Here we go again. It's bad enough that we have to listen to the "real men don't drive autos" stuff when somebody is having an honest debate with themselves prior to purchase...but here's a guy who WANTS one, and some of you feel compelled to talk him out of it.
I drive an automatic. I think it's great...and I don't want a manual.
Hard to believe? Let me repeat it. I actually don't want a manual (and I've driven both).
Here are my reasons: 1) I don't take it to the track (wonder how many do?), 2) I will gladly give up the small penalty in performance (especially since it's far easier to get an auto to shift optimally vs. doing it yourself) 3) It won't ever require an expensive clutch job (last time at the dealership the tech told me about an auto that went 190K miles), 4) It has no snap ring worries, 5) Autos are generally bought by people who aren't going to beat the crap out of the car (like, for example, the burnouts "you can do by dumping the clutch @4000 RPMs" see above), 6) I don't think twice about driving it in heavy commuter traffic or on the hilly downtown streets of Seattle.
So, while on occasion I do miss being able to (effectively) downshift the car, is it an acceptable compromise? You betcha. If that's what you want, don't let them convince you otherwise.