jmatero

There have not been any manuals on the lots west of the Mississippi for MONTHS now and I've asked 3 dealers about manual SH-AWD's and the response was consistent: We don't sell them anymore because they sit here forever and get worse MPG.

Uh... ok.

Is there ANY truth to this? Can Acura dealers order manuals at the request of a customer and if so, how long would that take (shouldn't be too long as they're built in the US).

Has anyone out west had any luck recently getting their hands on a 2012 manual SH-AWD?

rickydee

I'm East but I placed in order in November and am hoping it was built this past week - dealer tells me I should hear by Monday with a stock/vin.

Acura2010

Everytime i see a thread like this, i feel lucky! I'm in Canada, and when i bought my white 2012 6MT in October, my dealer didn't have one in stock either, but they brought one in from another dealer in 2 days!! Can't believe you guys are having such a hard time finding a 6MT. I'm going to cherish mine!

uhohkaitlina

It's all supply and demand with that car, unfortunately. I wouldn't go as far as to say that no one wants them though. My other half is dying for one, but they are so rare.

The TSX is almost the same way. I'm lucky that I found one as quickly as I did.

Wa Gwan

I took delivery on my 2012 TL SH-AWD 6 speed manual Nov 25, 2011 but I placed a deposit on it back on July 21, 2011. I live in NY but the dealer that placed the order on it was Acura of Auburn located in Massachusetts. I didn't get confirmation from the dealer until September and the car didn't start getting built until October and was finally finished in November where I finally received the VIN. When I took delivery, the manager of the dealer told me I was lucky to get the car because he told me Honda has no plans of making more of them because there isn't any demand for them. Good luck bro!

LawnPro

My dealer told me they are made in "batches", so acura has to wait for a certain number of orders to come in before they build any. He said the wait could be 4 weeks or 4 months. Very few drivers want the manual any more.

cloud7

I am in Canada as well. The salesperson that I talked to said the same thing. He said that they don't have one in stock but they can brought one in pretty quickly... so I am not concerned here in Canada. Maybe the demand for manual cars is higher in the US? or maybe Acura Canada brought in more manual cars because of the different demographic here?

ucf_bronco

iTrader: (1)

It's crazy how low the demand is for MT's. I couldn't find a CPO within 500 miles of where I live, so I had it shipped from 2200 miles away (sight unseen). There is no way I would do it different if I had to do it over. I absolutely love my 6MT and after having AT loaners (granted they were FWD)...there is no comparison!

Good luck OP! Keep exhausting all resources...you won't regret it.

LawnPro

^^^^^ +1! I agree!

jmatero

The sad part is that NONE of the dealers out here has ANY desire to look into this as they have a zillion automatics on the lots. I drove the new 6-speed auto and it was AMAZINGLY responsive compared to the old 5-speed. Was very engaging. Also, I have 4 weeks to find a car so waiting months isn't in the cards. Also, the bigger issue is ordering and buying a car I haven't driven. I have yet to even DRIVE a TL Manual. LOL.

Acura_Dude

Not cool at all. Acura should just build the car on demand, not wait on a batch of orders. That can take awhile. I'm pretty sure you can do better with the TSX-SE 6spd, but thats a different market etc.

I bet the reason why the dealers don't want to put in an order for you is because they have to much inventory and would rather sell that off. Maybe you can do a nationwide search and have one dealer ship the car for you? IDK if they'll do a dealer trade nationwide it's usually in the same area. Maybe you have to fly out for your dream car. I bet if the 4G was a homerun like the 3G there'd be a different story in ordering you one. It's too bad there aren't any in stock for you to test drive. Maybe manuals will make a combat one day when they start puttin more R&D into them like they do with automatic transmissions. I don't think it's that big of a deal for acura to build a few manual TLs based on orders with a group or auto TLs. That's like me saying I won't bake any turkeys unless I get 10 orders for them, when actually it'll be easier to take the 2-3 orders and get them out of the way.

Acura_Dude

BTW Good luck on your search and hope you find what you want.

gibjer

Irony ...

