[Frost__2001]

To me it's a matter of choice really and driving habbits really, I can say I am one of the few people here to have had both an auto and a 5 speed focus.

I think people are overly stupid thinking they have to get a minivan when they have One or two kids, Um hello that's why there are wagons if you need the space and don't want to have 4 extra seats if your not using them.... not to mention Minivans are way to over priced to familys on the lower income scale, unless it's been overly used.

Really Any car can be a kid / family friendly even a 5 speed, I think the only cars that are not are 2 door, 2 seat, sports cars. People call pick up trucks family friendly I don't see why there is a mind set against having a fun car, when concidering a new car for their family. Europe is a prime example of that, almost every car in Europe has a 4 or 5 even 6 speed tranny options, and if they have the option of Automaitc they choose not to have it because of the costs down the road to have it repaird.

I can say I've owned more Auto's then stick, and it's I can say the manual tranny beats out auto everytime, because an auto will bog down at some point not to mention they tend to have little driving excitement, and a plus to having a 5 speed is they have been proven to last longer then auto, not to mention better fuel milage.

I'm 26 now, and thinking of my needs and my family's and I'm drawn to get a maybe another Focus, but a Wagon next time round for the extra storage space, and yeah it would be a 5 speed.