If I don't drive anywhere except for where I have to go, i.e. work/walmart/bank locally I average 13.3mpg this past tank in the Cherokee, I drove 142 miles, just under 28.00 for the week in gas, normally if I drive a good amount I use about $40 a week in gas in the jeep (approx 200 miles in a week) and that's just the basic's no special events. The mirage would likely average 32mpg around here (maybe even more), at 2.61 gallon that puts me a tiny over 16.00 a week vs 40.00 driving 200 miles. About 96.00 in gasoline alone, plus the cost of the wear and tear on the jeep, which there's two axles to do gear oil on, transfer case, transmission, 6 quarts of oil (rotella T6 it's the number one choice for the 4.0 jeep). If I can cut the mileage down in the Jeep to about 3-5k I can cut down to one oil change a year on it, tires could make 3-4 years. I can also cut the insurance for 3 months during the year and park it to cut costs (during the early spring/summer). A ruff guess would be gas/maint/ect savings $110 per month.
I do enjoy my Jeep, it is a beast in the snow, and has proven that fwd studded snow tire cars are great on plowed roads or mild snow but after 12+ inches accumulate and the "on street parking" for my apartment is not plowed or shoveled they become stuck easily, and spend a hour shoveling your fwd out and cleaning your parking spot, come home two hours later and there's a car parked in it. No problem with the jeep it just plows through it all.
I went to the dealer, test drove the mirage 5 speed es and it I felt sad that I really needed to shift at 3500 rpm to keep up with traffic, its a guilty feeling I get that I am hurting the engine, my jeep's torque monster straight 6 is happy at 1500 rpm and gets shifted at 2200, 2500-3000 if its frisky. I loved everything else about it, I had no problem getting on the highway, handling felt great for a small car, space was incredible for passengers, hatch area was the only small downside I found, I felt it's small (to be expected from a suv owner). But it did feel like it had so much more space inside than my cherokee or my civic, I felt very comfortable, I linked my phone and was jaming pandora before I left the lot, the clutch felt non existant... the easiest clutch I've ever felt in my life. I'll write more, off to work for now. They will call me tomorrow to see if I can get financed. The new york dealership won't stop calling me either, they pre approved me with 1,000 down and want me to buy theirs too but the civic has not sold yet.
__________________________________________
View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 44.8 mpg (US) ... 19.1 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 53.9 mpg (Imp)