What would your second vehicle choice be after the Mirage??

[kalifornia]

you can buy a standard prius and a d/c inverter, steam the dogs in the back as well as keep pizzas warm, sell the cart and the focus and avoid using a car as a tractor.

[RapidRick]

you can buy a standard prius and a d/c inverter, steam the dogs in the back as well as keep pizzas warm, sell the cart and the focus and avoid using a car as a tractor.

That probably won't happen. I should have made it clear that when I lost the first two transmissions I did not own the hot dog business and had never towed anything.

[RapidRick]

Tomorrow is test drive day and I'm pretty damn excited to be nearing the new car purchase. My wife and I are going to test drive the Chevy Spark, the Honda Insight, the Nissan Versa and the Prius C.

After doing even more research I'm pretty certain that I'll be knocking the Spark off the list. I've read some horror stories about the recurrent air conditioning problems in that car and I refuse to even consider buying a car with air conditioning issues here in Kentucky.

I'll probably also be eliminating the Honda Insight. I really, really like this car. It seems to be very solidly built, but at the price I can buy a Prius C for a few hundred bucks more. I've read some preliminary stuff about the 2015 Insight with the 1.5 liter Earth Dreams engine and the duel assist that sounds unbelievably awesome, and is supposedly going to be north of 50 MPG, but I just can't wait another year.

This leaves the Prius C and the Versa, plus the Mitsubishi Mirage that will not be here for another month. The popular sentiment amongst the several message boards I have posted on, plus the many friends in the auto business I have, all point to the Prius C. I have a few people who think the Mirage is the best bet. The cost on both after the purchase price plus 10 years of gas is very close.

I am actually starting to move, just a little, toward the Versa. I have a toddler and I am honestly a little bit uncomfortable with the fact that the back bumper is so close to the back of my childs head in both the Mirage and the Prius. I understand that my reasoning is more emotional than logical and that my kid is probably quite safe in all of these cars but the fact that there is about 2 extra feet of protection between my kids skull and the bumper of some dumb redneck in their truck is a pretty strong motivator.
I have some misgivings the ability of the Versa to get the MPGs that I would expect in mixed driving conditions with some moderate hypermiling ( I gotta get at least 38) but I also don't think I would be making a horrible choice either.

I'll know more tomorrow night. A continued thanks for the good advice from everyone on here...

[kalifornia]

Im interested in your impressions of the cars.

[MetroMPG]

Me as well. Looking forward to your report.

[RapidRick]

Damn that was fun! My wife and I had a pretty good time test driving cars tonight. I learned a lot and had some interesting results. We went out to test drive four cars, the Chevy Spark, the Nissan Versa SV, the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius C. The plan for tonight was to drive all four and then eliminate two, leaving two to test drive again next month, along with the soon-to-be-released Mitsubishi Mirage, which will already make the cut to round two.

We started by briefly taking a trip in a 2014 Chevy Spark 1LT. After reading a lot of good reviews about this car I was looking forward to driving it and seeing what it could do. Well, I saw what it could do and after driving it I seriously considered cancelling the rest of the test drives and going home. This car was not bad, it was horrible. The mere act of driving through the lot in the dealership and gently driving over the speed bumps made me want to pull it back in the parking space and leave. Against my better judgement we went for a ride, and things just got worse. The damn transmission is the most herky-jerky thing I have ever experienced. The air conditioning really does become hot when the car is a idle. Maybe worst of all, when I got the car up to 35+ MPH and got off the gas the car dramatically slowed down, almost as if the e-brake was on or something.

I REALLY am thinking that this car was broken or somehow defective, because if it is really supposed to suck that bad General Motors is in a heap of trouble.

Next was a refreshing drive in a Nissan Versa SV. This car was a huge step up from the Spark, but then again so was getting back in my 11 year old Ford Focus. The Versa was by far the biggest of the cars I am considering and my biggest misgiving with this car is the potential fuel mileage. Driving this car was a good experience. The car handles bumps nicely and accelerates crisply enough for me. The transmission was very smooth and did not have the jerkiness I would expect from a CVT. The seats were quite comfy and the back seats have a huge amount of space. The interior was NICE, with black seats and white stitching; it looked sharp. I was also very impressed with the people at the dealership. I have already priced this car very low at another dealership and the local guys were totally willing to match the price, which is under invoice. Good on them.

