Yes a GT can have a heated drivers seat with dual climate control and HUD, they are just more rare in a way I guess. More than half of the GTP's have HUD and heated seat. 98-00 will have the digital climate control and the 01+ will not but it will still be dual zone for the most part.
To me no year is that much better than the rest but I'd stay away from 97-98's just because of the few year only parts they have and because they are the early builds. I owned a 2000 and think it's one of the "best" years to own. Anything with no rust and somewhat lower miles from 00-03 is something to look at.
Transmission life is always a toss up, no real way to say how long it will last. Once rebuilt with quality parts it's pretty much a non issue though.
