So I was awoken last wednesday morning at 5am to my Crossfire's alarm sounding outside my window. Sleepily I rolled over and silenced it from my key fob. I started again a minute later... so thinking someone might be tampering with the car, I stumbled across the room and looked down at my Crossfire in the parking lot below and tried to silence the alarm with my keyfob again. Then I noticed the car's lights were flashing from UNDER WATER. Water was already starting to lap up at the hood of the car. Naturally I became hysterical, noticing that water was starting to gush in my condo downstairs too. I was able to wake my partner, grab my puppy, and wade out of my condo just in time before the flood waters got really bad. All of my neighbors in my building were just starting to come out of their townhomes at the same time. They all said the same thing... that my Crossfire's alarm woke them, and they were so grateful for that! By the time the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay had passed us in Charlotte, my Crossfire ended up being submerged in almost 6 feet of water. When the flood waters were down the next day, we had about a half dozen news crews outside our condo complex. My Crossfire was the subject of several news segments. When they came and drug my poor little Crossfire up on a flatbed truck the next day, she still had water gushing out of her... it just stabbed me in the heart to see her being drug away. She was a beautiful Limited blaze red coupe with charcoal interior, and auto trans. I think a couple of my friends have pics... I couldn't bear to take any, I just loved my little car.

So besides posting my sob story, I wanted to get y'all's opinions on some things. At first I didn't think I'd get another Crossfire, just because interior room on them is so tight, and I'm big (6'3" and weigh 210). But after I started looking around, all I want still is another Crossfire. I can't decide between an auto or 6-speed this time around though. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I see gas mileage is supposed to be much better on the auto cars, but is that everyone's real world experience? For reliability reasons, does anyone recommend an auto over a 6-speed? Other than the lack of auto dimming rear mirror, are there any real differences in build quality/reliability between the 2004 and 2005 Limited Crossfires? I've found a 2004 Sapphire Silver auto Crossfire with the groovy cedar interior I really like with 34k miles at my local Carmax. They also have a Charcoal/Charcoal 2005 6-speed Crossfire with 16k miles for only $1500 more. I can't decide which one I want! Anyone have any opinions? Primarily I want the car I can use the most reliably, and get the best gas mileage out of.