I love manual transmission cars, I have owned many. I would buy the automatic.
I owned a 2014 VW Sportwagen 5 speed manual for under a year, it was the only manual I actually disliked driving. I think between throttle-by-wire and the lack of clutch feel made it hard to drive smooth. It would also grind going into 2nd when cold. VW said it was a "normal characteristic of that transmission series" and wouldn't do anything about it under warranty. I stalled that car more in a year than any of my other manuals in my 19 years of driving stick. I LOVED that car but got sick of the transmission and sold it.
If you are serious about getting the manual, see if they will let you take it for a extended test drive, at least a few hours to make sure you and it jive well. I didn't and didn't figure out for a few weeks that it wasn't my driving skills that lacked, it was VW's [censored] transmission setup that made it hard to drive.
I drive a Subaru with a manual trans now and we get along just fine, I have never stalled it and have no issues driving it smooth.
