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Feeling nervous about my new car - an automatic

Marianne72

After decades driving a mechanical car, my garage found me an automatic. I had to have one, as I'm finding it increasingly difficult to change gears with my hands being painful. I'm feeling surprisingly nervous, both about the new [second hand] car and driving an automatic. I'm trying to book a driving lesson that should help, but the anxiety remaiins. Like many on here, I dislike change, and driving is already stressful. Your experiences, especially with automatics, would be helpful.

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  • I changed from a manual car to automatic several years ago, and I wouldn’t go back to manual.

    It was helpful to me to place my left foot in a comfortable position to the left of the pedals, and imagine it was tied down, before starting the car and driving off. That prevented me attempting to press a non-existent clutch pedal. 

  • in reply to ArchaeC
    ArchaeC said:
    imagine it was tied down

    That's the very thing I had to learn. What made the learning trickier was that my car is manual and my wife's then-new car is automatic, so I was switching back and forth. Got there though!

  • in reply to leveller61

    Switching back and forth must be tricky. Glad you got there.

    Sometimes the garage lends me a manual car when I leave mine in for a service. The first time driving it following my switch to automatic, I lifted my foot off the accelerator to cruise up to red traffic lights and promptly stalled. I forgot the clutch pedal should be pressed and the gear changed down. Since then, I have needed to actively think through the process.

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  • in reply to leveller61

    Switching back and forth must be tricky. Glad you got there.

    Sometimes the garage lends me a manual car when I leave mine in for a service. The first time driving it following my switch to automatic, I lifted my foot off the accelerator to cruise up to red traffic lights and promptly stalled. I forgot the clutch pedal should be pressed and the gear changed down. Since then, I have needed to actively think through the process.

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