Why do Taxi drivers in the UK and Europe drive cars with predominantly manual gearboxes

Question

If I was driving 8-10 hours per day I’d want an auto… I know manuals used to be cheaper and are still a little cheaper, but I’d have thought the reduced effort would be appealing.

In: 176

Answer 1

I’m in the UK. Here, automatics are rare – I’ve been driving for more than 20 years and the *only* times I’ve ever driven an automatic are when I’ve hired cars in the US (and one camper van in New Zealand). I didn’t enjoy that experience at all because driving an automatic requires extra concentration and just feels weird when you’re used to a manual transmission (I was constantly stamping on the brake when I’d instinctively be dropping the clutch on a manual).

To be clear, when you’ve driven a manual your whole life, there is zero extra effort using gears. Most of the time I’m completely unaware of gear changes, just as I don’t consciously think about moving my computer mouse when I want to select something on screen – recognising when to change gear and doing so is completely “automatic” when I’m driving unless I’m doing something unusual like driving up a crazy incline.

Here in the UK plenty of high-end cars are automatics, but regular and low-end cars are not. There are a few exceptions: some people who are unable to pass a normal driving test can opt to be tested on an automatic and are then issued a restricted license that only permits them to drive automatic vehicles – they’ll find it hard to buy used cars because there are so few automatics around. For context, I’ve only met two people with automatic licenses.

People used to claim automatics were unpopular here because of their reduced fuel efficiency and our high cost of fuel compared to the US. That’s no longer the case: there’s no real difference in fuel costs any more. However, cheap/mid-range automatics are significantly more expensive to buy (because there’s practically no demand for them) and no one wants their friends to think they might have an automatic-only license (the only reason you’d normally own such a car).

So if you’re a taxi driver driving a mid-range vehicle, why would you pay significantly more for a style of transmission that you’re not used to? You wouldn’t.