This was my very first car. It was a stick shift which originally I disliked. And I still did dislike that feature when it came to stop-and-go traffic. But it also made me feel very in tune with my driving. I felt very connected and alert because I had to pay attention to more when I was driving. It also was pretty indestructible. It's hood got crunch under a semi that swerved in front of my dad while he was driving and there was just a small dent and the car ran fine without any auto work. It had some problems keeping speed when going up hills, which got to be frustrating on the freeway. It handled well though, with a great turning radius and it would speed up quickly when I wanted it to. It was a great little car and I was bummed when it got totaled.