Manual transmission cars are getting rarer every day. Sophisticated multi-speed automatic transmissions on new cars can now deliver better gas mileage and quicker shifts than most human-operated manuals, and some of today’s automated driver-assist gear doesn’t always play well with stick shift hardware, which after all depends on the driver to manually move the gears. So they’re rarer, but not extinct. And being able to drive a manual means having more choices.
In non-enthusiast vehicles, the presence of a manual transmission is an economic win. The prices are generally lower because most American shoppers see a stick between the seats and keep walking.
It’s a different story when you’re looking at Chevrolet Corvettes, Mazda Miatas and Subaru Imprezas, where a manual gearbox is preferable and, if anything, commands a price premium. But even then, buyers don’t always choose manuals in big numbers. When the BMW 2 Series was redesigned in 2022 it dropped its much-loved (by enthusiasts) manual option because less than 10% of buyers were choosing it.
For our list of the best manual-transmission used vehicles, we cast a wide net to include something for every kind of likely buyer: economy cars, coupes, hatchbacks, sports cars, pickup trucks and even off-roaders. Age and economy have eliminated things like the manual transmission-equipped minivan, and t muscle cars, think Chevrolet Camaros and Ford Mustangs, under 15 years old are largely out of contention. But there are still plenty of affordable fun manuals to be had.
The Best Vehicles Under $10,000 With a Manual Transmission in 2024
- BMW Z3
- Ford Ranger
- Honda Fit
- Jeep Wrangler
- Kia Soul
- Mazda3
- Mazda Miata
- MINI Cooper & Related MINI models
- Subaru Forester
- Toyota Matrix
BMW Z3
By the standards of cheap manual cars, the BMW Z3 is an outlier. It’s from a premium brand, it’s a performance car and a pretty luxurious one by the standards of its day. After all, this car once starred in a James Bond film. That was in 1995, and part of the Z3’s bargain price is its age. Even the newest one is 22 years old in 2024. But fancy roadsters tend to have owners who take care of them and don’t use them as daily transportation in the same way, say, Ford Focus owners use their cars.
The Z3 has a very good repair record and it’s not so hard to find lightly-used, cared-for 5-speed examples for less than $10,000. You won’t find any of the fastest models, no M-badged cars or Z3 Coupes can be had for this price. However, even the lower-powered models are fun to drive and likely to go up, not down, in value. These cars are at the very end of their depreciation curve. The affordable models are the 1.9-liter four-cylinder (138 horsepower), 2.3-liter inline-six (170 horsepower), and 2.8-liter (roughly 190 horsepower) models, but you might luck out and also 3.0-liter cars (225 horsepower) at this price if you search hard.
A roadster by default, it’s important to check the condition of the top and check thoroughly for rust or water damage, but the mechanical bits of the Z3 are generally hard-wearing, though repair costs can be high when things do go wrong. The styling is also an acquired taste, and don’t look for any modern driver-assist gear, stability control, infotainment, or backup cameras, these cars predate those things. They do have 1990s-era safety systems like airbags though, and a robust body structure. They’re fun, cheap, and not much harder to live with than a Mazda MX-5 Miata.
Ford Ranger
If you think manual cars are rare, try finding a manual-transmission pickup truck. Only the Jeep Gladiator and Toyota Tacoma still offer a manual among new trucks and used Tacomas cost so much now that even two-decade-old examples are hard to find with manuals for $10,000. But there is one old standby that comes cheap, the Ford Ranger. Built from 1983 to 2011, the Ranger received two really huge updates, in 1993 and 1998, during its life but pretty much used the same basic bones for that entire period. It’s a very basic truck. It looks and feels old. On the other hand, it’s also simple, durable, and cheap.
Although you can still find Reagan-era Rangers for sale, our search didn’t reveal too many trucks older than about 1995, and most of the ones you’ll find are from the 2000s. The mid-1990s Ranger offered the 98-horsepower old “Pinto” 2.3-liter four and a pair of V6s in 3.0 or 4.0 liters, with 140 to 160 horsepower. The five-speed manual gearbox came from Mazda, who also sold a rebadged Ranger as the B-Series from 1994 to 2010. 1998 saw a modest facelift and updates to the interior, and newer engines followed, including a 2.5-liter “Pinto” variation (117 horsepower) and a 2.3-liter Duratec (135 horsepower), while the V6s continued.
None of these Rangers are particularly remarkable to drive or behold, but they’re solidly reliable and not too hard to find with a manual transmission. Notably though, only about one in five are manuals according to our searches. That’s still a much greater percentage than other trucks. The Ranger was finally phased out in late 2011. A new Ranger debuted in 2018, but it does not offer a manual.
Honda Fit
If you’re looking for inexpensive, reliable transportation, the Honda Fit has everything you could ever want. Its reliability record is spotless, it’s fun to drive, it’s cheap to buy, light on gas, and even has a roomy interior considering its small size. Though available abroad for many years prior to coming to the U.S., Honda sold fits here from 2007 to 2020, and still sells a new one overseas. For this price, you’ll only be able to find models from the car’s first two generations, the 2007-2008 original recipe and the second-generation 2009-2015 model.
