yes I still have the last of the '05s in our fleet, can't wait to get a new car. I got this when I was first hired by my present employer and I didn't get to order my car like most employees do, I was assigned one out of a bucket of leftover fleet cars. It was the basest of the base models...
I agree, the new ones are so much nicer, my counterpart has an '07 (I think) and hers is not only much nicer looking inside but also the 3.5 has much more power than the 3.4 and is unbelievably quieter. For some reason the '05 has been noisy as heck since day one and has only gotten louder with age. The column shift sticks out like a sore thumb; it looks like it came out of the heavy truck parts bin. The newer cars have floor shifts that look much less out of place in the car.
However... I have never driven her car in the rain, so I can't say whether they spec'd better tires or not...
nate