I picked up mine from Acura of Auburn on July 21st, 2011

LawnPro

I bought my 6m/t from acura of seattle - 1500 miles away from me. They paid for half the shipping to get it to me. I got it sight unseen just like ucf bronco did - sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to find what you want.?

atruedsgb

I was very fortunate when I bought mine right here in Atlanta the same day I searched for it. The nearest two available 6MTs were in Charlotte and Maryland though.

Ant$

remember like 15 years ago when all cars were manual and an automatic transmission was a $1500-$2000 option?

Acura_Dude

I was young, but it was common to see one. Now it's auto EVERYTHING.

probmxstyle

There has been a 2012 black on black manual sitting on my dealer's lot for a few weeks now.

Pete2010

My Dealer - Acura of Boston - had 3 6MT's in black when I got mine - made it easy to get a decent deal - but that was back in Oct of 2010 when it first came out.

lji

Pete, in 2010 they were easier to come by it seems (by comparison)... but then Acura got into that sales slump with the TL and the 6MT might have been a casualty as a result...

jmatero

it's pretty obvious manuals are going away. Heck, you can't even find a Porsche on the lot anymore with a manual... when you do, it's $6,000-10,000 off because it's been there for months. The reality is, automatics get higher MPG these days and the "take" rates are so low that they'll be gone eventually (or you'll have to pay $1,000-2,000 for one as an option).

Shoot2Thrill

Autos don't typically get better mileage it is just the way the EPA test comes out. When the price is right they sell. I watch and dealers with cars that don't sell are unwilling to deal. Acura drops the manual they will no longer have a halo car.

ferrcad

2012 Black on Black SH-AWD Tech 6MT Stock number ACA006815 at Pohanka Acura, VA Sorry I noticed after my post you said west not east of the big river...

JM2010 SH-AWD

My theory in two words - cell phones. People don't want MTs any longer because they need both hands to talk on the phone ot text. (But obviously that does not apply to the TL with HFL).

docboy

Where did you find this figure of $6-10k off for manual Porsche's?

If true, that discount will make it that much easier when I'm ready for my 911

Pete2010

No kidding - where do i find these P-cars for 10k off?

NwTSXmt

3rd post...he is blowing smoke

On Topic: we had to go out out state for hers/our 2010 6mt SHAWD...very much worth the drive

Pseudomaniac

iTrader: (1)

It does make them a peach though; and it's not a new problem. The 2G TL was NEVER offered with a 6 Speed, and the CL was only made in a limited batch for 03 with the clutch. Still most fun Acura I ever owned.

Edward'TLS

How ? Does the EPA test prejudices against MT vehicles ?

As for the 2012 TL's, Acura publishes that the AT SH-AWD has indeed better fuel mileage than the MT SH-AWD.

i_love_cars

iTrader: (1)

I've started reading the 4th gen forums a few months ago for funsies and out of curiosity have wanted to drive a 2009+ 6mt at a dealer lot, but cannot find any.

Honestly it's a combination of what everyone here is saying - we live in an age of technology where people want convenience. Having to drive a manual is simply that - an inconvenience to most people.

Then the other argument was always that stick is faster - in some cases, yes, but honestly in most higher-end luxury cars nowadays the auto will shift faster than any human ever can.

Then there's the added effect of not as many new drivers learning how to drive stick because even a 16 year old's first car these days is unlikely to be a manual when you consider that if the car is a cheapo that's 10 years old, that's still a 2002 model year, lol. We're getting older. Dammit.

In my opinion if you have a manual TL, it is more important than ever to take good care of it, and quite frankly spend the money to fix it even at higher mileage to keep it running unless it is totally dead in the water. These cars will keep getting fewer and fewer production numbers across all manufacturers as time goes on. Even if my Type-S blew, I would replace the motor before buying a different car.

I still maintain that no matter what computer controls they put in to an auto, a seasoned driver with a manual will always have better control over a vehicle and to those of us who like manual, that's mostly what it's about. In his spare time, my boss is a performance driving instructor up at Road America, and he put it pretty well - the difference between me and a computer is that once the computer decides to do something, it does it. If a situation changes, you don't know if the computer will compensate appropriately. I can change at a whim and be sure that I compensate correctly. If I overcompensate, that's my mistake, but at the end of the day it's safer to know rather than to assume what a 3500 pound killing machine will do at any given time.


