I would echo what others have said about the car being on the pricey side. Rust can really get away from you if you aren't careful, and can be expensive to repair. My 1800ES had automatic in it and it was sluggish. Still, I was using it to get back and forth to work, with occassional trips on the highways. It worked fine for that. I am not looking to beat people off the line at red lights, etc. If the tranny works and seems solid the car will be a nice sedate driver. If you are looking for pep and speed the automatic won't do it.