New to forum

[Wallythacker]

Yes, I’m pay msrp. I will be driving about 300 km a day, most in city doing deliveries. 2023 Mirage GT or 2023 the lowest model Corolla. The price difference is $2,400 CAD. Which one would you pick?

You will need service at some point. Unless you have multiple Mirage dealers within an easy drive buy the Corolla. The dealer network will pay off if you depend on your car for income.

[Wallythacker]

Vancouver I think is an outlier for Canadian car ownership. Provincial insurance is cheap, something like $400/yearly full coverage? I'm following a crank on another site named Jonathan Yaniv and they monitor and document his life pretty well. He pays $400 for a Kicks. There's little to no snow in the lower mainland, not much salt or calcium use either so horrible corrosion is not an issue.

A Van car should last 15 years easily, body and engine if minimal attention is paid to it.

[Mark]

You will need service at some point. Unless you have multiple Mirage dealers within an easy drive buy the Corolla. The dealer network will pay off if you depend on your car for income.

I would only take a car to a dealership for warranty or recall work, but I am blessed with several small town mechanics in my area. After 5+ years of ownership, my Mirage has seen a mechanic once. That was for an air bag recall issue I believe. I stopped @ White Bear Mitsubishi (Minnesota) on my way to North Dakota (fishing trip). It was my first time @ the dealership.

I would cringe if I had to take my Mirage to my nearest Mitsubishi dealership. If Wisconsin has a good Mitsubishi dealership, I am not aware of it. The nearest Toyota & Honda dealerships have excellent reputations. The closest Toyota dealership has been selling cars since 1908. The nearest Honda dealerships brought Honda vehicles to the area starting in 1973.

If I couldn't do most maintenance myself & didn't have access to excellent small town mechanics, I would have NEVER bought a Mirage based on my local Mitsubishi dealership.

You Tube clips are wonderful. They have saved me hundreds of dollars in recent years, and that goes beyond cars. Whatever you decide to buy, I would still learn how to do the basics in car maintenance. This forum will guide you in the right direction, too. It will save you money, & you will feel good about it in the end.

For example - This past Friday, I threw a load of clothes in my Whirlpool clothes dryer. When I hit the "on" button, I got nothing. The dryer was dead! Rather than head to the store to buy a new dryer, I searched on You Tube - "Whirlpool clothes dryer won't start". I picked one clip, watched it, & figured out my problem.

My dryer vent hose was clogged, and that broke the thermal fuse (keeping the machine from overheating). I took my multi-meter and found no circuit through the fuse. Removing the fuse was one screw & pulling off two wires clipped on. It took more time to remove the rear panel & clean the dryer vent hose. Did I know all this? No, a simple You Tube clip showed me what to check first.

I called the small town appliance store that I bought the dryer from 20 years ago, & he thought he would have one in stock. I tested the new one in store & compared it to the old one I brought with me. I wanted to make sure my tester was working. I left the store 100% confident that I was buying the right part ($5 item). It cost me $5 & a bit of my time to fix my dryer.

Last fall, my dryer stopped heating. I learned on You Tube how to test the heating element. The test indicated it was broken. When I removed it, I could see the break in the heating coils. I ordered a new part ($50 item) with 100% confidence. The year before the dryer belt broke. It spins the entire tub. Same thing - I learned how to install a new dyer belt. I've invested less than $100 to keep my old dryer going the past two years. I find satisfaction in that! Am I proud of that? Sure I am. Otherwise, I wouldn't be gloating about it now!

The same goes for cars. I watched a couple clips on replacing the front brake pads & rotors of a Mirage, & I determined I can do that. I went to the town, bought the parts, and did the job the same day. I had to buy one small extra tool ($10 disc brake spreader) to do the job.

There are times when living near a small community can have its advantages. If I stopped at 4 different small town mechanic/tire shops, they would know me by my first name. Even with that, they have never worked on my Mirage. Even with tires, I have dropped off the rims or old tires and had them replaced. I pick them up the next day or a few hours later. For a job like that, they don't even make out a slip if I pay them cash.

The point in all this - Cars will need service, & you recognize that. Finding a good dealership or local mechanic will make you feel better about your car purchase. You could use a local mechanic to inspect a possible used car purchase, & that would establish a relationship with them. Dealerships tend to sell the preowned vehicles that have been inspected, but I wouldn't trust all of them.

If you find someone who takes good care of their vehicle, I think the best purchase can be a private party sale. I discovered my 2000 Honda CR-V in 2004 on cars.com. I drove 3 hours to purchase the car. When I got there, I discovered the couple was from the same hometown area I grew up at. It was the wife's CR-V. She was a registered nurse & only used it during the winter months. She used a convertible & motorcycle during the summer months. That's why it only had 20,000 miles on it after 4 years, & I saw her other vehicles that fit the story. She had just bought a new Ford Escape at the time. I could tell my CR-V was very well taken care of, & everything they owned looked that way, too. I felt like I got a very nice AWD vehicle for $12,000 that day! A used one at a dealership would have cost me a few thousand extra, & a new one would have been $21,000+ easily.

I wouldn't get stuck on buying a new vehicle. Everyone's situation is different, however. I get that. I don't like car payments. I don't buy anything I can't pay off in a year. I have too many other things I would rather spend money on, & I don't feel comfortable buying other things if I have a car payment still looming. Vehicles are money pits, not an investment. If I buy land or a home, that's an investment.

[Mirage2023]

Wallythacker, thanks for your advices, appreciated.

Need service at some point.
Consider dealership locations
Get Corolla when delivery is my only income

All noted.

Thank you.

[Wallythacker]

Wallythacker, thanks for your advices, appreciated.

Need service at some point.
Consider dealership locations
Get Corolla when delivery is my only income

All noted.

Thank you.

You are welcome. All the best in your new endeavor!

[BlueSteel]

Hello everyone!

New to this forum & Mirage ownership.
Picked up a Mirage to possibly replace a Civic, partially due to the Mirage’s good fuel economy numbers & to the fact that the Civic might have one foot in the grave.

[Mark]

Hello everyone!

New to this forum & Mirage ownership.
Picked up a Mirage to possibly replace a Civic, partially due to the Mirage’s good fuel economy numbers & to the fact that the Civic might have one foot in the grave.

The car market (as far as options go) has really shrunk these past few years. I don't think the Mirage will disappoint you in the economy department.

My first car was a used 1978 Honda Civic Wagon (63 horsepower). Some feel the Mirage is not blessed with power, but I owned a few cars with less hp than a Mirage in the past.

Welcome to the forum!!!!

[BlueSteel]

Thanks!

Hopefully I can learn a thing or two while here.

[Wallythacker]

The car market (as far as options go) has really shrunk these past few years. I don't think the Mirage will disappoint you in the economy department.

My first car was a used 1978 Honda Civic Wagon (63 horsepower). Some feel the Mirage is not blessed with power, but I owned a few cars with less hp than a Mirage in the past.

Welcome to the forum!!!!

My 2500 lb. Tempo had 86 hp, 2.3L, cast iron engine. Ford could have taken these cars so much further but they cut and ran. Tempo even pushed Toyota into second place for years.

[Mark]

My 2500 lb. Tempo had 86 hp, 2.3L, cast iron engine. Ford could have taken these cars so much further but they cut and ran. Tempo even pushed Toyota into second place for years.

My aunt had a Tempo. She didn't take very good care of it, but it still ran for a long time for her. Ford Tempo /Mercury Topaz were quite common back in those days. Lots of Chevy Cavalier cars on the roads back then, too.

https://coverking.com/blogs/blog/che...e-the-cavalier