The more things change...

[MichiMitsu'15]

It seems I have come full circle. In 1985 I bought a 1976 Honda Civic very similar to the image below. I paid my sister $500 for it and off to college I went. Four speed manual, 52hp, and a pull out choke lever. Tiny outside, roomy inside, great gas mileage, sporty, simple, reliable, fun!
Nearly 40 years later my Mirage gives me the same good vibes as that wonderful old Civic.
Does the Mirage remind any of you of a previously loved vehicle?

[Mark]

It seems I have come full circle. In 1985 I bought a 1976 Honda Civic very similar to the image below. I paid my sister $500 for it and off to college I went. Four speed manual, 52hp, and a pull out choke lever. Tiny outside, roomy inside, great gas mileage, sporty, simple, reliable, fun!
Nearly 40 years later my Mirage gives me the same good vibes as that wonderful old Civic.
Does the Mirage remind any of you of a previously loved vehicle?

My story is somewhat similar to your story. I didn't buy my first car until the beginning of my junior year of college. I became a resident assistant (my room & board were covered) that year, & I felt I could finally afford a used car. My first car was a 1978 Honda Civic Wagon, & it also had the pull out hand choke on the dash. I bought mine in the late summer of 1983, & it had 60,000 miles on it. My dad was a GM guy, & we looked at the used Chevy Chevette (which could have been a 2-door or 4-door model), but the Honda Civic sort of won me over at the time.

I drove a 1990 Ford Festiva (designed by Mazda, built by KIA, & sold by Ford) for 14 years. My oldest child was born that year, & I wanted an affordable, dependable, & economical daily driver. I paid $5,300 for a brand new Festiva with 14 miles on it. Both my Civic & Festiva were 63 hp. There are some things I liked about both the Civic & Festiva over today's Mirage, but overall the Mirage is a great value.

"$5,300 in 1990 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $12,332.62 today, an increase of $7,032.62 over 33 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.59% per year between 1990 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 132.69%."

I bought a Mirage when White Bear was selling brand new 2017 ES manuals for $7,500-9,500 (price depended on which rebates you qualified for).

For me to consider a new Mirage today, a manual trim level for $12,000 would have to appear, & I don't see that happening.

Full circle for me - I may be back to buying used vehicles. Unless things change, I don't see myself buying another new vehicle. My 2017 Mirage may be my last new vehicle purchase, & I am OK with that. I hope to go another 10+ years without car payments. Taking out a loan for something that depreciates is not an investment. I'm boycotting overpriced vehicles!

I've probably done that my entire life, however.

[daleWV]

I had that exact same model of Civic way back when, and to this day it was the car that I had the most fun ever driving. It rusted out though and had to get rid of it. Mirage definitely reminds of the Civic but you could really throw that Civic around in the corners!

[Wallythacker]

It seems I have come full circle. In 1985 I bought a 1976 Honda Civic very similar to the image below. I paid my sister $500 for it and off to college I went. Four speed manual, 52hp, and a pull out choke lever. Tiny outside, roomy inside, great gas mileage, sporty, simple, reliable, fun!
Nearly 40 years later my Mirage gives me the same good vibes as that wonderful old Civic.
Does the Mirage remind any of you of a previously loved vehicle?

There are two cars that remind me of the Mirage and of those, 1 I would prefer to have now over my Mirage.

1972 Ford Pinto, 2.0 l, 4MT. 99hp. Really went well.
1972 Chev Vega GT, 2.3l, 4 MT. 90hp, with a great suspension, tires and shocks. I would take this car in a flash!

[MichiMitsu'15]

I had that exact same model of Civic way back when, and to this day it was the car that I had the most fun ever driving. It rusted out though and had to get rid of it. Mirage definitely reminds of the Civic but you could really throw that Civic around in the corners!

Dale, both front fenders rusted out when my sister owned the car before me but our local Honda dealership replaced them at no charge - She was amazed and became a lifelong loyal Honda buyer. She went on to purchase a new 1985 Honda CRX from that same dealership. I remember I did have to replace a rusted out muffler however - I woke up the whole neighborhood the morning that exhaust system failed .

[Mark]

Dale, both front fenders rusted out when my sister owned the car before me but our local Honda dealership replaced them at no charge - She was amazed and became a lifelong loyal Honda buyer. She went on to purchase a new 1985 Honda CRX from that same dealership. I remember I did have to replace a rusted out muffler however - I woke up the whole neighborhood the morning that exhaust system failed .

