manual all the way. Honestly, mine almost acts as a child safety lock for the majority of my friends. Anytime one of my buddies wants to go somewhere but needs to "borrow a car" I just toss them my keys then ask if they know how to drive stick. 9 times out of 10 they immediatly hand them back to me.

Now, about the milage. Relax. It's Japanese. It lasts FOREVER. I'm driving a '95 nissan with over 160,000 on the odometer and it still runs like a dream. A bit of upkeep every so often, but nothing that breaks the bank.