Mk3 Focus (non-ST) with the sport package. Learn me!

My car search continues, I've given up finding a nice car at the $5k price range (even the boring cars had issues around here) and decided to up it to $10k. This way, I can get what I really want, a 4-door hatch, MT, low miles and low maintenance. 

Been looking for a 2nd-gen Mazda 3 with a MT, but they are very rare with low miles (I'm looking for less than 70k).

Found this 5-speed Focus with the Titanium Sport package (apparently better shocks and 18x8 wheels with 235 Pilot Sport tires, yes!). 

Went and drove it today, and I really liked it. It felt nimble, surprisingly peppy for 160hp, nice gear box, lovely exhaust, and it looks good on those wheels. Pretty nice inside with leather, backup cam, Sony stereo and some stupid touch screen. Basically felt new compared to my current fleet (beat up E30 and Festiva). It felt like a cave though, compared to those cars.

Only knock on it is it looks like a very slight leak from the valve cover gasket. I'll want to fix that, as I want a car I don't have to think about much. Sort of surprised given the miles on it. I might be able to talk him down with that. 

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/d/2013-ford-focus-titanium/6650532820.html

So, does anyone have any experience with these? I know the DCTs sucked, but are there any other things I should worry about? I might I just keep waiting for the Mazda 3 I want, but I liked this car (has a lot of Mazda in it actually when you consider the engine), and it drove pretty similar from what I remember of the last 3 I drove. 

I had a base one as a rental and really liked it for a few days I had it. It got crazy good mileage for me too. 

Beyond that I have nothing to add. 

Considering its a manual and not the dct i would highly reccomend it. 

We put 153k miles on a 2011 SE with the dct. Honsetly was a fantastic car other than that transmission. Had to have the tcm replaced twice. The second time around, the trans behavior was weird and we sold the car immediately. I heard the trans went out completely a couple months later on the new owner.

Fwiw, the valvecover gasket on ours always looked like it had a very very minor leak too. From almost near new. I always monitored it, never addressed it, it never got worse though that 153k miles. Just made the engine look dirty. I dont know that i would worry too much about what youre seeing

In reply to failboat :

Very good to know, especially about the VCG, thank you!

It seems silly, but if this car had Mazda badges on it, I'd probably have already bought it. For some reason, I trust Fords a little less than Mazdas, even with all of the shared parts/engineering. I guess I'm not the only one because you can't find a '13 3 hatchback with a manual around here with the same miles for this price. People must be hanging on to them. I only see autos or sedans.

I had a 12 focus hatch,  mt.

Gas, oil, and front control arms ( which, if I hadn't let my daughter drive the car, would've gone longer).  Never had a vc gasket leak on mine. 

I think it had 85k miles on it. 

Only sold it because I had to trim the fleet, and it was sell that or the Miata. 

Great car. 

My coworker has one with the DCT. Has 180k miles on it. Apart from issues with the trans (which were fixed by 40k and has been reliable since) it doesn't seem he's had any issues. Manual trans is the way to go. Still gets 36-38mpg in it. Great chassis, and the sony stereo in those is actually pretty dang good. Highly recommended.

The DCT "PowerShift" is garbage, but the 5-speed variant obviously avoids all of that. I owned a 2013 ST and had a 5-speed SE loaner a few times. Honestly, the non-ST cars are more fun to drive from my perspective, unless you need all the power all the time. 

I recently had a 2016 SE loaner (DCT) and my opinions of the chassis haven't changed since they were new. Drives well, good brakes, good suspension feel, great on gas (30 mpg in DC Beltway commuter traffic!). The Sony audio can be improved by pulling that subwoofer out and stuffing Poly-Fil in the empty spaces, it tightens up the bass response. My biggest complaint is that the rear visiblity is fairly poor if you turn your head - thankfully the mirrors are more than adequate.

Some people whine about MyFord Touch but I found it to be totally fine to use. Easy Bluetooth/USB connectivity and good UI.

Should be a pretty good commuter!

Bought this CPO SE sedan with the Appearance Package and 5 speed manual with 23k miles.  Today it has 72k.  No problems.  I enjoy driving it!

No experience but lots of time lusting over these.  The gearing is more aggressive than the mazda3 and the engine seems to be underrated and responds really well to just an intake/tune. If it matters to you I don't think there's a good way to adjust camber on the front of these cars other than eccentric control arm bushings. 

My wife has a 2012 mt5 hatch and I love it.  We had an issue with a faulty ABS module preventing the speedometer amd cruise control from working due to erroneous output, that was shockingly cheap to resolve.  Enthusiasts have reverse engineered the Ford IDS system, so Focccus (the free IDS alternative software), an elm capable OBDII reader, and a laptop let's you do a majority of the programming, initialization, and configuration that previously would have required a trip to the dealer.  I picked up an ABS module with the same part number from eBay, swapped it in, and initialized it to the car, and I was good to go.

Additional fun bit about thr capabilities of Focccus...  The car has heated mirrors and seats, but somehow didn't come with cruise control.  I swapped in a used steering wheel with the cruise control buttons, and turned the feature on in the cars Central Configuration through Focccus, and I had factory cruise control for about an hour's work and $50.  When I first bought the car, the dealer told me factory cruise control couldn't be retrofitted, but offered to sell us a $400+ aftermarket system, which I declined.

I am tempted to stay in the Ford family with our next vehicles knowing that the software exists.  It's amazing to have software that provides the dealer software capabilities for free. 

 I bought mine new in '13 with the 5-speed and it now has 115,000-ish miles on it. Zero problems. I have only replaced the tires and front brake pads although it's now due for some maintenance-love. A new hatch would be great, but I really have no need for a new car.

Stan