2021 mirage alignment specs

[Fummins]

I own a cheap house, not the Taj Mahal. Does that mean it can't have straight walls and a tight roof?

Excellence has nothing to do with cost. It has to do with execution. Even a cheap car can be well made.

I'm rapidly being talked out of buying one of these.

Yes and no. Does any house have perfectly straight walls? Doubtful. And no, roofs shouldn't leak regardless of what it cost but cost is irrelevant if the person that installed the roof did a $hitty job.

My point was that a lot of these discussions seem like you have genuine concerns about things that I've never been concerned about with these cars. If I can get them to last 9+ years of abuse running cheap oil and the crapiest quality air filters on the market then I'm sure you could get 20+ years doing the same or 30+ running only the finest oil and filters. Prefiltered of course. Same goes for the trailing axles. When I first saw these things I thought the axle was tweaked by just looking at it from the rear. It looked like it was overloaded and had too much negative camber. It was "within spec". I know that's an often meaningless term that the dealer throws at people when their engine is burning oil but in this case, I didn't see any reason to worry. It wasn't eating tires(that I recall)and drove fine, fuel economy was normal(above 24mpg ...). Since then I've only sent a car for an alignment after a collision and/or replacing front end components.
If you were to go buy a new one, I wouldn't worry about fixing what isn't broken. If you buy a used one then I still wouldn't worry about much.

[Grumpy Bear]

Yes and no. Does any house have perfectly straight walls? Doubtful. And no, roofs shouldn't leak regardless of what it cost but cost is irrelevant if the person that installed the roof did a $hitty job.

My point was that a lot of these discussions seem like you have genuine concerns about things that I've never been concerned about with these cars. If I can get them to last 9+ years of abuse running cheap oil and the crapiest quality air filters on the market then I'm sure you could get 20+ years doing the same or 30+ running only the finest oil and filters. Prefiltered of course. Same goes for the trailing axles. When I first saw these things I thought the axle was tweaked by just looking at it from the rear. It looked like it was overloaded and had too much negative camber. It was "within spec". I know that's an often meaningless term that the dealer throws at people when their engine is burning oil but in this case, I didn't see any reason to worry. It wasn't eating tires(that I recall)and drove fine, fuel economy was normal(above 24mpg ...). Since then I've only sent a car for an alignment after a collision and/or replacing front end components.
If you were to go buy a new one, I wouldn't worry about fixing what isn't broken. If you buy a used one then I still wouldn't worry about much.

Bet the walls of the Taj Mahal aren't "perfectly' straight either.

It will be new or nothing. To many people view possessions as toilet paper. Cars seem to be the worse. They say, "I don't care about the next guy" so maintain, drive and treat the thing only good enough to get it to THEIR goal. I've mentioned the guy who bought a new 72 Monte Carlo and drove it 100K miles never changing oil nor filter. Just added.

My point was cost has little to do with quality. I don't mind it is spartan, basic, plastic and minus the myriad of 'features' people seem to not be able to live without. But trash isn't something I expect nor will accept. At any price point.

They have a spec for the torsion assembly. A VERY generous spec. If it can't hit a hole the size of the Grand Canyon then it is indeed trash, broken and will be rejected. There is no, "A little out of spec". In that world nothing matters. My hat does not hang in space.

You are correct. I get double and sometimes triple life from most things. I clean an oil a shovel. Still have and use my 1948 Toro Whirlwind mower. Dad bought it just a few years before I was born. Still have my 1954 Southbend lathe and 48 Covel surface grinder. 1952 Royal Enfield design Bullet 500.

I raced a good number of years. I never once had a vehicle do better by being less precises.

[foama]

Grumpy, could have written that previous post myself! More power to you!



Seriously, these cars are OK to have, and if you look after them they can last very long indeed, just as Fummins said. After reading your last post, me thinks this car would probably be perfect for you. Maybe wisdom has a tiny bit to do with age, I too am over 70.
My 2014 poverty edition was cavity waxed and the entire underbody including axles and also behind the front and rear cladding first undercoated then painted with synthetic resin paint when it was new. The same they use for ships and bridges. Took more than an entire day to do, but totally worth the effort. Cavities rewaxed every five years, and they sell some excellent and cheap rattle can wax almost everywhere. Today its almost a decade old, looks and performs like new, and is exceedingly reliable. And you know what? I don't miss any feature at all, it has more features than I ever need. Think Metro 1990 model.

[Grumpy Bear]

Grumpy, could have written that previous post myself! More power to you!



Seriously, these cars are OK to have, and if you look after them they can last very long indeed, just as Fummins said. After reading your last post, me thinks this car would probably be perfect for you. Maybe wisdom has a tiny bit to do with age, I too am over 70.
My 2014 poverty edition was cavity waxed and the entire underbody including axles and also behind the front and rear cladding first undercoated then painted with synthetic resin paint when it was new. The same they use for ships and bridges. Took more than an entire day to do, but totally worth the effort. Cavities rewaxed every five years, and they sell some excellent and cheap rattle can wax almost everywhere. Today its almost a decade old, looks and performs like new, and is exceedingly reliable. And you know what? I don't miss any feature at all, it has more features than I ever need. Think Metro 1990 model.

