pooder

Quick correction here. The xB with a stick DOES get worse highway mileage than one with an auto. It's because the final drive ratio of the stick requires higher RPMs than the auto at a given speed, and therefore worse mileage by a little. Not a significant issue as far as I'm concerned, but . . . .

bB2NER

PLEASE research stuff before you speak on them? It helps keep you from looking foolish!
How you drive has very little with the fact that the clutch components are not up to the task. There are plenty of people that drove their xBs gentle and they got slightly over 40K before the clutch problems showed up. It's nice to think if you drive it nice and easy that you will get "normal" clutch life. IT'S NOT GONNA happen in this case, PERIOD!!!!!! The pressure plate springs are NOT strong enough to keep the disk from slipping!
It gets worse mileage because of the final gearing!

snowromance

i stand corrected on the clutch life thing

but the gas mileage in auto vs manual im sorry but that is not true of getting better gas mileage in a automatic. the very little added rpms from the final drive in a manual vs auto is the ONLY thing the auto has a chance at having better gas mileage with. you are forgetting about the time not spent at 70+ mph. if you filled up your box, got straight on the freeway, and drove a full tank down to nothin at 70+mph, you may end up with SLIGHTLY better gas mileage with the auto. but who drives like that all the time. unless your house is a 1/2 mile from the freeway, your work is a 1/2 mile from the freeway at the other end, and you never drive anywhere else than yes an auto will probably give you better gas mileage. other than that, 99% of drivers, manual will give you better gas mileage. its been proven over and over with all makes/models of cars for the most part

pooder

You're contradicting yourself there. You say that the auto has SLIGHTLY better gas mileage, under some conditions but that it doesn't get better mileage. It DOES get better mileage ON THE HIGHWAY. That was my correction, and it's because of the higher RPMs for any speed when you're in top gear. I drive about 10 miles to work, and about 70-80 percent of that time I'm in top gear, and during that time I'm getting a little less mileage than if I had an auto. Point made.

snowromance

lol do i need to reiterate it again? the only time you will get better gas mileage in the auto is when you are at 70+mph or another speed CONSISTANTLY for a good amount of time, which obviously is only on the freeway or long stretches of highway. same thing. an auto doesnt get as good gas mileage as a manual because you need the car to shift for you, which uses up a certain amount of gas. Another thing is that you don't have complete control of the car. You lack the ability to shift to whatever gear you need to be in for best mileage rather than the gear that the car chooses for you, based on speed. unless you spend all your time on the freeway and never drive through the city which is highly unlikely for most people, the MANUAL will give you better gas mileage. there is nothing contradicting about it. i said once, now i said it again. its really simple logic

cr133r

Back to the original poster....

It doesn't hurt to go to the dealer and ask for the deal YOU want. The worst thing they can do is say no. Given the fact that they need to recoupe a bit of cost for them to have put it on the lot (cleanup/maintenance/prep/etc), you're probably going to have to come up with 1000 or so to make it worth it to them.

They aren't likely to make the deal, but it really doesn't hurt to ask.

Batmobox

I just wanna thank everyone for their help. Because of two annoying snow storms last month, frigid temperatures, and the fact that a manual xB had been in dealer inventory for almost two months (according to carfax.com) the dealer made me an offer I couldn't refuse. They are even swapping out all my aftermarket parts with the stock ones and returning them to me for free! Thanks again guys!