I know that this is an old post, but thought I would add my 2 cents worth. When we bought our Compass, 4 weeks ago, being that I would be the primary driver, I in fact wanted the manual transmission, but bought what was on the lot, with the auto stick. Living in Minnesota, I find that a manual transmissions is best for those days when we have snow and the city hasn't plowed yet. I will be using my autostick to down shift when braking at snowy/icy intersections, thus reducing the possibility of sliding through icy intersections.