Rattles?

[El Kapitan]

so far no rattles on mine. they come eventually to most cars though and almost all of the time they can be fixed.

[db1980]

Something rattles in the back hatch on mine at 17k miles. I have a feeling it's wiring, a lot of cars have foam wrapped around wiring, and I wouldnt be surprised if that was a cost cutting measure here. I may pull off that little access panel and take a look someday.

[IchabodCrane]

Like alex16 said, it's probably the USB cable in the glove box. The salesperson said that's what any sound from the glove box was while we were test driving it.

Good salesman (believable liar)....
Yes, the USB cable can rattle if left out of the clip but it doesn't cover "any sound from the glove box".
The latch mechanism has rattling built in.. All plastic construction, plastic against plastic with no adjustment. The only thing keeping the glove box door from rattling are the rubber bumpers the door closes against. These provide tension in the system so the plastic doesn't rattle.
Many things defeat this system... cold temps, time, climate, how much stuff is in there, etc.
All that to say the glove box door rattles sometimes ; )

Couple easy fixes.... use silicone on the rubber bumpers to stop them hardening/shrinking over time, adding thin felt stickers to the door where the rubbers hit will add tension.
In winter, tolerate the noise until interior warms up.

[db1980]

Good salesman (believable liar)....
Yes, the USB cable can rattle if left out of the clip but it doesn't cover "any sound from the glove box".
The latch mechanism has rattling built in.. All plastic construction, plastic against plastic with no adjustment. The only thing keeping the glove box door from rattling are the rubber bumpers the door closes against. These provide tension in the system so the plastic doesn't rattle.
Many things defeat this system... cold temps, time, climate, how much stuff is in there, etc.
All that to say the glove box door rattles sometimes ; )

Couple easy fixes.... use silicone on the rubber bumpers to stop them hardening/shrinking over time, adding thin felt stickers to the door where the rubbers hit will add tension.
In winter, tolerate the noise until interior warms up.

I get your point, but also to be fair, on the first one I test drove, the usb cable was rattling, the salesman also claimed it was the usb cable, moved it around and the rattle was gone - Maybe it was just the action of open and closing the glovebox lol. Very cold temps do seem to induce a few dash rattles, but like you said that's just a function of hard plastic. Water bottles in the cupholders tend to rattle too, was thinking of lining them with felt and or leather.

[El Kapitan]

my rental mirage also had a rattle from the glove box that turned out to be the usb cable and was easily remedied.

[IchabodCrane]

Hey.. my Mirage is almost rattle free so I'm not complaining. This rental kia with 20,000 km on it is like riding in a blender full of ice cubes.

[El Kapitan]

mine is also rattle free at this time. what's amazing is that my yaris with just under 200k kms is still rattle free (there was a noisy panel but a good smack put it back into place). my honda fit was rattling within a few hundred kms. some people may not like the look or handling of the yaris, but it's a well made little car.

someone else pointed out in this forum that overall (so far) there are very few complaints about the mirage compaired to other small cars out there. sadly, you have had some problems but we're all hoping they get worked out to your satisfaction.

[db1980]

Yeah, that's the thing about Toyota's. They have been called, boring, ugly, expensive, etc. Typically their main draw has been the build quality. It's funny, I drove a used Mini cooper, and for a "Premium" small car, the interior felt REALLY cheap. I actually felt like the Mirage had a much better interior build quality (other than the stupid passenger airbag cover. Why they cant make that fit better and have the plastic match the dash escapes me....)

Beyond that, I have been pretty happy with the build quality of the Mirage, although I have only owned it 1 year/ 17,000 miles. I have to give Mitsubishi credit for putting together a cheap small car that does what it's supposed to do and feels like it will last at least as long as I want to drive it lol. Reviewers main gripes have been with all the hard plastic and minor things like fingernails scratching the door panels and the airbag cover. I can live with stuff like that, as long as it holds up mechanically, which the initial impressions have been good. We will see how they do long term, whether they develop those piston ring issues Mitsu had in the past, etc.

[El Kapitan]

i'm scared to ask.... but what piston ring issues are you referring to?

[GrnBn]

No rattles at 30k, though I agree the hard plastics scuff a bit easily. I dunno. I regularly load a lot of work-related gear into mine, so its probably seeing more wear and tear than most. I feel like this almost a non-issue when we're discussing such an affordable car. I'd be salty about how easily VW interiors degrade, considering how costly the parts are in the US. I see our cars as a solid value offering from Mitsubishi, and with such a long warranty they obviously intend them to last long enough to see resale at least once.