Long time reader, occasional poster.
I figured I add my $.02.
Teaching them to drive manual: Well several other people have hit it. Learn to start the car rolling without the gas.
Selling SVT??s.
[start tangent]
A few months back I sold my beloved ??00 SVT. I love the car and that??s why I sold it. It??s convoluted but before I owned the SVT I had old cars I didn??t car about. The SVT was my first nice car. Unfortunately having a car you love means parking at the far end of the lot, no dirty shoes, ??hey, don??t eat that in here?, etc. Also, I like working on cars. My ??91 Corolla required a lot of it. My SVT required none of it. I ended up buying a ??93 Miata as a toy/fun/project car. I started driving the Miata all the time. I hated to see my SVT just sit there yet I wasn??t using it that much. At the same time I couldn??t stand to see it be come what I really needed, a beater. I reluctantly put the car up for sale. Five months later I got a call from a couple who used to own an SVT. The car was for the wife. She test drove the thing and it was love all over again. Even better, I liked the way she drove the car, easy on the clutch but not afraid of the gas. I got top blue book price (based on excellent condition and 55,000 miles). Two months later I found my replacement, a mechanically sound yet not clean ??97 SAAB 900 5spd turbo with 58k. Just as fast but not as sporty as the SVT. Many people are surprised when I tell them the Contour was the better driver. On the other hand, I like the extra utility of the hatch, and I ended up $4200 richer (talk about bad resale).
[end tangent]
If you really want top dollar and are willing to wait, I would list it on autotrader at $1000 or so above blue book. Do a run till it sells add and don??t take the low ball offers. I had one guy try to trade me for a ??99 Civic (best case blue book was $3000 less than the SVT). I got a lot of $8k-$9k offers but I held out and got $10.5k. The SVT is a special car. Even in Atlanta you only see 2 or 3 for sale at any one time so you have to be patient. Also, I think you are better off returning the car to stock condition. The couple who bought my car were in there mid thirties and had no intention of mod??ing the thing. Clean and stock was worth more than mod??s and unknown changes.
Best of luck. You??ll miss the SVT. I know I do.
