Depends on the car, but a small, older econo-car almost requires a stick in order to be able to keep up with traffic, not to mention better gas mileage and generally lower initial cost. It's not that hard to find a stick in a beater anyway, so I'd wait for a stick.

Sports car = manual or it's not worth it.

If it was something like an SUV/Truck/Van, I'd probably rather have an auto anyway.