Both make great economy cars, with low costs for maintenance, fuel (Fits get 29 to 31 mpg combined in most cases) and insurance. Each fit has room for up to five passengers, though the back seat is best for two adults or three kids. There’s also lots of cargo room and clever folding seats that turn the cabin into a tiny approximation of a minivan.
They were one of the few vehicles of their kind that offered a manual transmission, and they were surprisingly fun to operate despite the relative lack of horsepower. They’re not as weird as something like the Nissan Cube or Honda Element, but they offer just as much versatility at a very attractive price point. They’re also more reliable than the Cube, Kia Soul, or certain other “big box” small vehicles, with a repair record only rivaled by the Scion xB in this class. All those are great strengths, but the Fit can also be noisy and buzzy on the highway, and it tends to wear through tires quicker than other economy cars.
Jeep Wrangler
The Jeep Wrangler is just about the only American SUV you’re going to commonly find with a stick shift, and certainly more affordable than any classic or current-generation Ford Bronco. It’s possible to find a JK-era Wrangler (2006 to 2018), but it’s tough. Your most likely candidate is going to be a TJ-era Wrangler (1996 to 2005) at this kind of price cap.
Unfortunately, pandemic-related car shortages and surging interest in off-roading have inflated Wrangler prices, even on 25-year-old models. Most of the Jeeps we found with manual transmissions were Jeep Patriots, and we’d generally advise avoiding those, as they don’t have a great repair record. We found hundreds of manual Wranglers for sale nationwide, however, mostly TJs. The nice things about them? They may be old and their mechanical pieces even older, but they’re rock tough. These Wranglers at first came with the old 2.5-liter four-cylinder and 4.0-liter straight-six designed by American Motors (AMC) long before Jeep became part of Chrysler and both engines are as reliable as death and taxes.
From 2003 to 2006, the old AMC four gave way to a Chrysler 2.4-liter from the Dodge Neon, which isn’t quite as durable but had much more power (150 horsepower to the previous 120). The big thing to watch out for in a Wrangler this old is rust, and not just on the body. The frame on a Wrangler can get as thin as paper after a number of winters—especially if they’ve done a lot of off-road work—so be sure to put your best candidate on a lift before you pull the trigger.
Kia Soul
The Kia Soul seems to worm its way into lots of cheap-car top-10 lists, and there’s good reason for it. These cars are useful, well put together, provide a ton of space inside for hauling stuff, and above all they’re cheap. In our searches, we found manual-transmission Souls as new as the 2020 model year with fewer than 80,000 miles on the clock for $10,000. Most of the manuals you find at this price will be older, but first (2010 to 2013) and second (2014 to 2019) generation models should be fairly plentiful.
Most the Souls we found at this price point were the base model, which sounds bad, but these vehicles were well equipped with air conditioning, power windows, power locks and Bluetooth, even in the base trim. Kia prioritized manual transmissions at the low-end of the lineup, so it’s much easier to find one of the base models with a stick than it is to find higher trims, which helps availability as cheap used models. With 1.6 and 2.0-liter engines ranging from 108 to 142 horsepower, none are particularly fast except for the rare late-model turbo (201 horsepower) but speed isn’t really the point of the Soul.
It’s a practical box on wheels that pretty much conquered its niche against players from more established brands, namely the Nissan Cube and Scion (née Toyota) xB, both of which were long ago discontinued while the Soul kept selling really well. The xB offers much of the Soul’s charms with a better reliability record, but it’s harder to find with a manual transmission.
Mazda3
The compact mainstay of Mazda’s lineup for nearly two decades now, the Mazda3 is a fun and practical rival for cars like the Honda Civic and Ford Focus. Because Mazda has historically placed so much emphasis on driving fun, and even the slowest 3 is entertaining behind the wheel, there’s a higher preponderance of manual transmission models than in some alternatives like the Toyota Corolla or Volkswagen Golf. It comes as a four-door sedan or a very handy four-door hatchback, both of which are comparable in size and feel to Civics of the same era.
For $10,000, you won’t find many examples newer than about 2016. The nicest ones are part of the car’s third generation, introduced for 2014, but there should be plenty of first (2004 to 2009) and second (2010 to 2013) generation models to choose from. In the first generation, buyers could choose from 2.0 or 2.3-liter four-cylinder engines with 148 or 160 horsepower. In the second there were more choices, with 2.0 and 2.5-liter fours ranging from 150 to 169 horsepower. In both generations, there was a high-performance Mazdaspeed3, but those can’t be had for less than $10,000.
The third-gen cars are similar, but with more power (155 or 184 horsepower), more luxurious interiors and modern infotainment systems, but only the low-end models can be found at this price. All of them are fun to drive, especially with a manual, and fairly reliable too. First-generation cars tend to rust, but on later cars, this is less of an issue. Mazda3s also tend to get slightly worse fuel economy than rival Civics, Focuses, and Corollas, but not by much.
Mazda MX-5 Miata
The undisputed champion of offering a manual transmission, the Miata is all you could ever possibly want in a sporty car, so long as you’re under six-foot-two and never have to transport anything larger than a couple of grocery bags. Sure, you can probably knock yourself out trying to find a Porsche Boxster or a Subaru BRZ, but why bother when you can find a Miata in your sleep? Also, any $10,000 Boxster is going to be a restoration project.
