Im having difficulty deciding what to do with my car...?

Question

I have just sold my Kia Sportage for a 1971 super beetle.
I love the old Volkswagens but I have a problem, I cant drive manuals. I thought I could learn easily.
I have been trying to learn but I just cant get it. Ive been learning for about a month and I am petrified to get in and drive on a busy street. Ive stalled so many times that my battery went dead on a hill in the middle of an intersection.
I dont want to sell the car that I just bought thinking that maybe with time I could fix it up really nice and make it a showcar.
I was thinking of getting a new Bettle...an Automatic, but its a lot of money and I only make 400$ every two weeks.

Ive been on the verge of a nervous breakdown with my boyfriend saying he will leave me if I dont drive it and my family having to drive me to work everyday...im just so stressed out.

What should I do!?

Answer 1

This is how I taught my son to drive a manual VW, and by the way, you don't want a new one. They fall apart and need repairs all the time, I had one! Anyway, first of all you have to relax. When you have the clutch in all the way to the floor, make sure you are in first gear, then slowly let the clutch out. You should notice that when you get to a certain point, usually half way out, the car will begin to move forward on it's own a little bit. That's when you know it's time to give it some gas. Don't floor it, but give it a little bit of gas and slowly let the clutch out the rest of the way. First gear is always the hardest to get past. Once you have that down to a science, then go somewhere that is not busy, a quiet neighborhood is where I took my son, and find a small hill to practice on. Once you have that one down, go to a little bigger one. After you have practiced that for a few days, try driving in town. But choose a time of day that isn't real real busy. You will get the hang of it, and once you are driving all around town like a pro, you will look back and say, geez, that was so easy. My son is now driving a 5-speed Eclipse and loves it. He doesn't even want to own an automatic anymore. Just have fun and remember, take your time, relax, and if someone is yelling at you when you are driving... kick them out and go it alone. Good luck!!

Answer 2

De-stress!! Don't you dare let some mechanical thing get the best of you!!

I'm a 55 yr old guy (Mr "Old Fart" to you!!), and I am shocked that a young lady like you would so easily give up.
True---driving a standard is NOT an easy thing to do. But it IS VERY DO-ABLE!!

My suggestion is to go to a large mall nearby, to a section of the parking lot which has no cars. Take your boyfriend along so he can share in the "Joy" (ha-ha) of training you.
That way, you can practice shifting in an area where there's no cars to hit, especially if you're on the road.

When I learned, the ultimate hardest for me was first gear, because you're trying to get a 2,000 pd car moving by putting 2 pieces of metal together (clutch), of course it's hard!!

But once the vehicle is moving, it's incredibly easier to shift, you just have to do it easily, not super quick, or you can indeed stall out the engine and stop.

Don't know if this will help you, but the engine and the clutch have to be at close or similar speeds for the shifting to be easy. that's why, if you shift from 3rd down into 1st, the car jerks like it hit a brick wall, because the speed of the engine is so different from what the clutch wants to do in 1st gear.

I really, really don't want you to feel threatened. You need to feel empowered as a young girl of the 21st Century!! Are you going to let some mechanical piece of junk which has existed since 100 years ago [standard tranny] defeat such a young and talented woman as yourself? I should hope not.

Besides....once you do learn, you can throw it back in your boyfriend's face that he should have had more patience with you while training you!!

You have some talents of excellence, I'm sure. Musically inclined? Play a talent or sport? Nothing was done very easily. You had to learn, struggle, until you got better at it.

Go get 'em, girl!!! Oooh-Rah!!

Answer 3

Relax, it just takes time to learn. It is almost like a dance step. Once you get it down then you'll never forget.

You need practice. With your free time, find a place that isn't crowded, like an empty shopping mall parking lot or a church parking lot. Then without the pressure, just take your time and practice the start and stops. Once you get used to it, then you won't be so stressed/.

As for the starting on a hill, I used to have a VW when I was young, and I would pull up on the parking brake handle, and then I would give it some gas and let out a little on the clutch, and when I felt it starting to grab and want to pull the car forward, I would release the parking brake and off I'd go.

Practice. good luck.

Answer 4

Instead of trying to teach yourself, get some lessons. Either find a friend that knows how to drive standard, or actually go to a driving school. Driving standard can be challenging, but once you get used to working the clutch, you should be fine. I'm just guessing here, but I think you're releasing the clutch too quickly. Try letting up the clutch a bit slower, and giving a bit more gas. If it doesn't work right away, do each a bit more until it does work. Eventually, with practice you will be able to find that proper balance and won't have any trouble.

On a different note, your boyfriend sounds like a jerk. He should be trying to help you, not just dumping more pressure on you. If he can't drive standard himself, then he should back off. If he can, but won't teach you, then he can't complain if you're having trouble.

Answer 5

Advertise for a patient instructor and pay that person upon successfully showing you how to drive your stick the consideration for reducing your stress, salvaging your "rocky" relationship, and saving you THOUSANDS FROM A NEW CAR.

Make the price you pay worthwhile to the trainer, say $200 - 400. Someone will take you up on such an offer and gladly teach you how to drive it as though it were an automatic. Be careful with such an ad because the world is full of predators.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T BUY A NEW CAR.

Answer 6

You trade in a dependable car for this.

Most of people who owns old beetle are mechanically skillful and able to fix their car on their own.

I guess you have to live with your decision, mistakes too.

I drive manual shift for almost 20 years and I am still having a hard time driving a beetle. Apparently old beetles do not have the technology of today's manual transmission.

My friend bought it as a weekend car. He said that if you need to everyday commute with it, your chance of getting stranded are 50/50.

So, Good Luck.

Answer 7

Well don't keep giving her 30 day notices. Because you give her 30 days and then not stay strict on it, she is able to manipulate you. I would call the court house or legal aide and find out where you can get a tentant/landlord rights hand book and that will tell you what you can and will need to do to move her out the legal way. Good luck!

Answer 8

The problem may not just be you.
It is hard to learn stick shifting to begin with. But a car of that age may have a worn linkage. So I would suggest before you beat yourself up any more- spend a few dollars and have that linkage looked at and fixed.

Answer 9

Look in the yellow pages under "driving instructions" and get someone to teach you how to drive a stick shift. Once you learn it is so easy, but you need someone with patience to show you how to do it.

Answer 10

Take manual shift driving lessons from a certified instructor.