America has a new cheapest stick-shift car after multiple manual options got removed
Published on Feb 28, 2026 at 8:57 PM (UTC+4)
by Molly Davidson
Last updated on Feb 27, 2026 at 9:45 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
America has a new cheapest stick-shift car.
It’s not a stripped-out sedan or a bargain commuter special.
After a wave of discontinued manuals, the crown now belongs to a two-seat sports car.
Which tells you everything about where the manual transmission market is in 2026.
DISCOVER SBX CARS – The global premium auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
The Mazda Miata is now America’s cheapest stick-shift car
The cheapest new manual car in America is now the Mazda MX-5 Miata Sport, and it starts at $31,665 including freight.
Yes, that means there isn’t a single new stick-shift car left under $30,000.
That shift didn’t happen because the Miata suddenly got expensive.
It happened because everything else disappeared.
Volkswagen dropped the three-pedal regular Jetta for 2025.
Mini no longer offers a manual.
Nissan killed the Versa entirely.
And if you walk into a dealership asking for a manual Civic, Corolla, or Elantra, you’re out of luck unless you step into a higher-performance trim.
Even the last ‘normal’ manual compact left standing – the Mazda 3 Hatchback 2.5 S Premium – costs $32,685 including freight.
Which means the Miata, a rear-wheel-drive roadster with no back seats and barely enough trunk space for a weekend bag, is technically the budget option.
To be fair, it’s not bare bones.
You still get air conditioning, LED headlights, a larger infotainment screen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob.
What you don’t get at this base level are extras like a limited-slip differential or fancy dampers.
Still, modest curb weight, engine up front, power to the rear, and a proper manual gearbox sounds like a good time.
It’s just outrageous that this is now the entry point.
Click the star icon next to supercarblondie.com in Google Search to stay ahead of the curve on the latest and greatest supercars, hypercars, and ground-breaking technology
Why are manuals disappearing from affordable cars?
20 years ago, manual transmissions were the cheap choice.
They saved you money upfront, sometimes helped with fuel economy, and usually made the car quicker.
Back then, cars like the Civic Si or a Volkswagen GTI were attainable and fun.
However, modern automatic transmissions changed the math.
Today’s autos are often more efficient than their manual equivalents.
Turbocharged engines also tend to perform better when paired with sophisticated automatic gearboxes.
Add in increasingly heavy traffic and tighter fuel economy regulations, and the manual stopped making business sense for many brands.
As a result, stick shifts are slowly retreating into niche sports cars and seven-figure hypercars marketed with words like ‘analog’ and ‘engagement’.
For most buyers, the affordable three-pedal commuter is basically extinct.
So if America’s cheapest stick-shift car has to be something, at least it’s the world’s favorite roadster.
Still, the fact that it crests $30,000 feels like the bigger headline.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
With roles at TEXT Journal, Bowen Street Press, Onya Magazine, and Swine Magazine on her CV, Molly joined Supercar Blondie in June 2025 as a Junior Content Writer. Having experience across copyediting, proofreading, reference checking, and production, she brings accuracy, clarity, and audience focus to her stories spanning automotive, tech, and lifestyle news.
