The reason I ask, is because I ran into this problem when trying to sell my BMW. Granted it was a sports sedan not a sports car, but I had at least 5 interested parties that the manual was a deal breaker. In years past, most people interested in a sports car would demand a stick....that seems to be changing when there a some Porsche and Ferrari models that you can't even get with a stick. Sad.

I think you'll be fine with a car like the Z. IMO, most of the people in the market for one are looking for the manual. The BMW has a much broader appeal base so the everyday Joe who would be interested in one just wants a nice car to drive.

I picked an auto for certain reasons but all sports cars should have the manual option. I did enjoy that "feel" being one with the car at one time but prefer to put it in D now and go with the manual mode option if I want to play. Auto trannys have come a long way since us older guys have driven them in the past and unfortunately for the younger generations they didn't have the option to learn or drive the Manual. More and more cars are eliminating the manual due to customers preference.

I let my son try to learn manual on the Z. Hard system to learn with. But at least he got to the point where he could get it rolling and shift. I will do some more this coming summer. But yea. Where I see the manual sticking around for a long while is in the lower power sports coupe and roadsters (read less expensive). Higher power cars and the hybrids will be mostly auto and DCT.

4 door and manual don't sound fun together, sport "model" or not.

If you didn't specify in your ad that your 4 door car was a manual then I could certainly see why potential sedan buyers were thrown off with the manual transmission.

F' it. enjoy your car and stop worrying about resale.

Your right..........One of the car rags, I think last year talked about used 370z and said they manual's had better resale than the automatics.

Found it..........

"It’s an article of faith among the car-smart that opting for an automatic pays dividends later with easier salability and better resale value. In the Z’s case, not so much. In four of the five model years, the average dealer asking prices are higher for examples with the clutch pedal."


2009–2013 Nissan 370Z: A Certified Pre-Owned Guide – Feature – Car and Driver

Actually the manual z with sports pack was selling for more than the auto with sports pack. By 1-2k on avg when I was shopping...

Really, considering how much wiggle room there is in re-sale value, its more a matter of how popular the car is on its own, regardless of various options.

It's always going to be easier to re-sell a Camry than a Z.

I'll agree with the last few posts. When I was visiting my local dealer for some minor warranty work a while back, this topic came up when I was speaking with a salesman. He mentioned they have an easier time moving a Z with the 6 speed as opposed to the auto. While this is an extremely high volume dealer, its still just one dealer, so take it for what it is.

When you introduce a pure sports car like the Z, which already has a small market (its sales numbers prove that), those looking for a car like this typically gravitate toward the manual transmission.

With that said, I don't think the transmission type in your Z is going to be what causes you to have issues (if you have issues), selling the car when the time comes. I'd guess the manual would sell easier, but it won't have some overwhelming advantage over the auto.

Jordo's post nailed it, in my opinion.

Drive the crap out of it and let some other smo deal with what is left over when you are done. Stop worrying.

I disagree with most of you. The manual transmission will soon fade away. I highly doubt there will be manual transmissions by the year 2030 aside from MAYBE 18 wheelers. Take a look at whats going on. First you have manufacturers like Porsche, known for being a true sports car, phasing out their manual transmissions. I don't remember the year, but I read that they were planning on it. Maybe 2017 or something like that.

Next, you have the sports cars that never had an option for an auto, suddenly having that option. Z06 Vette, Mitsubishi Evo (even thought its dead), the Nismo Z. Im sure there are others that I don't know about. All of these auto makers are pushing the automatic transmission. Its obvious, and ill tell you why. R&D costs. With the sales in manual transmissions falling due to no one knowing how to drive one, soon it won't be profitable to do R&D on the manual transmission. That R&D is going to go into DCT's. Because "its the same thing". You can switch to "manual mode" and the car will shift faster than a normal manual could ever change.

Lastly, and everyone should see this coming as obvious, Im willing to bet it will be mandated by the US Gov that all new vehicles be sold with an "automated transmission" at a certain year for safety reasons. If the driver is too busy directing their attention to changing gears, how can they pay attention to the road? Therefore to inexperienced drivers, that places other drivers at risk. That is the craziest out of all of them, but I gauran-damn-tee you that one of these crack pot senators or representatives will push for that. Just like that moron Feinstein and her complete ignorance to firearms. The gov has already mandated other features for "safety", that one won't be much of a push due to declining sales of the manual transmission and the fact that the skill is also declining anyway. Watch and see gentlemen.

I agree, not sure about that last part but who knows, just watched a motorweek ep recently and one of the ways they are trying to improve big rig mpg is with dual clutch tech in 18 wheelers. Even manual long haul trucks will go auto within the next 5-10 years.

I bet there will still be a couple of niche "throwback" manual option cars at least for the next decade or so like the miata, stang, Z etc.

I know lol, it sounds retarded, but I seriously wouldn't put it past them. Thats why I said willing to bet lol.

To be honest, I think you'd have a harder time reselling an automatic 370z. There is a stigma associated with AT that is very hard to shake. You see it all the time when people claim "I will never buy a GT-R because it is automatic," really the reason they will never buy one is because they cannot afford one, but let's humor those people for the purpose of our discussion.

The 370z's automatic transmission has paddle shifters and that is perhaps its only saving grace, but it's still a slow torque converter rather than an exotic double clutch. They will appeal to some people (myself included), but are no longer synonymous with a high performance DCT (the new Altima even has them on its silly CVT).