Originally Posted by
gregsfc
Top 3 in no particular order. Mirage hatchback, Chevy Spark, Fiat 500.
All three of these can be purchased three year old for $8000 or less. A test drive will determine my preference between Spark and Mirage. If the highway handling is very poor on the Mirage, then that puts the Spark ahead, but if it's tolerable, the Mirage would come out ahead. The Spark does not come standard with cruise and that's a near deal breaker. The Fiat has the 2 door issue and as a second car, we would prefer a 5 door hatch.
I also considered the Spark and 500 along with the Mirage. The 500 just doesn’t deliver that great of economy and there just isn’t enough interior space for my needs. The Spark has had some serious long term reliability issues (ask Fummins, they had a fleet of them). A ‘14 or ‘15 Mirage has a super soft suspension which for less than $100 the rear springs can be upgraded and with the addition of Daox’s new rear stabilizer bar that problem can be eliminated. Gas prices are climbing and with th current geopolitical climate waiting too long might not be advantageous. Remember when fuel prices popped over $4 a gallon and Metro’s were suddenly worth a bunch of money. Well here on the Southern Oregon Coast we’re over $3 a gallon now with a few places pushing $3.20. With the CUV/SUV craze in full force there just aren’t that many non hybrid cars that deliver excellent economy. If you’re really going to buy a subcompact I wouldn’t wait too long because once people start spending $75-100 dollars to fill up their vehicles subcompacts start looking mighty attractive.
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View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 automatic: 40.5 mpg (US) ... 17.2 km/L ... 5.8 L/100 km ... 48.6 mpg (Imp)