Nice write-up @
Hardway thanks for sharing. I'm coming up fast on 3 years with mine and I can say my positive experience is similar to yours, and we could nitpick the negatives, plus I have an AT which doesn't have the 2nd gear issue you mention.
As far as the crickets, well, my car either doesn't have them or they are outside my range of hearing. I can also say I've not been close enough to another one in 3 years "in the wild" to notice if I can hear them. I've passed some but its usually at a distance or the other corner of an intersection.
Not sure I understand the part about the HVAC selector knob, I've never turned it and thought "hmmm, cheap, wonder what Toyota was thinking". I know others have complained about it, but to me its just a selector knob. Straightforward and functional, and I can use it without looking at it. That's my only requirements.
Road noise, yea I guess its there at speed, but I kind of expect that in a sports car.