I was actually trying to assess the transmission problem. 78K is definitely a short life. But, buying a used manual tranny equipped car is always a gamble. You may know these people and know they took care of their car and know they didn't beat the hell out of it, but what we don't know is their little driving habits. Lemme share a short example. A friend of mine in college had a Suzuki Samurai (bad enough to begin with) and he went through 2 transmissions before even turning 100K on it. So I decided to take a little road trip with him and observe his driving habits. I immediately noticed that he liked to drive with his hand resting on the stick. Well, no wonder the transmissions were going bad!! Unwarranted constant stress on the synchros is never a good thing!

Some things are not always so easy to spot. Like someone who is always gently touching the clutch pedal or someone who shifts just a hair too fast and is forcing the gears (sometimes imperceptible to an observer because its all about "feel"). The longevity of a manual transmission can be cut drastically by a simple and small bad habit.

Just something to keep in mind when looking at used cars. would you know if the previous owner was not the perfect example of driving? Not always. But many experienced mechanics know what to look for in a test drive. Trick is finding a good mechanic that can spot these things for you.