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I thought that would be annoying too. I've owned nothing but 5 speeds since I was 17. (I'm 28 now)
Actually, I found the Automatic kind of nice. Especially if you do lots of highway driving. Make sure the tranny is tip-top though. Shifts should be smooth with no flare or lazy kind of hesitation during light throttle and more firm when you floor it. The 2nd to 3rd shift is usually the first sign of trouble. Also remember to check the fluid when warm and check reverse during your test drive. Really try to get it up to speed also during the test drive. Mine is smooth as a new lexus until you hit 65MPH and then a slight shimmy sets in.
Try to drive it at highway speed long enough to lock the tourqe converter and test the brakes also at this speed. Warped rotors (A common SVX problem) can be hard to detect at 30mph.
All that being said a good SVX shifts very nicely. It's definately got gusto on the highway and downshifts about halfway into the pedal. Passing is pretty effortless and highway acceleration is great.
A small car shift kit can be had that will improve your "performance" driving a bit by taking out the softer shifting at high throttle. If you drive hard an aftermarket tranny cooler is a good investment. Also, drive it in 3rd most of the time unless you get above say 50 MPH as the car tends to pop into 4th WAY early.
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