Reply #44: As a stick driver, I can tell you that it's not easy for a man to get a manual trans either...

[Romulox]

The dealer sounds like a dolt, but I can tell you that, as a male customer, I have encountered a great deal of resistance in having dealers locate manual transmission equipped cars for me, and I, too, have simply left one dealer and worked with another because of lack of cooperation.

For one thing, only a tiny percentage of new cars are equipped with manual transmissions. This is because consumers overwhelmingly prefer autos. Even in sports cars.

For another, dealers want to sell you cars that they have on their lots. Go in with a man and observe as he asks for the turbo-diesel option, or some other obscure package--invariably, the dealer will attempt to up-sell the person to a vehicle already on the lot.