Ford to kill Manual?
Freshman User
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 25
Likes: 0
Still want a manual in MY truck
I have owned five stick-shift ¾ tons, and there were buyers waiting for each one when I was ready to move on. No trade-in required. I know a local business that stocks 100+ off-lease pickups at all times. They have had two stickshifts in the past year and they were on the lot for only a few days, before being snapped up. Most trucks are there for weeks, or even months.
I can get a stickshift in a Frontier or Tacoma 4x4, rated to tow 6,500 lbs. I’m just not sure this will be “enough truck”. I know that an F250 and diesel is more truck than I need, but I may have to go that route, or hold my nose and buy an auto F150.
Last edited by windjamer; Jan 4, 2010 at 08:47 AM. Reason: Errant code in message
More Turbo
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 538
Likes: 11
From: Shiner, TX
Great post, windjammer.
When I told my local dealer I wanted to order a manual transmission 3/4 ton truck (with a gas engine, no less) they were very leery and did a credit check immediately to make sure I could actually purchase the truck when it was delivered. Then, they made me put down a deposit. All of that was no big deal to me, but to an impulse buyer I can see how that's just another nail in the coffin to the manual transmission.
When I told my local dealer I wanted to order a manual transmission 3/4 ton truck (with a gas engine, no less) they were very leery and did a credit check immediately to make sure I could actually purchase the truck when it was delivered. Then, they made me put down a deposit. All of that was no big deal to me, but to an impulse buyer I can see how that's just another nail in the coffin to the manual transmission.
Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 10,626
Likes: 7
From: Plano TX and Brentwood TN
Great post, windjammer.
When I told my local dealer I wanted to order a manual transmission 3/4 ton truck (with a gas engine, no less) they were very leery and did a credit check immediately to make sure I could actually purchase the truck when it was delivered. Then, they made me put down a deposit. All of that was no big deal to me, but to an impulse buyer I can see how that's just another nail in the coffin to the manual transmission.
When I told my local dealer I wanted to order a manual transmission 3/4 ton truck (with a gas engine, no less) they were very leery and did a credit check immediately to make sure I could actually purchase the truck when it was delivered. Then, they made me put down a deposit. All of that was no big deal to me, but to an impulse buyer I can see how that's just another nail in the coffin to the manual transmission.
Elder User
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 592
Likes: 0
Ford offers an automatic transmission on the 650???? If so that means I can actually see myself having one in my dreams
!!! LOLJust imagine. Those 650 pick-ups are soooooo sweet.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 134
Likes: 0
When I was shopping for my 2010, I ran across the same thing. The one (rural) dealer who did have 6 speeds in stock had them equipped with electronic 4x4, which made no sense to me at all. In fact some dealers had no interest in ordering me a 6 speed. I simply walked out. The dealer I did order from made me give an extra deposit because of the stick, which was ok.
When I picked it up, the salesman told me that half of the people that worked at the dealership would not even be able to drive the 6 speed F250, because they never learned how to drive a stick.
When I picked it up, the salesman told me that half of the people that worked at the dealership would not even be able to drive the 6 speed F250, because they never learned how to drive a stick.
Freshman User
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 25
Likes: 0
Crunch, grind!
Whatdoyouwannabet they get the newest kid on staff to move it around when you drop it off for service? Better specify who's allowed to touch it. Congrats on getting exactly what you wanted.
Posting Guru
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,220
Likes: 2
From: CA
Postmaster
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 4,724
Likes: 4
From: Rogersville, TN
Good idea, it's a worthless tranny anyway. I don't know why anyone would want to spend energy on shifting. If you added up all the worthless time and energy you spent on shifting over a 10 year period time at $15 per hour you would have a ton of money. Dangerous too, while you are concentrating on shifting you could be watching your driving better. You couldn't pay me to buy a vehicle with a stick. 
Actually, no you wouldn't have a lot of time and money because any time I waste shifting is more than made up by the transmission fluid and filters you have to buy and the time you waste shopping for them and changing them.
For some of us, driving is more than just getting from point A to point B. We actually enjoy the driving part of it.
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Posting Guru
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,220
Likes: 2
From: CA
Good idea, it's a worthless tranny anyway. I don't know why anyone would want to spend energy on shifting. If you added up all the worthless time and energy you spent on shifting over a 10 year period time at $15 per hour you would have a ton of money. Dangerous too, while you are concentrating on shifting you could be watching your driving better. You couldn't pay me to buy a vehicle with a stick.
Freshman User
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
I hear ya. I've been there. I've had two other Superduty's for a business I once owned and they were autos because I needed them and there were no sticks on the lot. I had patient with this one and was actually quite lucky to find it. How often do you find a four year old Lariat with 3,346 miles on it and with a manual trans? 
Freshman User
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 25
Likes: 0
4x4?
You ARE lucky! Is it a 4x4? I think the transfer case would be the big problem in any conversion.
Postmaster
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,565
Likes: 2
If you use it up, you won't lose any money. By the time a truck reaches a certain age the value is about the same. And actually, you lose money on the automatic right from the start since the full price paid for an automatic isn't reflected in the value once it's a used truck and the manual is free from the get-go.
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 26,966
Likes: 50
From: Texas
Of course since all my wasted time shifting was done in my truck while moving from point A to point B, I'm still not sure what time I would have saved since traveling the same set of miles in an automatic would not have resulted in a significant difference in travel time.
Perhaps if I was smart enough to understand this whole wasted money saved time equation I would have been smart enough to order an automatic in the first place.
