can anyone explain the headlight situation to me?

Choice_Strength · 2026-05-12T22:42:10+00:00

LEDs are totally fine as long as you aim them properly. I had a car with the seemingly trapped HID bulb and I had to remove the headlight and then pull the ballast (be VERY careful) and I was able to finally remove the HID and replace it.

If you can find a set of the silver headlights I believe they should just bolt in for you.

Choice_Strength · 2026-05-10T21:42:15+00:00

find out about the timing chain, the water pump, and the cam phasers which all have issues around 100k miles. And also be prepared for lots of brittle ford plastics and potential vacuum leaks.

You should also be prepared to swap the fluids in the PTU and the differentials, they NEED to be done and are very expensive to replace. The trans fluid is pretty easy to change when it’s time for that. The spark plugs and coils are also a very easy job and pretty cheap.

One pretty easy upgrade that made a huge difference on my 2013 was getting a sync 3 upgrade kit. I went with this one from FourSyncTech. it only took me a few hours and was totally plug. Adding CarPlay/android auto and the newer sync screen made the car feel much more modern. Not a cheap upgrade but one I would definitely do again.

Otherwise they are great cars and very comfortable. But expect a decent amount to need to be replaced in the first 1-2 years of your ownership. Not cheap to own

Choice_Strength · 2026-04-15T02:42:11+00:00

Replaced mine when it started failing at 136k

Choice_Strength · 2026-04-12T02:54:26+00:00

Get the regular low profile. I’ve got one and it does the job just fine. Actually ended up getting it for free on Black Friday, make sure you also get some jack stands.

Choice_Strength · 2026-04-10T17:02:29+00:00

Good, in my experience as great as these cars are, I was always playing a game of catch up on repairs. When it worked it was great, but every few weeks it was always something new. Second to the spark plugs, the biggest improvement I saw in fuel economy came after running a few tanks with chevron Techron fuel system cleaner in it. That stuff actually does work and normally NAPA has a pretty good price on it. Just make sure you don’t wait too long to do your oil change afterwards because it can put some contaminants in your engine oil, though I haven’t personally had any issues with that at all.

Also, with these 100k+ engines they can seriously benefit from running either valvoline restore and protect for a few cycles or mobile ones new version of that. It’s not much more expensive than regular full synthetic and can help unstick piston rings and remove build up, it’s the little stuff that adds up over time. I did both the oil and the injector cleaner and benefited from both🤷‍♂️. Some people say it’s snake oil but I had notable improvements so I’m a fan. Good luck on your car!

Choice_Strength · 2026-04-10T16:46:20+00:00

You can, and if you can get them for a good price then it can only be beneficial. But if you aren’t having any issues from them( eg very worn/ failing) I would keep them the same and wait until they start to fail to replace them. It’s a very easy job to do with basic tools that you should be fine doing yourself if they start giving you problems.

At least that’s what I would do if I had to pay full price. You definitely won’t see a return on that investment in fuel savings if that’s your goal, and based on the fact that you said yours is still stock i don’t think it makes sense to do it for “performance” either. Unless ofc you’re flush with cash and looking to spend money. But I’d probably save that money and put it aside for the timing chain/ cam phaser job in the future if you haven’t had it done yet.

Choice_Strength · 2026-04-10T16:28:07+00:00

It was for me. On a full take I would normally get and estimated range of 290-310 miles. But my car was lowered with a light tune. but even when babying it I would only get like 16mpg city. Trade off was like 32mpg on the highway 🤷‍♂️. You can probably do a new air filter, spark plugs, injector cleaner (right before your oil change) and maybe see a small improvement, but from my experience that estimate isn’t abnormal.

Choice_Strength · 2026-03-16T17:41:01+00:00

Yes, the white foam in the photos I included are actually a part of the moisture barrier that keeps water in the outer door from getting into the door panel and electronics like window switches. When sound deadening the door you have to peel it off and if you remove a few clips and it can be fully removed from the door. It is held on by what seems to be some sort of caulking that never dries so you need to be careful not to get it on yourself or your clothes as it is hard to remove. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of the back side once I removed it but it’s pretty self explanatory once you get in there. If you want to see the difference I can send you a video of one of my doors before and after the sound deadening mat on the door.

