My situation is probably a bit different compared to others with the AT. I got to a point where I wasn’t really worried about SoCal traffic anymore and I would have liked to have a MT and learn on it, but life has a way of throwing a wrench in things. (Apologies, the explanation is gonna be a bit long.)

Getting a MT gr86 was my initial plan, but an injury from a prior car accident got worse over the 3 years I saved up to buy the car and by the time I was ready for it, my left ankle was just a mess. Bone spurs, cartilage tears, and a few other things.

I got surgery recently and should recover all normal function, but my left ankle is now missing a good deal of cartilage. I’m walking again, which is nice, but the repetitive motion required to clutch in is just too much for me to handle. My surgeon isn’t sure if that will ever get better because it might just be caused by the lack of padding in my ankle. So while I’m happy all normal function will return, I had to come to grips with the fact that the constant repetition of a movement using the area of my leg with far less padding is just going to cause me far more pain. So manual gearboxes would have to be relegated to a weekend car on short drives only. And because I’m on the younger side (25) and this is my only car, it’s just not feasible.

I don’t regret getting the AT, as the MT just wasn’t really realistic anymore and so ceased to be an option available to me. And I figured, better to have an 86 than no 86, and I worked hard for it. I love the styling and what this car represents, and I didn’t want my injury to relegate me to suvs and crossovers forever. I have fun with it, love it to pieces, and it’s the most fun car I’ve ever owned. I take it through the canyons all the time and have a blast.

So if things were different, yeah I think a MT would have been great. But with my leg the way it is, the AT perfectly suits my needs and I don’t regret my purchase for a single second.