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I'm planning to travel to Philadelphia on january and I would like to rent a car (to avoid walking around or having problems with flight timing), but searching on the net, I haven't been able to find any manual transmission car, be it sedan, sport, deluxe, a transport van, everything is automatic.

Does anybody here know where i could find a manual one?

Edit : this question will stay here as a "how to get a manual car in PHL Intl, and will open new ones for the existing questions if required.

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    I think that taking the SEPTA train is likely to be much faster and more reliable than driving, as well as far far cheaper. Philadelphia, like most US cities, can be subject to very unpredictable traffic jams, and it's likely to be difficult and expensive to find parking.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Nov 10, 2015 at 7:29
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    The point is that it's so easy that you need no training.
    – Relaxed
    Nov 10, 2015 at 9:06
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    What @relaxed says - if you can drive a manual, you can drive an auto. Yes, in a manual, you use cluch for a lot of control. In an Auto you don't miss that control, because you don't need it - accelerator is go and brake is stop - the car itself makes sure you don't stall. I am saying all this as someone who learned in a manual and had no training in an auto.
    – CMaster
    Nov 10, 2015 at 9:09
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    And regarding @NateEldredge's train suggestion. While the US inter-city passenger Train system isn't very good (in that it's slow, and unreliable with regards to late arrivals etc compared to most European networks, although it does have a good safety record), what is being suggested is that you take a local, mass-transit system, more like taking a tram/underground etc.
    – CMaster
    Nov 10, 2015 at 9:10
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    I'd honestly ask seperate questions about all those things. They're good, on topic questions, and you can make your decision about which option to take based off the answers you get.
    – CMaster
    Nov 10, 2015 at 10:44

1 Answer 1

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The majority of US made cars have an automatic transmission as standard equipment. Manual transmissions are available but usually by special order.

Car rental companies in the US tend to buy cars with automatics, since that is the preference of US drivers. And while yes there are European tourists who rent cars in the US and prefer manual transmissions, they are really just a small percentage of the rental customers. The reverse was true for many years in Europe in that only manual transmissions were available and Americans traveling in Europe had no choice but to drive a stick.

There are some smaller rental companies that may offer manual transmissions at some locations or on some models, but at airport rental locations, it is usually the biggest companies and they pretty much offer automatics.

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  • "There are some smaller rental companies that may offer manual transmissions at some locations or on some models", any on PHL? searching through the net only the big ones appear.
    – CptEric
    Nov 10, 2015 at 8:49
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    At airports you are stuck with the big boys. You have to look for off airport smaller car rental companies.
    – user13044
    Nov 10, 2015 at 8:55

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