First vehicle I've ever been able to do a 1,000 mile review so I'm a bit excited about this! Hopefully this may help anyone debating on whether or not to pick one up. Crosstrek in question is a 2023 Base 6MT

General thoughts: Firstly I love this car. Being a bit on the bigger side (6'3 250ish lbs) I don't always comfortably fit in smaller cars, the crosstrek as I mentioned in a comment somewhere is like a fun house that looks tiny on the outside but is huge once you step in. I'm able to comfortably fit and get everything adjusted to where it feels perfect and not at all cramped, my brother who is almost an identical size to myself can comfortably sit in the passenger seat or even directly behind me. Only possible size complaint I have is the trunk is a bit small but I knew that going into this and it's more of a me issue than a fault of the car. This is my first daily driver manual so to my inexperienced assessment it's really not bad, certainly not the best clutch feel I've ever felt but certainly not the worst. The clutch is extremely forgiving which is part of what hurts the feel for me, the bite point just feels extremely mushy but if you have any prior experience with manuals at all you should be able to pick it up rather quick. I also had some issues with the 1st -> 2nd shift being awful but shifting around 2k has greatly smoothed that out and I would count it as a non-issue. Coming into this I had always heard that the 2.0L was just plain bad, I've had little experience that would prove that correct. It accelerates just fine and I'm easily able to hit highways speeds/pass on the highway. Only time I really ever felt wanting for more engine was going up a steep hill in 5th at ~75mph, I should have downshifted so again more of a me issue than a fault of the car. Only big regret I have with my purchase is I didn't just order the premium trim. I went into ordering with a "keep the price as low as possible and just add what I want down the line" mindset and it's probably going to cost me more money in the long run than a probably $15/month increase on my loan. This has gotten a bit long so I'll get into a listed pros/cons

Pros: Plenty of interior room for occupants 2.0L is perfectly viable M/T feels great

Cons: Trunk could be a bit bigger 6th gear feels useless in hilly central PA

TLDR: The Crosstrek is a fantastic little crossover especially for the price. If you can still find a M/T I highly recommend snagging it and if you're on the fence go for it, outside of special circumstances I highly doubt you'll regret it