"Sad to say, outrunning a horse might need to be a necessity with our lifestyle." Seriously, how long had he been out of the Ashram, and how many odd situations had he been in since?
He was able to shift the car with Dinah's patient instruction. When left on his own, he ground it again, but with a little bit of lurching and experimental pulling on the shift got it where it needed to be.
"I think I am a bit too busy to really be dating, don't you?" After all, getting grabbed from the house and thrown behind a steering wheel totally counted as busy. "Uh, do I just brake at this point or do I have to go down the gears to slow?"