Originally Posted by
Fummins
I don't think a lot of people realize how much money could be saved by driving one of these things. Not just on fuel alone but repair and maintenance over 10-15 years.
Mirage=3 liters of oil, 3 spark plugs, 14" tires and pretty reliable, will not nickle and dime you to death with broken door handles, wiper transmissions, heater resistors etc... that are often common failure points of many other run of the mill turd pails.u
What do most suv's and pickup trucks take now, 6 liters of oil, 6-16 spark plugs, 17-22" tires.
I never really sat down an looked at how much money I've blown on fuel and parts let alone the time I spend keeping random vehicles on the road. My dodge needs $1000 or so a year worth of work to keep running and I only use it to pull a trailer 6 times a year. Right now it needs a rear transmission seal(again after replacing it 5 years ago) before I can use it, and probably needs an oil change so there's 12 qts of oil... Every repair I do now I compare to what I paid for my current Mirage. Last year I spent one Mirage on tires for my truck. I'll probably spend a few Mirages on diesel this summer. I spend almost 1 Mirage on a trailer hitch for the truck and stabilizer setup for our new trailer. I'll probably blow a Mirage on beer this summer, and another one or two on diesel lol.
One of the biggest reasons I'd guess why people want suvs and trucks is just so they can see whats in front of them better and "feel safer". But if you're surrounded by other trucks and suv's there isn't really much to see anyways. Another one I hear all the time and kinda felt the same way for a while was "I need awd". We have snow plows, there's no need for awd or 4wd in a 2000lb car "around here" imo. Most of my vehicles were rwd and I didn't die. A front wheel drive is leaps and bounds better than a rwd in the snow, except maybe a rear/mid engine something but who want's to drive a fiero?
Driving a turd Mirage really forces you to change how you drive, at least for the cvt version lol. Well that and trying to limp along a questionable cvt for as long as possible is a factor too.