Quite similar situation to me! Asian, 20, studying. I have a MT, but I parents also wanted me to get an AT so they could drive it. But I managed to convinced them a MT would be cheaper and more fun (for me
)
Cons:
- the leg space for the rear seats
- insurance price for our age
- paranoia that someone will vandalise/damage your car when you're parked somewhere
Pros:
- surprising boot space and gas mileage
- actually quite a safe car imo. All those safety features, superb handling and the fact that you won't go very fast, hopefully haha
- it's very sexy
That's my 2 cents. The rest you have probably heard from everyone else