What was the last small car you owned?
I have never owned a small car, truly, or a large one - all compacts, I suppose. The total list of cars I have owned and prices paid:
Ford Focus 4cyl manual ($6,500)
Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra - 4cyl auto (free-family)
Dodge Omni - 4cyl auto ($200)
Rennault Alliance - 4cyl manual ($500)
I also owned a Honda XL250R, which is an on-off motorcycle. It had 6 gears and in a headwind would only do 100km/h at WOT.
My roomate had a Festiva which was a fantastic little car until it rusted away.
Because all these cars were well past new, I can't really comment on reliability except to say none of them gave me major problems.
I wasn't trying to pick a fight - just curious if in an attempt to make this car inexpensive the folks at Mitsubishi had to compromise on quality.
I recently bought a bargain bicycle new for $300 at the bike shop. It the first year I replaced both wheels and the chain as they didn't stand up and the seat and handgrips because they were uncomfortable. The guy at the bike shop that built the new wheels told me that the cheap wheels were there to meet the price point, and in fact slightly more expensive bikes can be better value if meant to be used as everyday commuters. On bikes, it is easy to know what "quality" looks like, but as I am not a car guy, I can only guess at the features and benefits of a car built to last compared to more disposable offerings.
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE 1.2 manual: 45.0 mpg (US) ... 19.1 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 54.1 mpg (Imp)