Speck :: 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (Garage entry)

[Basic]

Who knows? Maybe someone on the forum will own it as a salvage car some day. Do you think it will be repaired by someone?

I had considered buying mine back after the wreck (and still regret not doing so) and if Eggman was able to drive it home, then Speck was far less damaged than mine was. I am positive it will be fixed and put back on the road. I would buy it in a heartbeat.

[defensivetackle88]

Well folks, all good things must come to an end.

Speck has met an untimely demise. Another driver pulled out in front of me - Speck has been totaled. It's frustrating in many ways. It happened at essentially parking lot speeds and should have been avoidable but the impact was enough to deploy airbags. There were no injuries. I was able to drive it home that day (it happened on February 22nd) so it didn't quite make it to six years of ownership and of course I was hoping for many more years. On the other hand the insurance payout is more than I expected. That'll go towards the next vehicle.

I removed all that I put on it and returned it to stock form for the insurance company settlement. A wrecker will arrive tomorrow afternoon to take it to auction. Some parts that will go up for sale include:
New in box front rotors & pads
Rockford Fosgate amp & sub kit
Pioneer speakers for the doors
WeatherTech floor liners
ZeroStart 3100111 400 watt engine block heater
KDLinks R100 rearview mirror mounted dashcam
A set of Dunlop Enasaves (unmounted)
A set of Dunlop Wintermaxx (mounted on steel rims complete with factory TPMS & wheel covers.)
I even got the Air Lift airbags out of the rear axle springs today.
Not sure if I want to sell the Fumoto oil drain valve, but I don't know if I'll have another use for it.

That's about all I can think of. If there's any interest in any of these items, let me know.

I want the weather tech floor liner.

[MetroMPG]

Nooooooooooooooooo!


El grande bummer.


Sorry to hear it, Eggman. The 3 sounds super fun though.

[Eggman]

Really sad day. Probably the lowest mileage best spec ('15 ES 5MT) left on the planet. Stupid driving public.

It should come up for auction sometime soon. It was picked up by Insurance Auto Auctions this morning.

Judging by the block heater bulkhead plug on the front bumper cover, I’m pretty sure this is Speck:

2015 MITSUBISHI MIRAGE ES/RF Stock#: 32646808

[Fummins]

Sorry to hear your car is wrecked!
I'm in the middle of fixing one with similar damage.
Attachment 23088

[Eggman]

You've done some really nice things to help save the planet. I hope you keep us posted on your solar gird. It's surely an option more of us should be considering. My house sits on 72 acres. Even though most of it is wooded, I could find room for solar panels some day.

Even if you take the whole saving the planet component out of the equation, the PV stuff pays back. With net metering my electric bill will be drastically reduced. It’s a dead simple no-brainer even here in cloudy Northeast Ohio. If you can afford to pay up front without financing an install, the payback is even sooner.

Once I replace our natural gas stove with something electric, I can eliminate that utility bill. Monday set a new record for daily production with 54.4kWhs generated. Today should be even better. I’m trying to reduce my bills to only taxes and municipal water & sewer.

I can see more families using an electric vehicle to supplement their other vehicles. Several Mirage owners sort of use their Mirage in the same way. It's not their only vehicle that does all.

The price of the Model 3 is pretty steep but used prices are nearly as much as new. I expect it’ll hold its value especially with today’s gas prices. So if I chicken out and decide to bail on this little experiment, like the Mirage I hope I won’t lose too much value.

I did some math on Speck. Subtracting the insurance payout from the purchase price and divided by six years of ownership, Speck cost $437.74 per year. This doesn’t include insurance or fuel, which I guess I could figure but we all here know this is unbeatable for fuel economy. And all the repairs were covered by warranty - the rear axle replacement, battery, and fuel pump.

So yeah some cars just hold their value better than others, and timing is everything.

I assume you still have your Ford Escape to pull your camper?

Oh yeah, it’s real nice. We parked it this winter to avoid exposing it to road salt, but that’s off the table now.

If one tried to trade a Mirage for another vehicle, I doubt they would get as much as your insurance claim. In that respect, I would feel good about that. It's still sad to realize Speck is leaving us!

With the car market going the way it is I wonder how high the payout price could have gone.

Who knows? Maybe someone on the forum will own it as a salvage car some day. Do you think it will be repaired by someone?

I sure hope so. Someone can get a rear-ended DE and swap the front-end in and even get the fender-mounted marker lights.

[7milesout]

Judging by the block heater bulkhead plug on the front bumper cover, I’m pretty sure this is Speck:

There's a picture with the VIN number so you would know for sure. But I'm betting you already are certain this is Speck. It really doesn't look bad.

[Fummins]

There's a picture with the VIN number so you would know for sure. But I'm betting you already are certain this is Speck. It really doesn't look bad.

The one I'm fixing looks similar. Didn't look bad, I figured it was a quick easy fix. But the rh frame horn is tweaked right at the crumple part. Still, no biggy. That'll just get farmed out to bodyshop. The rest is just bolt on stuff.

Both wheel and knee bags were blown. But then you need a clock spring because the plugs melt when the wheel bag blows(they get HOT!), the airbag module needs to be replaced(with one that had zero airbags deployed),and I just discovered that you need to have the module programmed to that car by copying the original module file to the new one, seatbelts have pre-tensioners in them that are one time use so they need to be replaced, even the rh side whether there was a passenger or not. Then you'll need a rad support, fender, bumper cover, hood, hood hinge(s), rad, condenser, rad fan, and all the plastic bits, possibly a washer bottle.

If there's no frame rail damage then it's all bolt on stuff. The most economical way would be to buy a wreck that's hit in the side or rear. But those are unicorns, the majority of wrecks are damaged in the front. Trying to source all the parts separately could be a pita. Waiting for an ideal donor car could take a while. Buying an entire front clip would be the next best thing. I have no idea what that'd cost. Probably similar to what an entire wreck would cost at a salvage auction.

[7milesout]

Dirk's neon green one was a unicorn then, as it had right rear damage (from memory).

[Fummins]

Dirk's neon green one was a unicorn then, as it had right rear damage (from memory).

It twas. Out of the dozen or so written off Mirages I've seen at work over the last 7 1/2 years all had front end damage(even the one that was t-boned and rolled) except for 2 that were hit in the rh 1/4 panel. I got a feeling the rh 1/4 hit may be relatively common in these turds?