The muffler rusted off on my 1978 Honda Civic Wagon, too. I drove it without a muffler for 6 months, because I had to make some money at my summer job to pay for it. The car sat a lot while I was in school & living in the dorms.

My 1990 Ford Festiva was tough on mufflers. It was on its 9th muffler (if you include the factory one) when I sold it in 2004. I bought a Midas lifetime muffler & received 7 free ones over the course of that time. All of them rusted out before 2 years. They blamed it on the engine not throwing off enough heat to evaporate the water in the muffler, & I did watch the water pour out of one they removed once. I don't miss that. Even the 7 free ones ate up my time to have them replace it. I haven't replaced a muffler on a vehicle since that car.

[Wallythacker]

Dale, both front fenders rusted out when my sister owned the car before me but our local Honda dealership replaced them at no charge - She was amazed and became a lifelong loyal Honda buyer. She went on to purchase a new 1985 Honda CRX from that same dealership. I remember I did have to replace a rusted out muffler however - I woke up the whole neighborhood the morning that exhaust system failed .

Honda had a terrible rep in the 70/80's regarding rust. They were the worst of the imports. They spent hundreds of millions replacing subframes and sheet metal. The cars got so bad they would collapse on the hiway and create horrific accidents. It did not matter what you did to try and preserve the car, it simply evaporated.

The muffler rusted off on my 1978 Honda Civic Wagon, too. I drove it without a muffler for 6 months, because I had to make some money at my summer job to pay for it. The car sat a lot while I was in school & living in the dorms.

My 1990 Ford Festiva was tough on mufflers. It was on its 9th muffler (if you include the factory one) when I sold it in 2004. I bought a Midas lifetime muffler & received 7 free ones over the course of that time. All of them rusted out before 2 years. They blamed it on the engine not throwing off enough heat to evaporate the water in the muffler, & I did watch the water pour out of one they removed once. I don't miss that. Even the 7 free ones ate up my time to have them replace it. I haven't replaced a muffler on a vehicle since that car.

All the exhaust systems in that era were fashioned from mild steel, the worst possible material to make an exhaust system. My Tempo went through 5-6 free lifetime mufflers. My spouse went through 8-9 on her Tempo. The muffler shop catch was the exhaust pipe was only a year, so you got dinged $40-50 for that. The muffler was only a $25 item at a jobber. So I never saved anything with my "free" replacement mufflers but they did keep me from trying to replace one in the dead of winter.

[Mark]

Honda had a terrible rep in the 70/80's regarding rust. They were the worst of the imports. They spent hundreds of millions replacing subframes and sheet metal. The cars got so bad they would collapse on the hiway and create horrific accidents. It did not matter what you did to try and preserve the car, it simply evaporated.



All the exhaust systems in that era were fashioned from mild steel, the worst possible material to make an exhaust system. My Tempo went through 5-6 free lifetime mufflers. My spouse went through 8-9 on her Tempo. The muffler shop catch was the exhaust pipe was only a year, so you got dinged $40-50 for that. The muffler was only a $25 item at a jobber. So I never saved anything with my "free" replacement mufflers but they did keep me from trying to replace one in the dead of winter.

Exhaust systems have vastly improved, & I am thankful for that. My 7 mufflers were entirely free including labor was free. There wasn't any pipe beyond the muffler on that car. I did, however, have to pay to have the entire exhaust pipe leading to the muffler replaced once, & I was charged something like $100 for that.

The Civic backfired easily without a muffler.

[Wallythacker]

Exhaust systems have vastly improved, & I am thankful for that. My 7 mufflers were entirely free including labor was free. There wasn't any pipe beyond the muffler on that car. I did, however, have to pay to have the entire exhaust pipe leading to the muffler replaced once, & I was charged something like $100 for that.

The Civic backfired easily without a muffler.

The engineering was a joke. I recall many cars had the exhaust pipe that come out of the muffler was at or above the muffler centerline. This meant water, full of corrosive compounds, pooled in the muffler. At one time I would drill a 1/4" hole to drain the acidic mess. I got lazy when I had my "lifetime" muffler installed. Things became slightly better with aluminized mufflers and pipes but it wasn't until Chrysler used stainless on the mini van that annual exhaust repairs went away. They also used a great deal of galvanized on the body. Those vans broke a lot of ground back then.