1. Its a common problem. You can use the key and open the door to be a gentleman for lady friends, or if you are just taking a mate and have long arms just reach accross to unlock it. ;) 2. The gearboxes ont he celica use a different shifting mechanism, although the insides are the same as the sportivo boxes, ive been told it shifts slightly better resulting in less wear and crunches, but its only minimally better as the synchros themselves are the issue. 3. AFAIK there are only small differences, the main ones to do with power are the lift bolt revisions, and the ECU rev limit drop. The pre-facelift are faster because of said rev limit differences. 4. The lift bolts are prone to breaking due to bad design, they rectified this with the facelift. Its a $100 repair (or $5 + 1 hour DIY job if youre handy with some tools) The lotus fellows say it should be done every 50,000km as a precautionary measure. Another notable issue is foggy headlights, but nothing a headlight restorer kit from SCA cant fix :) Ive opted for an SX model, I personally am not a fan of ABS, and need the headroom so sunroof is out of the question haha Good luck with the car hunt mate!