Hello, I am new here. My girlfriend will be taking possession of a blue 2015 base model manual sometime this week. Her old car began showing early signs of a head gasket failure (overheating, bubbling, and CONCENTRATED exhaust odor in coolant). I think I am more excited about her getting the new car than she is! I am a Geo Metro guy and found out about these cars on that forum. She used to drive a Ford Festiva and LOVED her little car but had to get rid of it as she didn't know how to do the repairs and was single at the time. She still misses that little car and was considering getting another used one.
Anyway, we looked at some new cars including the Kia Rio, Ford Fiesta, but she didn't love any of them. We had to drive 100 miles to test drive the Mirage but it was worthwhile as it was love at first sight. She said it reminded her of her old Festiva in a way and she picked the blue color because it was similar to that car. We could have picked up a white one that night but she wanted the blue one.
Anyway, I was curious about any suggested fluids or anything else important to maintenance. She likes to keep cars as long as they run as I had to really press her to get rid of the other car so want to make sure everything is done right. The car isn't even here yet but I am wondering what it needs.
Has anyone found an oil that these cars really like? I noticed that another poster posted that they come from the factory with a fill of 0W20 full synthetic. That seems easy enough to find but are there any oils that stand out above the rest in terms of wear protection, etc? For example, many members on the Geo Forum suggest at least a DEXOS spec or even better an oil specified for the various European makes for those engines.
Also, what about the manual transmission fluid? Does it take a synchromesh type fluid or just standard ATF as I see many manuals taking ATF these days.
Anything else special about these cars? It looks like there is no real break in needed but are there any requirements to change the oil or transmission fluid at an early interval for the first time?
I hope to pick one of these up in the next couple years and am more excited about the car than she is. Now is a good time while oil prices are so low and dropping.
Conor