My parents bought me a $2700 2002 F150 that had a standard transmission. Well, I really sucked with standard as we found out and never felt confident driving it. Shortly after they bought me a $4500ish 2003 F150 that was automatic. It's been a very good truck. The reason I count that as spoiled is that my family isn't wealthy at all and they bought two vehicles within a short amount of time for a good chunk of money.