Thank you for your kindness and encouragement.

There are things that are close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades. Oh, I don't know, like, horseshoes and hand grenades.

I think people look at the cost of thing and from that alone judge its worthiness to be cared for. But only in the beginning. Let that expensive car get a nick or two in it and interest is lost. The more a person has it seems the more expensive a thing needs to be to have a worthiness worth caring for. I can't figure it out. I was born with nothing and have most of it left.

Some years ago, my wife and I visiting her aunt in eastern Indiana toured the old Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg manufacturing plant. Chassis layout and alignments were done on a huge, polished slab of granite laid in a concrete floor. Dead level, quite accurate. In the day it was cellulose lacquer, polished stainless, white oak and Walnut or Teak, leather and mohair.

Now it's plastic and plastic and more plastic and yet the tools are Cad/CNC and laser guided robotics and still a Duesenberg has a more accurate alignment with tech a hundred years old. People expectations of what quality IS or IS NOT is so low it's amazing anything at all can be accomplished. The difference is someone at Duesenberg cared about the quality of their work in a way most cannot imagine today. Robots and people twice removed from the floor.... not. Even the lowly Ford of the day......

[Eggman]

Dealing with concerns about alignment, little wires and small tires will arguably cost less with these cars than the same problems (and more...) on almost any other vehicle available today. For starters, there are less worries about someone stealing it.

[Grumpy Bear]

Dealing with concerns about alignment, little wires and small tires will arguably cost less with these cars than the same problems (and more...) on almost any other vehicle available today. For starters, there are less worries about someone stealing it.

No that's funny. LOL

[7milesout]

Again - At this time, I think I'll keep my head in the sand, and say, I don't care what my rear suspension alignment measurements are. Heck, at this time, I don't care what the front ones are.

My original Enasaves are wearing evenly (side-to-side) and wearing logically front to back. And evenly across all tread surfaces. And it drives like a dream (for a Mirage). I can let go of the steering wheel, no pull any direction. The steering wheel is perfectly centered. No shimmy, no shake at any speed.

If I put it up on an alignment rack and they showed me a print out and things were out of spec, I might then feel compelled to let them do an alignment. But they could only make it worse. Do I trust their alignment numbers ... just because it is laser, does that make it Gospel? Heck no. There's a lot of set up skill & training (and lack of skill & lack of training) that go into those machines. I don't think those techs are dumb, I just think they get into a routine of slamming things out quickly and getting done with it. I don't believe most of them put much effort into doing a job to their best ability. Perhaps that's poo-pood in some instances too when the shop managers are bollocking them to crank out more crap so the shop makes more money.

If I don't hit any big holes or curbs, and the Enasaves get 55k miles on them and the car is driving just fine, I will get new tires and forgo the alignment. Have done that on many cars.

I wouldn't make a purchase decision on a vehicle this inexpensive, based on alignment specs. The only alignment numbers I would trust would be the ones that came from the factory during assembly (been there, saw that, mega training). But we ain'ta gonna be allowed to roll our cars back through the factory alignment booth no mo'. However, when I buy me a Maybach, I'll make sure the alignment is perfect (I'm betting they're not perfect either).

[Fummins]

I won't show the alignment of the van.

[Basic]

It will be new or nothing. To many people view possessions as toilet paper. Cars seem to be the worse. They say, "I don't care about the next guy" so maintain, drive and treat the thing only good enough to get it to THEIR goal. I've mentioned the guy who bought a new 72 Monte Carlo and drove it 100K miles never changing oil nor filter. Just added.

You cant buy a 5MT new anymore, so it would be nothing for me unfortunately... that said, I wouldn't be scared of a used 5MT car simply because there's a 99% chance it was owned by someone who takes care of their cars or else they would buy the CVT. (Calm down CVT owners who take care of their car... I'm talking about the other 80% of CVT owners)

[7milesout]

When I get ready for another Mirage, there's a member on here I'm stalking. When his comes available, I shall (try to) procure it from him.

I have no worries about anyone's vehicle who comes in here to talk about their Mirage. They care. It's one thing to be excited / passionate to chat about a Dodge Viper. It's a whole nother to feel that way about a Mirage. So for us idiots who come in here to chat about, or discuss problems and their solutions, you know that for the most part, those of us in here are owners that on average take much better care of their ride versus those that just stumble into the car and take it to the dealer every now and then and sit in the waiting room for 3 hours for an oil change. But at least they take it in.

I'm passionate about my Heavy Haul Tow Rig Blueberry, but in a different way than I would be about a Dodge Viper. My Blueberry is sort of an amazement due to getting so much from so little, kind of thing.