Reviewing 10 years' of owning my Mirage
I bought my Mirage ES brand new in April of 2014, and have only owned my Mirage since then. Now a decade later, and I have 218,000 kms on the odometer. Mirage replaced my 1998 Ford Escort wagon. Only other car I have owned was a '85 Rabbit Cabrio.
My Mirage has been a pretty good car for me overall in these years. Things I like about the Mirage: drives and looks the same as the day I bought it. Always has returned excellent fuel economy. Usually getting around 5.3 L/100 km's this time of year. Winter time I expect around 5.9 to 6.5 or thereabout. Gas is like chewing gum to me, a waste of money and something I just buy and dispose of. So buying a gas guzzler is just silly imo.
I like the hatchback style, and have shoved many different things into the back. Small upright freezer? Check. Junk from previous home owners? Check. Dead maple chopped up with my chainsaw. Done that too. Got lots of scratches but that's why I bought a hatch in the first place.
Things I dislike about my Mirage: the size. People seem to really get offended by its presence on the freeways. Only 2% of the time, but I have been passed dangerously, etc...usually by big F150s and the like ilk.
A bigger car would make me feel a bit less vulnerable on the road. I'm a "pro-active" driver who keeps up with traffic, but wow, do some people seem to try to dominate my car. Maybe they equate their strength with a big car payment to go along with their big vehicle. I won't get too psychoanalytical on this topic.
What if there's a baby on board? Or the Mona Lisa? Or Mona Lisa's grandma? People are dumb sometimes.
Second thing I dislike about my Mirage is dumb little issues with the car. Pieces of interior plastic falling off like the housing for the seat belt. Or the back license plate light rotting out. Or the faulty windshield wiper nozzle. But small quibbles don't add up to a big beef; my Mirage has been a good & dependable car after 218,000 kms now.
Some work I have had done to my car in the past 3 years:
Exhaust piping at the front of the exhaust system. Resonator is still making a racket of noise at high speed when accelerating. Vibrates my right foot a little. But car is not noisy when cruising. Free foot massage.
Replaced spark plugs and serpentine belt and transmission fluid around 180k mark.
L & R brake rotors replaced. Replaced front wheel bearings.
Besides that, and that flywheel/starter issue everyone knows about, my Mirage has been reliable. I dream of driving something bigger, but I love stick shift (esp. in the winter) and I don't want to give up my hatchback if I upgraded to a new VW Jetta (or other car)
Happy Mirage Motoring!
__________________________________________
View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 42.2 mpg (US) ... 17.9 km/L ... 5.6 L/100 km ... 50.7 mpg (Imp)