trucke's new dailey driver

The old Buick LeSabre is finally deceased. The transmission would no longer move the car. Plus repairs have been happening too consistently as of late. So the FX16 was pressed into daily service. I love driving the FX16, but a commuter it is not. A car that is lowered with an EVO seat makes it difficult to get in and out of on a daily basis. Plus the ride is noisy and bumpy. The search for a replacement was on.

I was not in any hurry to start making car payments again, but the process went faster than I thought possible. There was nothing out there (price, fun, practicality) that I could say “I want one of those’. I perused the C-list and found much overly priced worn out treasures. Transitioned to Autotrader and searched: manual transmission, under $20k. The search resulted in a series of Kia, Hyundai, Mini, Fiat models. One model caught my attention. FoST? Really these are dropping into this price territory? I must investigate. Found one at a local Ford dealer just to inspect. Nice car, nice size, four doors for short family trips and errands, Recaro’s seemed quite a tight fit with hard thigh bolsters. But I already have a ‘boy racer’ car with a race seat, granted, not nearly as quick as a FoST. I also have two daughters, 13 and 10, who must learn to drive a stick. A turbo car is not best car for that. I also did not like the fuel economy of the FoST for my commute, which requires premium fuel (yes I know it will run on regular). It also has a short range, so fill-ups would occur more frequently. But I liked the car!

What’s a non-ST Focus like? We went and test drove them just to see. Long story short, after much searching (Carguru’s.com), we found this 2013 Ford Certified Pre-Owned Focus SE with the appearance package. This means leather seats, power driver seat, rear disc brakes, 17” alloy wheels, fog lights, rear spoiler, and ambient lighting. The ambient lighting is so bling, but kinda cool. I wanted a back-up camera and a sunroof which this one does not have. With only 23k miles on it, we were blessed to take it home for $11.8k. It was languishing on the lot for months because – manual transmission. We had to drive over 2 hours to pick it up, but definitely worth the trip. As a FCPO car, I got the trial subscriptions to Sirius. I’m really enjoying that on my 45 mile round trip commute.

Found the MPG's to be 8% lower than the computer, so around 33-34 mpg. The computer helps to monitor my shifts for mpg (boring).

Congrats!

I like the stories of car purchases around here. People usually have extremely well thought out reasons, on the verge of being pedantic, if why they chose whichever car they chose. It's nice to hear a more in depth reason than it's red.

Wow, sounds like a great value. Congrats!

Last night I filled up the tank for the second time to get the first mpg test. Looks like a Focus will yield 36.4 mpg (37.2 on computer). Must say, I'm very happy with that!

Probably won't see an autocross until the oldest child gets her license in a few years. I'll stick with the FX16 for play time.

Oh, and it's red....Ford calls it RACE Red.

You said you found the MPG to be 8% lower than the computer - may I ask what method you are measuring the computer against?

unfortunately, I think if you use the 'fill it full, drive x miles, and fill it full again' method, that depends on two things out of your control (the auto pump shutoff point - was the tank the same level of full both times?, and the volume meter at the second fill up). Those two things I believe can easily add up to an 8% error.

Your computer is looking at very closely understood fuel volume based on pump pressure and injector duty cycle. Both methods use the same speedometer/odometer, so any error there is a wash. I would venture to guess your computer in a modern car is much more accurate about metering fuel than the average gas station.

I found a gray '13 Focus sedan, 5-speed local to me with similar miles and at a similar price. It's hard to resist taking on a payment when you get so much car for your dollar!

Ford really is doing some amazing things these days.

rcutclif wrote: You said you found the MPG to be 8% lower than the computer - may I ask what method you are measuring the computer against? unfortunately, I think if you use the 'fill it full, drive x miles, and fill it full again' method, that depends on two things out of your control (the auto pump shutoff point - was the tank the same level of full both times?, and the volume meter at the second fill up). Those two things I believe can easily add up to an 8% error. Your computer is looking at very closely understood fuel volume based on pump pressure and injector duty cycle. Both methods use the same speedometer/odometer, so any error there is a wash. I would venture to guess your computer in a modern car is much more accurate about metering fuel than the average gas station.

