Managers are moderators with administrative duties. We help run, grow, and promote the club while watching the forums also. Basically we're 1/2 moderator, 1/2 admin ;)
Alan, I've been in situations where I've needed emergency acceleration and I didn't feel as if my life were in danger. I can make the car hesitate if I try, but it has never occured in my normal driving.
Oil gelling isn't a big deal as long as you change the oil every 5k miles, its warrantied until 80k I think. The warped rotors were a TSB, a new ES wouldn't have the issue. The transmission is really a personal thing, doesn't bother me but it does bother others. Best to drive and test.
I don't regret anything about my purchase of the ES. What you've got to understand is that you really have to take the amount of "problems" you read about on a board like this with a grain of salt. For one, we're all a lot pickyer than most drivers. For two, people tend to search out these forums when they're having problems already, meaning theres an unrealistic proportion of people with problems and without.
Despite all the problems you hear about here, the ES does VERY well in all consumer based surveys...