I would advise you to go for a 2003 onwards model. apparently 2002 and below models have the precat problem. I've got an 02 mr2 and i havent had any issue with the precats (maybe they were already removed when i purchased it?) but yea, 03 looks better, various exterior changes. There is a seller who sells the veiside bodykit for around 1400 on ebay. he recently hasn't been listing... but imo, you should just get one that has it already on. if you're looking to switch it to a true manual... look for an mr-s that way you won't have any problems with installation etc. SMT is alright, downshifts are fast up shifts sometimes are slow which can get annoying but generally, it's only from gear 1 -> 2 that it's slow. the softtop is prefitted on all mr2's. the hardtop is an add on. there are heaps of hardtops available on spyderchat. mikev on spyderchat is selling them from around 2.7k shipped and painted. the UK have some pretty cheap hardtops but the shipping and customs isn't really worth it.