The first tank was filled-up at the dealer. I have no knowledge of when the pump shut-off. I have discovered that once the pump stops, there is very little fuel you can add to this car. This allows very consistent fill-ups. So the first tank mpg calculation was not as accurate as the second.

Larger sample sizes tend to reduce variation. Data is presented from only two tanks.

As far as the pump meter variation. Yes, that comes into play. However, I discard that variable as I am required to pay whatever the meter says.

The_Jed wrote: I found a gray '13 Focus sedan, 5-speed local to me with similar miles and at a similar price. It's hard to resist taking on a payment when you get so much car for your dollar! Ford really is doing some amazing things these days.

Make sure it has the 201A Appearance Package. This gives you a host of usable and comfortable goodies (leather, power drivers seat, fog lights, etc).

I am surprised I bought a Ford. Still enjoying it. Starting to get comfortable with throwing it into turns. It sticks and rotates fairly well.

That's a great car for only $12K! Enjoy and slap some ST wheels and badges on it because...why not?

Focuses are seeming to be a great value these days both used and new.

rcutclif wrote: You said you found the MPG to be 8% lower than the computer - may I ask what method you are measuring the computer against? unfortunately, I think if you use the 'fill it full, drive x miles, and fill it full again' method, that depends on two things out of your control (the auto pump shutoff point - was the tank the same level of full both times?, and the volume meter at the second fill up). Those two things I believe can easily add up to an 8% error. Your computer is looking at very closely understood fuel volume based on pump pressure and injector duty cycle. Both methods use the same speedometer/odometer, so any error there is a wash. I would venture to guess your computer in a modern car is much more accurate about metering fuel than the average gas station.

can't speak for trucke, but the method I use, is I try to fill up at the same pump each time … it's on a slope, so I can, with lots of patiences, get it pretty darn close to totally full (this particular pump will allow me to trickle fill) … so pretty much I negate as much of the things you mention as I can .. I realize that there are still some unresolved inconsistencies, but for the most part, I'm pretty sure I'm getting close to accurate

though I'm also pretty sure you'll explain to me why I'm wrong

In reply to wbjones:

I'll play along! I bet that using the same pump at the same gas station each time fixes a lot of sources of error. I also bet that buying gas at a 'reputable' station does a lot to help. I am quite suspicious that some cheap gas stations mess with the meters

Unless, the pump meter or nozzle itself has been altered or replaced between fuel ups (I don't know how often this happens, but I know it happens).

Finally, I guess that since the auto shutoff works on pressure differences, you could have tiny differences based on silly little things like the temperature of the gas vs. outside temp.

I HAVE seen a guy filling up his car hit the auto shutoff and then continue to 'top up' the tank 7-8 times while fuel was spilling all over the ground (from behind the metal work, so somehow he didn't see it). It was last year and the car looked brand new, so I dunno how he got that to happen but he did. THAT would be a huge source of error. Come to think of it, any fuel spilling (maybe it just runs down the outside of the fill tube behind the fender) could be a source of error.

Congrats! We love our 2013 5-door hatch. We paid more than you most likely it's because it's a Titanium and it has every option including the DCT. I would have loved to have a manual, but unfortunately the wife doesn't drive manual.

Nice score! I looked at these back when I bought my 3, but they were still new to the market, and they were non-existent with a manual trans. They are really nice cars.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Congrats! We love our 2013 5-door hatch. We paid more than you most likely it's because it's a Titanium and it has every option including the DCT. I would have loved to have a manual, but unfortunately the wife doesn't drive manual.

The select shift trans that the non manual Foci isn't bad for what it is.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Congrats! We love our 2013 5-door hatch. We paid more than you most likely it's because it's a Titanium and it has every option including the DCT. I would have loved to have a manual, but unfortunately the wife doesn't drive manual.

Your hatch looks great! Moonroof too!

A hatch was my preference.

What are your driving impressions? There are a lot of complaints on the web about the DCT transmission. People do not understand that this is not an automatic transmission and complain about the dual clutch behavior.

