Hi Gang,
I'm brand new! Looking forward to gaining some much needed knowledge about my car through these forums!
My 2012 is making me a little nervous (I'm going to be driving a long distance next week) because it's trying super hard to turn the engine over at ignition. Sometimes, it won't start for a few go's... Inevitably, when it does, it feels very weak... I can feel shaking during the idle. Also, whenever I shift up, I can feel the car choke a bit.
For reference, the car is at roughly 165k miles.
I am pretty new to car maintenance, so I apologize if this is a simple issue! Thanks for your help!

 

Have you any idea if the valve lash tolerance job that should have been done at 100k was done? If not, start there. In short the valve springs can tighten with age, specifically the exhaust valves in the second gen are more likely to tighten. Service info calls for 4 hours of labor to have it done.

When the valves are out of tolerance the engine will run like crap. If you're paying someone to get in there might as well get the plugs and coils changed if they're original.

 

Get the battery tested. Possibly get a tune up with throttle body cleaning. That might be the cause of the rough idle. Or it could be something else

 

Red, I THINK they were done. I don't have a note of it in my maintenance history, so it's possible I'm misremembering. Great suggestion, thank you!

 

Ben, thanks for this suggestion. I think I can get the throttle body cleaned myself... I'll give that a whirl and see if that helps. That'll be a good check before I need to bring the car in for more invasive work. Thanks!

 

Use carburetor cleaner and some rags. Clean behind the plate too.
I have seen vehicles have issues starting where the problem had too much gunk.
Also check the air filter to make sure it's clean. Make sure there are no leaks past the air filter such as an air filter housing box not installed correctly. That would cause unfiltered air to get to the throttle body and get the throttle dirty.

 

Thanks! I cleaned up the throttle body and also got rid of some corrosion on the battery. Changed the spark plugs too. Running much better now! Thanks!