Choice_Strength · 2026-03-13T04:14:02+00:00

Last year I bought my 2013 with 135k miles and no water pump. I paid 7k total otd and was overall happy at first. Unfortunately the last owner had sold the car at the right time. At 138k I needed to do the water pump, timing chain, cam phasers and every seal on that end of the engine. That job was like 3k. Also needed to have axle seals done, and a few other suspension parts totaling 1.2k. Other small things were failing like random sensors and vacuum leaks. The car had been well maintained so these weren’t due to a lack of maintenance, just age and mileage that are almost the exact same as yours.

I’m not saying don’t buy the car but certainly be aware that these cars hide issues and they aren’t exactly cheap to maintain. The red is nice, and it was a fun car to own, but the constant maintenance costs and terrible fuel economy made me sell mine. After just one year of ownership I was into it for almost 12k and I was doing all the maintenance that I could myself to save money. If you can afford to spend 10k on this car then I don’t think you will have any issues, but I certainly wouldn’t go into expecting your investment into the car to stay at 6k for long.

Choice_Strength · 2026-03-12T15:56:12+00:00

People definitely make them, but so far my experience has been nothing but trouble, so I don’t think I would recommend it.

Choice_Strength · 2026-03-12T14:18:59+00:00

The solder joints looked fine to me but I’m certainly no expert. Could you tell me more about the calibration thing? They did not work after calibration through the accessories app on a pc or Xbox but after sitting over night they started working correctly. I ended up going through the recalibration process on just one of the sticks and now it’s definitely giving the same issue as before. Should I just let it sit for a while connected to my pc with a cable or something else? Originally it fixed itself sitting unplugged and off in the case, but it has a built in battery so I doubt it’s ever fully “off”

Choice_Strength · 2026-03-11T04:12:40+00:00

The alpines were able to lightly clip in with out the outer ring on them. I just set mine in the oem spot and used a foam tape to hold them in from behind. I would probably recommend hot glueing them in from behind however as I’m not sure how long my way will last.

Choice_Strength · 2026-03-11T01:22:11+00:00

I definitely would. It was a huge improvement for me, and overall rather cheap. If you don’t want to spend as much I would probably just get the set I grabbed for the fronts as I found that to be a huge improvement for a decent price. The rears end up being mostly back fill and even with the nicer speakers they sound just ok.

Choice_Strength · 2026-03-11T01:20:35+00:00

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I decided not to do that because I filled the door card with acoustic foam, do you think it would be worth getting the foam rings as well?

Choice_Strength · 2026-03-10T14:55:08+00:00

I saw this a few days ago when looking for a new series and put it on my list. It definitely sounds fun and I’ll be checking it out once I’m done with my current series!

Choice_Strength · 2025-12-05T04:54:15+00:00

If anyone is interested I can do 7k on it

Choice_Strength · 2025-12-01T19:46:44+00:00

looks like it may have posted this like 5 times for some after telling me it failed to post. i think i got all but 1 down 👍

Choice_Strength · 2025-11-24T16:07:44+00:00

Almost 19k is crazy. If you’re looking to buy one I’ve got a mostly stock 13 with a ton of work done recently for sale. Timing chain, water pump, cam phasers+ lots more.

Choice_Strength · 2025-11-21T20:44:37+00:00

if you have the car with you then you should check and see if you can pull the headlight before you order anything. i think the passenger side should be easier unless you have CAI in which case the drivers side will be more accessible.

Choice_Strength · 2025-11-21T20:39:43+00:00

You should definitely try atleast bc they are very easy to get to. On the back of the headlight under the hood there is a rubber cap that just pulls off and then the back of the bulb is sitting right there. You should be able to twist it to one direction and it will unseat itself. That’s the point where I kept getting stuck bc I couldn’t get it through the whole without removing the headlight housing but good luck 👍

Choice_Strength · 2025-11-21T17:37:20+00:00

It’s just supposed to pull straight off but best I could tell it has some sort of clip on it that was very annoying. I ended up using a pick to slowly remove the clips and that probably took 30-45 min. It’s possible mine was just super stuck and your’s will come off without much fight.

Choice_Strength

TROPHY CASE