If your vehicle has a manual transmission, you might love the joys of driving a stick shift, and you may want to share that joy with one of your friends. If you have a friend who does not know how to drive a stick shift, you might think that it's a good idea to teach him or her how with your own car. However, this usually isn't a very good idea. Instead, you may want to leave this job up to a qualified instructor. These are a few reasons why.  

1. It Can Result in Damage to Your Car

Believe it or not, someone who does not know what they are doing can actually cause serious damage to your car. First of all, you have to consider the clutch and the transmission. By "riding the clutch" or putting your car in the wrong gear, it could result in serious mechanical issues. This can make your car more difficult to drive -- you might notice that it is hard to put your car into gear after a beginner has "slammed" it into gear a few times -- and can actually cause the need for expensive repair (from professionals such as those from Atomic Transmissions). Unless you've got the extra cash lying around to fix your car if this happens, you might not want to use your car as a test car for driving a stick shift. Also, you have to worry about roll-backs on hills, which can actually cause your car to roll into the car behind you at a stop sign or stop light. Body repair damage is another thing that you probably don't want to pay for.     

2. It Can Be Dangerous

Instructors typically have safe places that they go to when teaching people how to drive, whether they are teaching them how to drive in general or are teaching them how to drive a car with a manual transmission. You probably don't have a driving track that you can use, so you and your friend will probably have to take to the roads. Unfortunately, someone could get hurt in the process, and it's not worth the risk just to teach someone when you aren't a professional. 

As you can see, it's really not a good idea to use your own car to teach your friend how to drive a stick shift. Instead, consider spreading the joy and learning by paying for your friend to take driving lessons from a qualified instructor! 

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