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Dodge Auto transmission up until the 48RE was (is) infamous for failing. So if you have an earlier Dodge (03 and before) the choice for longitivity was the standard; also, until the 2006 model year 48RE you could not put an exhaust brake on the Dodge Auto (many did and the transmission would fail as well); 2006 has a beefier connecting rod (spline??) in the transmission and larger main computer module that will now handle the exhaust brake stresses and transmission programming requirements.
Given old experience -- at highway speeds there should be little if any difference in fuel economy between manual and auto transmissions given comparable gearing. In town (or slow speeds where the torque converter doesn't lock in), the automatic suffers. Also, when stopping, on the automatic the exhaust brake quits working at about 20 mph (at least on mine) where on a manual you could leave it engaged until even slower. The manual transmission also gives you much better control when using the exhaust brake on downhill grades or stopping vs. the automatic. There are people who report over 100K miles on a set of brake pads when using a stick-shift and exhaust brake; haven't seen anyone report much over 60K with an automatic!!
Now all that said -- when I was younger I enjoyed shifting and the feeling of being more in control of the 'power'; however, I now enjoy not having to shift; my legs are not as 'tough' as they used to be, and the automatics have just plain gotten better.
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