Hi Jungo, I'm currently in the same boat as you. I' am looking at getting a MKII manual Ute Next year after the new model is released. On the insurance side I have a Car and Bike Full Comp with NRMA @ 60% NCB, They have quoted me $1800 for an 05 Ute. Insured for 30K On a personal experience my Father has a 04 GT semi auto. its nice to drive on the HWY and traffic. but when u pick up the pace it just doesn't seem to keep with the pace. Also on the odd occasion you might give it a boot full it takes a few secs (as most autos) to drop back then wham it all hits, pretty dodgy in some situations when you weren't intending all of it to kick in. Its like the power is on or off, no in between 'But hey that's me' I just think you will have a lot more control in a Manual, especially with these cars and there 500nm + of torque on tap. If you can't pay cash at least save %30 of the cars value before you get a loan, As the last thing you want is to be paying $600 a month on repayments at 22yr old... Anyway best of luck with it and see u on the black top...