Next was a trip to the Honda dealership to drive a 2013 Honda Insight. At the beginning of the night I was sure that this car would not survive the cut on to round two. After my test drive this car is on the top of the list. There is simply nothing I did not love about this car. The car is nearly as roomy and spacious inside as the Versa. The seat were the most comfortable of any car I drove all night. The back hatch has a lot of storage space and I can see having two kids in the back seats with enough room in the hatch for luggage. The car drives like a dream. It is smooth as hell. It corners very nicely. We took it on the interstate and it is ran up on the rumble strips and we could hardly feel it in the car. I also really like the gauge cluster. It is all right in front of me and I don't have to look around to see what is going on. The controls and eco guages are informative without being overwhelming or giving me too much information. This car was the hit of the night for me.

Lastly was the little Prius C. I have previously seen a Prius C up close, but I don't think I ever realized how small it is. It was not uncomfortably small, but it not did instill a sense of crash-worthiness that the Versa or Insight did. I liked the interior but it did seem as comfortable as the Insight or even the Versa. The drive was unexciting, but I have to admit I had no idea when the car was running on battery and when the motor was running. I think I like that, but at the same time the lack of a tachometer was totally disconcerting. I am always watching the tach when I am driving and I'd like the know what the hell the motor is doing, even if it isn't doing anything. The display that shows the eco score and all the other various readouts is a cool addition, but the central placement of it is very distracting and made me constantly take my eyes off the road. It is also small as hell and very difficult to read.

The other major drawback is, like the Spark and the coming Mirage, there is precious little room between the back end of the car the the back seat that my child will ride in. That, along with the comfort of ride, ease of reading the gauges and the comparative interior space has made me decide to eliminate the Prius C, along with the junky Chevy Spark.

Round two next month. :-)

[m4v3r1ck]

Keep in mind that you are comparing lots of different classes here. Ford Focus is a class D car, Insight is a class D car, as well as Nissan. Prius is a B or C class and Spark is an A class as well as Mirage. If you expect Mirage to near as a tiny bit as Nissan or even Prius, you might as well stop right now and don't have to bother test driving Mirage. Mirage is a class A (smallest and most economical) class with a body, comfort and space that almost close to a class B car. But it's nowhere near Nissan or Insight.
In terms of economical driving it can be compared but not in comfort. The aircon shuts off when the auto stop and go kicked in (when you're stopping) which is logical as the airconditioning motor needs power, in hybrid cars such as prius and insight it is provided by the electrical motor. It will certainly get hot when your idling. The comfort of the driver's seat is nowhere near Ford Fiesta (i own that one previously) as the steering wheel can not even be adjusted closer or further away from you, there's no side support on the chair, way less setting on the chair. The back seat is like a surfing board covered with cloth as there's no seat support.

Mirage is designed to be cheap, VERY SAFE, while maintaining a decent road support, and certainly designed to be ECONOMICAL.
It's a city use car and not meant for highway (as in the US i heard from my wife that been there before it's made of concrete instead of very smooth asphalt in the Netherlands).
I don't know about the prices of cars in the US but if you compare Mirage, compare it with cars with the same price tag.

No offence to other Mirage user here as I'm a happy and proud owner of a Mirage but to save you the trouble and disappointed later and most ppl will then say that it's a bad car or not properly made or not properly designed. Cause it's NOT a bad car, it's a car designed for something other than pure comfort in mind. Yes you can drive it up to 90 km/h in 2nd gear and 135 km/h in 3rd gear but if u expect to accelerate from 100 to 120 km/h in 5th gear, be prepared to take ages and at least 1 km of road ahead of you. You just can't compare the cars you mentioned above with Mirage, you might able to compare it with Attrage G5 (sedan version of Mirage) which is to come but am not sure.

Just my opinion.

[MetroMPG]

RapidRIck - I'm predicting you won't like the Mirage if you weren't happy with the size of the Prius C!

FYI: m4v3r1ck, engine stop & go (idle stop) won't be fitted to cars sold in the U.S./Canada (at least for now). So there won't be a problem with the air conditioning running while stopped.

[m4v3r1ck]

i c ... no idle stop will make difference in fuel consumption if u use the car a lot in the city. As in my case it won't make lots of difference since am a highway rider. Mirage air conditioning is configured like asian car, must keep running from first time on. I even find it way too cold and have to set the temperature higher or turn off the air conditioning. It's COLD

[RapidRick]

It is done. I bought a 2013 Honda Insight base model this afternoon. I appreciate all the good advice I got here on this board and will certainly be back to visit in the future.