2022 Mirage 5MT - the Thai Thunder comes to Tennessee

[jonesboro]

Greetings fellow Mirage owners!

My names is Jonesboro and I'm a new Mirage owner from Tennessee, USA.

It's a 2022 ES 5MT and I got it with only 6k miles on it! This car looks and drives practically brand new!

The Mirage is very rare around here. I've seen maybe 3 other Mirages in western TN the whole time I've lived here and 2 G4's. I was lucky to see this car when I did. I'm a traveling copier repair tech and my company needed me to drive a newer car to stay in the milage payback program. After lots of research I figured this would be the best bang for my buck while also being a way to learn to drive a manual! After a few weeks of owning this I'm quite comfortable doing that now! Victory!

Here are some pics of how I received the car followed by a few simple OEM+ mods I've done with links on where to get the items. Enjoy!

Stock:
-----------------------------------------



Modified:
-----------------------------------------




Added rainguards:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C4QG97D


----------------------------------------

Swapped stock hub caps for Nissan Versa covers, looks better and has sparkles in the paint.
Added aftermarket Mitsubishi logo center caps and valve stem caps.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185746191485
https://www.ebay.com/itm/364067941390
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BHHJHDC


----------------------------------------

Swapped stock side turn signal lights to dark sequential-style lights.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/293994947070



----------------------------------------


Continued....

[jonesboro]

Swapped stock shift knob for a weighted one with red carbon fiber pattern.
Tried to add the fake Bride boot that comes with it but the Mirage retention for that is just some plastic clips and a metal band...didn't want to break that so black shift boot stays.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KX75W2Z


-----------------------------------------------

Added aftermarket cup holder bases, a leather center-console with red stitching to match theme, and a silicone mat to hold keys or phone on dash.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PHG5RRJ
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BS5SLJP





----------------------------------------------

Swapped Carvana license plate frame for a Mitsubishi one that looked better.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304511525416

[Wil B]

Looks beautiful Jonesboro!

[MetroMPG]

Nice! Congrats on the buy and welcome.

Does your company pay the same mileage regardless of what car you drive? With a Mirage's low cost of ownership, you'll probably be making money!

[jonesboro]

Nice! Congrats on the buy and welcome.

Does your company pay the same mileage regardless of what car you drive? With a Mirage's low cost of ownership, you'll probably be making money!

Thank you! I'm loving it so far! Never had a car this new before, so the novelty is quite nice.

My company does indeed scale pay for the class of the vehicle. They pay the most for compact SUVs, which I've been using my 2015 Honda CR-V EX to do the job just fine. The problem is they are a Japanese company and adopt their style of vehicle retention: has to be made within the last 7 years to get the full payout. Anything older and you get a stunted base return.

The CR-V has been a faithful steed and I'm ready to retire her from professional service @ 162k miles so I can finally put those coilovers on and hoon it.

There is where the Mirage comes in. My credit recently got back to a place where I could afford buying a car to maximize that return again. After reading this forum and seeing so many people loving the Mirage and hailing it's reliability/MPG friendliness I started considering it. It made total sense to get one since I do all my own auto work anyways and I can remove the rear seats for all the storage space I really need. Given the affordable price of a 2022 Mirage (new as possible keeps it in compliance longer = more money) vs what the company pays (quite well) vs the high amount of miles I drive (can be over 1000 miles a week): they are effectively BUYING ME THE CAR! FRIGGIN WIN!

Should be paid off in two years. If I drive it after that it's pure profit. I don't wanna jump the gun but I think this is the start of a beautiful thing.

[Wallythacker]

You my friend have a great thing going. You're getting $$$ to drive, you drive a car you love and it really won't cost YOU anything at the end of it all.

[Dirk Diggler]

Your ride looks sexy! Well done. Welcome. I'm shocked you don't see Mirages in Memphis. That's a rough city.

[jonesboro]

Your ride looks sexy! Well done. Welcome. I'm shocked you don't see Mirages in Memphis. That's a rough city.

Thanks!

I should've clarified: there's a team that handles Memphis and I get everything outside of it west of Nashville more or less. Since the only Mitsubishi dealer in a long haul is in Memphis there probably are more there. The few times I've been there recently I did see quite a few Outlanders but not any Mirages.