Hi everyone!
Happy to be here and have discovered this car and its community.
In 2011 I purchased a Kia Soul new. I thought it might be the only brand new car I would ever buy (I am more of a "buy used and let others take the deprecation hit, and avoid car payments at all cost" type). That vehicle began its life as my family car as it was big enough to handle that. Eventually, though, we got a used van and the Kia Soul became my daily work commuter. Before that I drove a 2003 Hyundai accent which in retrospect probably prepared me for Mirage ownership.
Well, some time ago the Kia died and I had to look for another ride for my work commute. I had a limited budget, at least in our wonderful inflated world of 2022-2023.
I was mainly looking at used small crossover SUVs. Dreading dealerships I tried Carvana. Well, that was a disaster. They could never get me a car delivered to me. They did get me my money back fast when I finally gave up, so there's that.
That experience basically sent me to cars . com with reset expectations. I was always considering hatchbacks, since the higher roof usually means I have good headroom inside. Plus I like the look of them. But I was still mostly considered crossover SUVs.
The issue I was having was that anything in my budget was usually somewhere around 60k mileage and at least five years old. But all of a sudden I saw this weird car showing up as brand new under 20k: the 2023 Mirage Black Edition in red. I hadn't considered Mitsubishi *at all.* I do remember the mirage showing up in "cheapest cars of 2023" lists, but the models used in such articles didn't make an impression. Plus you don't see them often in my neck of the woods.
But the more I looked at this one, the more I liked the look of it. "Let's email the dealer and see if they are easy to work with," I thought (I tried Carvana because I can't stand car dealers). Happily, this one was great- quickly got me the out the door price, fully itemized. Was lacking any B.S extras except for a 200 paint protection thing, which I thought was fine. Basically the car was the MSRP of 18,500 with the usual tax and title fees.
Having read many of your forum posts, I know that 18,500 is quite high compared to what many of you got your rides for. Alas, the market now is so bad that 18,500 for an upper trim was and is a great deal in my view.
I was nervous due to all the usual horrible reviews (my new nemesis is Doug DeMuro, LOL). But one thing I noticed: *real owners love this car.* My test drive was good- you'd think from the edmunds review that the car would stall out on the freeway or take minutes to execute a pass on the freeway. Absurd. The car drives FINE.
In fact, the car is SUPER FUN to drive around, especially in town when the small car zippiness thing comes into play. Loving the gas mileage as well!
One last thing: I note that the Black Edition styling is a little divisive in the forums. Well I love it. The BE styling is what actually sold me on this. I like funky styling (remember I drove a Kia Soul) and the BE edition stuff for me takes the Mirage from generic hatch to "what the heck is that" territory, which I love in a car. I've made a garage entry for it, I call it (to the annoyance of my kids) the "Hanshin Tiger," after the famous Japanese baseball team.
That's it! Thanks for all the really informative posts.
-rohoGames