Millennial Anti-Theft Device

[XCashier]

The cops look at him with a quizzical look and said "you got it out of the spot and were on your way. What made you abandon it?" The idiot thief replied only "I can't drive a stick".

How difficult is it to look through the car window first and see what kind of drive the car has before you mess with it? Pretty much every vehicle on the road now, the stick is visible through the car windows and it's rather obvious whether it's a manual or automatic.

Of course, if the guy had any intelligence, he wouldn't have been out stealing cars in the first place. Kudos to the big guy for helping catch the thief, and the police for their quick response time.

[Chromatix]

Well, if you're in America, 99% of the time it's automatic. I don't blame them for assuming so, and tripping over the 1% exception.

I *can* blame them for being dumb criminals (but I repeat myself).

[protege]

I learned to drive manual, pretty much anything even the 2cv and I understand using the manual choke.

LOL my MG has a manual choke. Unless you know about it (and that the locking mechanism currently doesn't work--you have to hold the knob out) and where I put the switch for the fuel pump, it's not going anywhere

Every car I've owned, except for that damn Ford Tempo, has been a stick shift. I don't know about the rest of you, but I found that automatics are boring to drive. I learned when the Tempo got destroyed in '94. It was either learn how to handle the four-speed in the 3-year-old Tercel I was looking at...or take on my dad's rusty Taurus instead.

Unfortunately, finding cars with stick shifts is getting hard in the US. Looking at Toyota's lineup, I see that if you can find a Corolla with one, you won't be finding them in certain colors. They only come in black, grey, or white, and have very little in the way of creature comforts. Meaning, I'd have to run a white one for a few years...and get it repainted

[mathnerd]

I had to break down and get an automatic when my civic died. I have a kid who uses a wheelchair and I really needed a mini van. Those don't come in manual.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Don't waste all of your tears on the demise of the manual shifter. Soon we'll be losing the steering wheel and other controls with the rise of the self driving cars. Hmmm... I wonder if Skynet is somehow involved?