I am sure that some folks won't like the gearbox on the F-Type. For me the calculus was different. There was no way I was buying a Porsche, and I would rather continue to drive my 23 year old Acura Legend MT than take to a BMW. So for me it was

1) I am buying an F-Type
2) Oh cool, you can get one with a 6 speed manual!

Which means that whatever it came with, as long as it was drivable, I was good. I bought the car because it was an F-Type. I was really excited about it because it came with a real gear box.

Orkney

 

The dash rattles is defiantly not common so like some others said try another car. Also like some of the others said the automatic transmission they put in these cars are amazing. I've had nothing but manual sport cars and muscle cars my whole life until this car. This automatic shifts in the blink of an eye, will get better gas mileage, and be faster than the manual. At least go drive an automatic and then make your decision cause you might be surprised. For me there's no better feeling than putting this car in dynamic mode and banging off shifts with the paddle shifters.