I'm trying to sell DD#1 on replacing her '02 Impreza wagon with a newer Focus rather than a '10-'14 Impreza WRX 5 door. The FoSE/ST look like really nice cars. Congratulations!

Love the '14 SE we have as my wifes DD. unfortunately we have the auto-tragic and it's been acting up recently, shudders badly on take off from stops and likes to slip from 1-2. I know it's a DCT but its verging on dangerous to drive due to the fact that it shudders so badly when accelerating that I can't get any power out of it. But it's a great little highway cruiser with a capable chassis, I'd buy one again but as a stick.

Best friend bought a '13 5 door 5spd SE new. Nothing I would look at new, but I wouldn't hesitate to get one used. I would like to check out a sedan, as I didn't find the hatch space particularly useful, considering the price difference.

trucke wrote:

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Congrats! We love our 2013 5-door hatch. We paid more than you most likely it's because it's a Titanium and it has every option including the DCT. I would have loved to have a manual, but unfortunately the wife doesn't drive manual.

Your hatch looks great! Moonroof too! A hatch was my preference. What are your driving impressions? There are a lot of complaints on the web about the DCT transmission. People do not understand that this is not an automatic transmission and complain about the dual clutch behavior.

I did read a lot of that before we bought the car, but I've driven DCTs before and the complaints I've read usually coincide will the DCT mannerisms. It does lurch sometimes, it does shudder a little on take off. I warned my wife beforehand and it doesn't seem to bother her.

My biggest concern that I read about it, is that the transmission has a tendency to overheat when overworked, i.e. not a good autocross candidate.

Other than that, the car drives great. It gets great mileage, only costs about $25 to fill up off empty (versus $60 in the Durango).

The car handles really well. I guess what I read is that the Titanium has a different suspension, don't know if it's to accommodate the extra weight of being fully loaded or what, but it is really tight in the corners.

The engine and trans combo does allow for some decent peppiness. For only having 160hp, this thing gets up and moves. I imagine the manual version is better, but this isn't bad.

Wish it was an EcoBoost though.

I bought a 2012 SE Hatch 5spd with the Sport Package and put almost 115K miles on it in 3 years. Had zero issues with the car. With 4 snows it handled winter with ease, got good gas mileage and handled pretty well. I just traded it in this month for a new ST. Gotta say the extra almost 100 hp makes it even more fun.

geoffl wrote: I bought a 2012 SE Hatch 5spd with the Sport Package and put almost 115K miles on it in 3 years. Had zero issues with the car. With 4 snows it handled winter with ease, got good gas mileage and handled pretty well. I just traded it in this month for a new ST. Gotta say the extra almost 100 hp makes it even more fun.

This is good to hear! Thanks for sharing.

Meanwhile, the sedan issues have arisen. I use an 8 gallon Rubbermaid tote to keep my gas can from spilling fuel into the trunk, but it doesn't fit. Won't go in the opening except at an angle, but it too tall to sit up.

Adapt and overcome! Smaller tote, but still need to load the gas can into the car on it's side. I just need to remember to keep the spout 'up'. This would not be an issue with a hatch.

That is why I don't buy sedans. If I can't fit a crate or box in the back, no dice.

Also make sure you have the little funnel for the gas tank that was supposed to come with the car or get one. The capless fuel fill will not let you put anything in the gas tank unless the spout is far down the neck. A bottle of fuel injection cleaner or similar fluid will leak out on the ground before it gets down the filler neck. Mine was stashed on top of the spare tire.

rcutclif wrote: You said you found the MPG to be 8% lower than the computer - may I ask what method you are measuring the computer against? unfortunately, I think if you use the 'fill it full, drive x miles, and fill it full again' method, that depends on two things out of your control (the auto pump shutoff point - was the tank the same level of full both times?, and the volume meter at the second fill up). Those two things I believe can easily add up to an 8% error. Your computer is looking at very closely understood fuel volume based on pump pressure and injector duty cycle. Both methods use the same speedometer/odometer, so any error there is a wash. I would venture to guess your computer in a modern car is much more accurate about metering fuel than the average gas station.

You really think so? I just thought most manufacturers make them a bit optomistic. My benz reads about 2mpg better on the meter than what I hand calculate at mileage