There has been much praise and some complaint about the XR6T in this forum, however as an owner MY experience so far has one of absolute pleasure. I have over 6000km on the clock now and no sign of diff or brake problems that others have experienced. Are these problems related to driving style? Are they more apparent in manuals? Who knows, all I know is that my cars is (so far) trouble free and I love it. I follow the Ford recommendations.....I drive it as long and as hard as I like and get it serviced as per the schedule. Apart from that, I always warm it up for a t least a minute and always drive like a granny the last block or so to home/work. No timer required IMO. I dont have leather...I wanted it but not enough to wait for it. The standard leather trim is very respectable for the price. If you are thinking after market, then IMO dont get the side air bags. I'd trust Ford to get it right but not an aftermarket job.....