Hi everyone. This is my first post, and it's bound to be long-winded, so please bear with me.

As part of a long-term financial and future planning, I've decided to buy a car. I'm looking for something 2006 or older so someone else eats the depreciation, and I'm about 80-95% decided on a Crossfire.

I've got good financing in place to cover the full amount for most any Crossfire out on the street right now, and my insurance won't be too crazy, either. What I WANT is an SRT6 Roadster w/6-speed manual transmission. Not even sure if such a creature exists, but I've found one with an automatic. At this point I'm willing to sacrifice one of the three (SRT, manual, or droptop) if I can find one at a reasonable price.

I do have a few questions to start off with for Crossfire owners, though:

- Maintenance: I know that Mobil1 is recommended at all times, and since I go synthetic in my Jeep (and also use 93 octane) already, I don't think it would be a problem to change the oil myself. Tires are a concern; I've seen some running 18" front 19" rear, and being non-radials (recommended? stock?) it pretty much makes a spare pointless.

I'm also VERY interested to hear from owners who might have had intermediate or major repairs done. I need to know that if this thing breaks on me, locating and affording parts won't be a show-stopper for me.

- Roadsters: To be honest, I don't need another open-top vehicle - I just want one. Has anyone experienced any problems - no matter how slight - with the convertible top? If so, how easy was it to fix?

I'm sure other questions will spring to mind, but that's all I can think of offhand. Please, share advice that you wish you'd had before you drove away owning a Crossfire. I'm really trying to research this thoroughly, and getting information and advice from owners suits me a LOT better than anything else.

Thanks in advance for helping me out! With any luck, I'll be on these forums for a long time to come!