Sucks that you can't find a manual.

BEAR-AvHistory

^^^^
There is no major racing organization in the world, Formula 1, Indy car, Le Mans series, that agrees a manual transmission is the hot ticket. They all run paddle shifters. Its interesting to note that the GTE-Pro class winning Corvette at the 24 Hours of Le Mans was a paddle shifter even though you can’t get one from the factory till the next generation is released.

Manuals are still a key part of amateur sports racing but they will fade until they are only left in the vintage classes. People who want to win are going to go with the technology that can get them the front.

NASCAR might not even agree anymore that the 4 speed is king since it has moved right up into the 1980’s by requiring throttle body fuel injection to replace the Holly double pumper carb for 2012. So it looks like given this trend the cup cars will have mandatory paddle shifters for the 2042 season.

I think the lack of available MT’s on the Acura lots in addition to everything else that has been said is the parts scarcity caused by the big wave. If they have limited parts they will be putting them into models that sell quickly & within its customer base that is the 90% AT market.

MileHigh6MT

In Denver. There were 2 available in Colorado in late Oct 2011. I test drove one of them but wanted to wait before making a decision. In December, I met with the dealer and they told me it would likely be late Feb. Guess what, they were correct. My 6MT was built last week and arrives in 2 weeks. In speaking with the 4 Front Range dealers, they all seem to say that this is clearly a niche car. Not many may want them, but those that want one will do whatever it takes to buy one. I agree with previous statements, the cellphone and increasing traffic killed the manual.

OneOfOne

it was a lot longer than 15 years ago

OneOfOne

most bmw 3 series are now auto and have been for a while. when even ferrari offers new cars with no traditional manual available the handwriting is on the wall. the fact is though that paddle shifters do what a stick does sans clutch. they arent where they will be but thats the future for those that just have to shift. living anywhere near a city makes me think that those people are masochists

BEAR-AvHistory

Think what a lot of guys don't understand is the DCT paddle shifters are full manual gear boxes with powered computer managed clutches & gear ratio selectors.

DannyZRC

DCT is absolutely not a manual transmission, it's an automatic transmission. An automatic with some neat advantages, sure, but an automatic.

they are not planetary transmissions, they don't use torque converters, but they are automatics.

Racing may be using paddles, but racing is expensive (high TCO), and racing doesn't care about low maintenance, they just care that a system is reliable over race distance.

WRC cars maintained the entire manual setup for their sequential transmissions because the paddle shifting system broke down enough to warant it, before WRC went away from paddle shifting entirely for cost reasons.

winstrolvtec

Great topic. From what I have observed it appears DSG's/DCT's and even standard 8AT's have surpassed the manual (6MT) counterparts in terms of acceleration and fuel economy. With exception, but mostly as a whole, it appears normal 7AT's are on par with 6MT's and 6AT's are basically right there but do seem to give up some performance, if not fuel economy.

More importantly than the advanced electronics and sophistication of a DSG/DCT is that there is usually at least an additional gear nowadays compared to a 6MT, so in essence it's like having an automated 7MT+. The gap would essentially close if brands decided to make 7MT's.

7 manual gears wouldn't be bad at all IMO and the slot is already there for 6MT's. What I think becomes the issue, is that most auto's and DSG's/DCT's are already at or will eventually go 8 gears and maybe more in the future, which would not be suitable for a true manual in an everyday vehicle.

gibjer

I still feel you will always have more car control with a manual box, especially in the winter.

moych1

Now i considered my self lucky.I went to my acura dealership for a 2007 mdx recall and the salesman who sold me the mdx said i should test drive a tl-6mt w/c they got the night before.Took it for a spin and bought it the same day.never expected it to be very rare.

DannyZRC

that's because you do, a manual transmission gives you not only gear selection but also clutch control, something that's extremely useful in slick conditions.