Problem in the UK is that if they need to hire a car anytime, or use a courtesy car while theirs is being repaired, they will almost always need a manual licence.
Not really, it may cost more to hire an auto over an equivalent, and you may need to book further in advance, but they are available. As for a courtesy car, obviously depends on the garage, but as an example, last year our Jazz CVT (my wifes Motability car) had to get some body repairs done. The Motability advisor said we'd get an automatic courtesy car, so with that in mind, i was surprised that the work would be done a local bodyshop. They supplied a Corsa auto as a courtesy car. So if a bodyshop in a medium sized North East Scotland town can supply an automatic courtesy car, no reason why any other reasonable sized garage couldn't. When we went on holiday to Majorca a few years ago, i was seriously considering hiring an auto for the fact that it would make it less stressful not having to worry about changing gear using the 'wrong' hand. There certainly wouldn't have been any problem with availablity, but due to the extra cost i just went with a manual.
And with the figures i unearthed in the 'manuals vs automatics' thread showing the clear swing towards automatic cars, any garage owner would be at risk of losing business by not being able to offer an automatic courtesy car.
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