothful, lethargic, lackadaisical;

 

My Chevy Astro camper van is an automatic haha. I just don't see the point of owning a Mini or a fun sporty car in automatic... I would feel like I was in handcuffs. But better to own an automatic Mini than thousands of other sheep cars out on the road.

 

It's not that way everywhere (thankfully). The last two times I was in Scotland I rented a car and was given a manual both times (without asking). I've never owned an automatic (and I'm old) and worry that one day I just won't be able to find a car with a stick.

 

When I was younger, had hair on top of my head, and had little to no choice, I drove VW Beetles, which were manual shift, of course. My 1962 Morris Minor, which I restored in 1998, was the nicest driving car I've ever owned.
However, I live in a metropolitan area, or an urban area. The thought of hours of slow constantly shifting traffic convinced me that the automatic transmissions are far more rational, let alone less physically demanding.
No, I don't need a manual shift any more.

 

I have a stick and love it on MINI drives or other 'fun days' but traffic is a *****. Unfortunately I have a left foot ankle injury/surgey done and it is starting to complain when I drive it. I think I'm going to have to order a MINI with the paddle shifters next time.

 

Now a days a manual transmission serves as a no cost optioned security system. The third pedal aka clutch is a telltale theft deterrent to most who never learned to drive a stick shift.

 

Good thought, everyone I know has autos but 11. And most have them because they haven't traded them in for a newer vehicle yet. I personally don't know of one person under the age of 35 that can drive a manual. Spoiled ?? I think so.

 

My only automatic is my Jeep, and that's for rock crawling. It was a painful decision at the time, but I'm glad I went auto with it. Both my boys (23, 16) drive a stick. So much more fun!

 

Spoiled? In what way is driving an automatic being spoiled?

I taught my kid 21 to drive a stick at 17. He doesn't own one but he could if needed.

 

I taught everyone in my family to drive manuals before they bought a vehicle. Two years ago, my daughter went to Hawaii with 3 friends to attend a funeral. WHen they arrived, they tried to get a rental and only found manuals were left, all autos were rented. If it wasn't for her knowing how to drive manuals, they have to use taxis only. If you only know auto trans, you've limited yourself. Especially with driving a manual is that simple/basic in transportation.

 

The only automatics I ever drive are rental cars, because they NEVER have any manual transmission cars.

 

Except in Europe - there you pay an arm and a leg if you want auto.

True story - they tried to give my wife an automatic trans car last time she was over there - she told them "I don't know how to drive an automatic" and so they gave her a manual. Not kidding. #coolchick

 

Now that you mention that, I did have a manual VW Polo rental in South Africa in 2001.
Right hand drive, too, of course.