TTAC: Do You Care About Mitsubishi?

[MetroMPG]

Mark Stevenson's dog must have been run over by a Mitsubishi when he was a kid.

The editor of The Truth About Cars can't seem to write about the company or its cars without being decidedly negative (they just launched a "Death Watch" for the company in the US market, after the announced sale of its US factory).

His latest salvo:
QOTD: Do You Care About Mitsubishi?

For one, I don’t think a single person who comments or reads TTAC on a regular basis owns a Mitsubishi built after 1993. Also, I am going to make an educated guess that not a single Mirage owner reads automotive websites or blogs or any information source that offers proper opinions on Mitsubishi’s smallest of offerings.

Last — but certainly not least — I am going to point out there aren’t many people who read TTAC that care about Mitsubishi in the slightest. This, my friends, isn’t just a guess.

Ironically, I'm actually a very regular reader of TTAC, but an equally infrequent commenter.

There were A LOT of comments on his post. So it was nice to see one of our forum members -- a hintofpepperjack -- leave this one:

ahintofpepperjack

July 28th, 2015 at 11:31 am

I own a Mirage. Honestly it’s a great car. It’s a modern day Geo Metro, but improved in every way. There is no other car on the market that sells for under $14k, gets 45+ MPG, has a simple and proven 10 year old engine, has modern safety features and technology including 7 airbags, bluetooth, keyless ignition, power windows, climate control, A/C all standard. It has room for 4 real humans. The car also has great headlights at night, and comfortable seats. Mine has been more reliable than any Metro would be at this point (16,000 miles with 0 issues).

I’ve owned all sorts of cars. From Firebirds to 540i’s. Jeep wranglers to Grand Cherokees. This mirage may be my favorite of all of them.

There were several other comments like that one, which was nice to see.

[deleted user]

Give the tester one with proper wheel alignment, I'll autocross him. Rear alignment not so important with one wheel in the air, LOL.
I hardly read the rags any more.

regards
mech

[R01k]

At this point I really couldn't care less about those bashers and negativists.

[debburyl]

That Idiot is Bent on Bashing Mitsubishi !!!! That all he does for a living is to try to run Bussness out of town!!! He must not of been around when Toyota, huyandai, Nissan , and Great ole Honda Frist got started in the U.S. ! They were having a hard time as well! Not to talk about Dodge? Chrysler, Plymouth , downward spiral !!!BANKRUPT!!!!BAILOUT!!! And GM,S Flunkys,,, Vega, corvair, ETC,,, Goverment Bailout!!!! And FORD,s Pinto, merc, Bobcat, tempo, All Rejects!! We need to run that Slamer out of town!!!

[tomrad]

The truth is.....Mitsubishi has produced another product that people want.
It's economical. It's well built. It's fun to drive. It's attractive.
Smart people at Mitsubishi, keep up the good work!
I have owned lots of cars. Mirage tops of my favorites list.
I would rather own two Mirage's than one of just about any other new car.

Now, if they would produce a new small truck, I would buy one (in addition to the Mirage).

[burghbeagle]

The Mirage is exactly what Mitsubishi claims it to be. An inexpensive commuter car that's well built, gets stupidly good gas mileage, and has a kick butt warranty. It's basic, but that means down the line it will be cheaper to maintain plus there are less techie doo dads to break. My 2015 Forester (which my wife normally drives and is our family car) has the Eye Sight system (which is awesome BTW,) navigation, and a panoramic sunroof. I don't even want to think how much that stuff will cost to repair if it goes boom. Hell, the CVT in it costs $9000 to replace. The Subaru, although I really like it and think it's a great vehicle, will likely get traded in as soon as the warranty is done or right before, it will be a nightmare to maintain if any of those things go bad in it not to mention the bite it will take out of my wallet makes me cringe. I'll likely keep the Mirage until it dies because it's simple to repair and it will likely be cheap to do so. This is one reason I liked my 2002 Cavalier, it was reliable and when it did have issues the repairs were cheap albeit few and far between. Anyone who bashes the Mirage can spend their money however they want. For what I paid for my car, I think I got the deal of the century.

[Cobrajet]

The sales success of the Mirage is a finger in the eye of the automotive intelligentsia, who fancy themselves as the ultimate arbiters of what Americans will drive and what they won't drive. Many of these auto pudits think they have the power to get a model discontinued. Some of them honestly seem to believe that everyone who is considering a new car waits with bated breath for their Nero-esque thumbs up or thumbs down before daring to make a purchase. The automotive paparazzi all thought the Mirage would fail, all publicly predicted it would fail, and all not-so-secretly WANTED it to fail.

But despite their dire warnings and dour opinions about this little car, it has sold very, very well. And that pisses a lot of automotive journalists off. Give this author's sardonic and petulant tone, I'd say he is one of them. Why are they pissed off at Mitsubishi and the Mirage?

Because it makes them look out-of-touch with the market at best...and completely irrelevant at worst.

Mitsubishi on 'death watch' because they closed one unprofitable factory in a state that is tax hell? Puuhhhleeez! Manufacturers close unprofitable factories all over the world all the time. And then they open a new one somewhere else. The situation with Illinois is only relevant because it happens to be Mitsu's ONLY US factory...and many of these pundits are somewhat sadistically waiting for Mitsubishi to tuck-tail and run from the US market.

[tomrad]

Well said, Cobrajet!
Having worked in the electronic service field for many years, I learned early on to trust the opinion of owners and technicians, not reviewers.
As Packard Motors put it "Ask the man who owns one".

[debburyl]

They Forget about ALL the plants GM has closed and Ford, Chrysler,Dodge!!! I think Mitsubishi is being smart deciding what place is costing them too much to keep open, playing thier cards wisely!!! Plus those consumer idiots hasn't been in the City of Detroit to see all the old auto plants there Closed down!!!! HELLO!!!!

[Canoehead]

Since this thread is already meandering . . . here is my 2 cents.

I really like the Mirage. I have never regretted buying mine, and other than soft paint, I have found no flaws or issues. My "perfect" car would be a Mirage wagon, with just a slightly longer cargo area, a 6 speed manual with a slightly higher top gear, and slightly stiffer/firmer suspension. Those are all minor points, though, and there is no car for sale in Canada that is better for me.