For our $10,000 price cap, you can find yourself just about any generation of Miata except for the current one. The first-generation Miatas are classic vehicles now and starting to climb in value. The second-generation “NB” models–the ones that eliminated the pop-up headlamps–probably offer the best value, since they have everything that the earliest cars did, but probably a few less miles on the odometer.
People who hang on every word that car magazines write tended not to like the third-generation cars from 2005 to 2015 because they were heavier and slightly more luxurious, with features like power-folding hardtops. Don’t listen. They were great cars, and offer better reliability and fewer worries about rust. As with the Z3, many Miatas tend to be well cared for and cherished by their owners, which works out well for used car buyers.
MINI Cooper & Related MINI models
The Volkswagen Golf and Volkswagen GTI have long been the choice of hot-hatch buyers, but they just aren’t around as much as they used to be, and when they are, they tend to feature an automatic. We’d also love to recommend the Hyundai Veloster, but they just aren’t available at this price point. There’s a lot more inventory from MINI, which has always stood firmly behind manual transmissions and driver enjoyment. For $10,000, it’s possible to reliably find good-condition Coopers as new as the 2015 model year, which means first (2002), second (2007), and third-generation (2014) models are all fair game.
The first-generation cars are the smallest and arguably the most characterful, but in all cases you’ll find an array of colors and trim combinations as vast as a Pantone book. There are also different body styles including convertibles, long-wheelbase Clubman wagons, and the short-lived two-seat coupe and roadster versions. Most are powered by high-winding, zippy 1.6-liter fours but some have even larger engines, like the third-generation models and their 2.0-liter BMW-related fours. Fun is baked into the recipe as the Mini is light and lithe just like its classic ancestor, but each generation has been a little heavier than the last.
While the Mini is easy to find with a manual and lots of fun, there are some caveats. Minis, especially early ones, don’t have a great reliability record and the complexity of their systems can make some repairs very expensive. Expect fun, but don’t expect a Honda.
Subaru Forester
The Subaru Forester has been the Japanese automaker’s compact crossover mainstay since 1997, and it’s a practical, rugged machine that Subaru’s outdoorsy superfans love for good reason. The Forester is CVT-only now, but throughout much of its history, Subaru offered it with a manual. And given Subaru buyers tend to choose manuals more often than customers who saddle up with Honda CR-Vs and Toyota RAV4s, it’s a little easier to find Foresters with five-speeds. For $10,000, you won’t find any examples newer than about 2016, but you can pick up models from any of the Forester’s first four generations (introduced in 1998, 2003, 2009, and 2014).
There are four generations but three basic vehicles, as the second-gen Forester was a heavily updated version of the first. Those first two were based on the Impreza and are more tall station wagons than proper SUVs. In 2009, the Forester was redesigned into a more conventional (and attractive) SUV. After that, it soared in popularity, particularly after its boxy redesign in 2014. All are powered by Subaru’s many horizontally-opposed (“Flat” or “Boxer”) four-cylinder engines, almost all of them 2.5-liter units. These engines are torquey and powerful, but they tend to be noisier than conventional fours, worse on gas, and at higher mileages they have an appetite for head gaskets.
Still, all Foresters get Subaru’s highly capable all-wheel drive (AWD) system, even manuals, and all models can conquer gravel roads and light Forest trails with relative ease. Inside, they’re roughly comparable to CR-Vs and RAV4s in terms of passenger and cargo space, and most Foresters got high marks for safety even from the very earliest versions. A rare high-performance STi model was offered in the mid-2000s, with 265 horsepower (far more than the normal engines), but it’s quite rare.
Toyota Matrix
Out of all the cars we researched, the one that came up the most times in the low end of the price spectrum was the Toyota Matrix. The Matrix is essentially a Toyota Corolla station wagon from the era just before small crossovers came to dominate American roads. It had a fairly lengthy run between 2003 and 2013, but it never sold in huge volume. That’s too bad, because they offered almost everything you could get out of a compact crossover, but with a more car-like ride, and they have a stellar reliability record.
A version of this car was also marketed as the Pontiac Vibe, but each had their own advantages. The Vibe was the sportier of the pair, with far more extroverted styling, but underneath the surface they were close siblings. Both offered the same series of 1.8-liter four-cylinder engines ranging from 123 to 180 horsepower, and front- or all-wheel drive (AWD). Though more exciting to look at than to drive, they were both capable handlers and very practical, wiht roomy and comfortable interiors and plenty of cargo space.
Both cars got a second generation introduced for the 2009 model year, but the Pontiac didn’t last as long owing to GM’s decision to axe that brand at the end of 2010. In that generation a base 1.8-liter four-cylinder (132 horsepower) continued, joined by an optional 2.4-liter unit shared with the RAV4 (158 horsepower). These second-generation cars are slightly less reliable, but it’s a high bar. Both the Matrix and the Vibe were high quality machines built at GM’s NUMMI factory, which today turns out Teslas. They’re both great deals.