[Symbiote]

Preferring to put your disposable income elsewhere sounds exactly like an affordability thing.

If I have £15,000 in the bank, spending £8,000 on the manual vs. £9,500 on the automatic (Renault Clio, 5 years, both on motors.co.uk) is significant. I'd choose the cheaper car.

If I have £50,000 in the bank it's much easier to justify.

(And if I have only £8,000 or less I don't have a choice, but I might tell my friends I "prefer" not to put a lot of money in the car.)