If you paid the car off, call in ASAP to cancel the GAP! You'll get a refund of what's not used!
If you paid the car off, call in ASAP to cancel the GAP! You'll get a refund of what's not used!
-Karl B. No Mirages currently...
Zero, 2014 ES Plus 5MT, written off but not forgotten.
Zero II, 2014 SE, 5MT, climate She's HOME now!
Shelby AKA "Cute", 2017 ES 5MT, A/C.
Mirage owners look at the world differently than everyone else, but in a better way
We're driving the Beetle of the 21st century, the greatest small car now available!
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View my fuel log 2017 Mirage ES PLus 1.2 manual: 39.0 mpg (US) ... 16.6 km/L ... 6.0 L/100 km ... 46.8 mpg (Imp)
Fummins (01-17-2020)
Thank you so much for that. I had no idea I could request a refund of it since it is based on the term of the loan, which was a 7 year loan. The dealership finance department might have mentioned it but I had so many forms I was digesting that day. I paid my loan off in late November, so it's been a little over 45 days. I will call tomorrow morning and request a refund. I hope they don't say that time expired. I have my contract in front of me. It's 5 pages and small print. I have skimmed it but only found a few parts allowing 30-day cancellation after purchase date. Hopefully there is a longer limit for paid-off loans.
Edit: It appears I must call the GAP administrator within 90 days of termination of the event of termination (including the date of Finance Agreement paid in full.). So it appears I still have a little over 30 days left, but I am calling tomorrow! Thanks so much Dodge Aries K!!!
Last edited by highwire; 01-17-2020 at 02:38 AM.
Glad to help! Should get you a chunk of money back so there's nothing wrong with that whatsoever!
-Karl B. No Mirages currently...
I called the dealership today and all I had to do was e-mail them a copy of my lien release letter and make a visit to their office next week to sign the GAP cancellation request. They said I should get a large portion back since my loan was paid off in 4months. Feeling a lot better about my final purchase price now.
Dodge Aries K,
I got my gap refund last week. It was nearly $800! Totally worth it joining this forum with amazing members like you to let me know of a refund.
My total purchase price, including a 10yr extended warranty, and excluding 4 month of interest (around $120) is $14918 for a 2019 CVT.
Last edited by highwire; 02-15-2020 at 08:40 PM.
Sounds like you got great advice from Dodge Aries K, & the refund sounds great! If you paid off your Mirage in 4 months, you probably didn't need the GAP insurance or a 7-year car loan (with a higher interest rate) in the first place.
I think it's worth questioning extra charges when buying a new car, because it's become more of a scam. It's probably always been that way, but I do feel it has gotten worst. At the same time, a person can take advantage of offers, too.
Agreed. Walking into the dealership for my first new car, I wasn't prepared for the financing room in the back. I thought that the out-the-door price was all there was to it. I probably would have done without the extended warranty too, although my uncle, who is a dealership mechanic for another Asian car-maker, said they are worth it. That said, it's kinda hard to imagine I'll use it on defective parts that won't break due to normal wear and tear. Hopefully the dealership will find something that is in warranty that I wouldn't have spotted myself, like a recall (not that a recall is desirable either). Otherwise, I will stick to avoiding unnecessary purchases.
My dealership recently offered me a prepaid maintenance plan that includes three 0-20W synthetic oil changes with standard inspection for $99, so I took it. It's good for 22,500 miles, and considering I was paying $22-$25 for conventional oil changes (for my previous old car), I took it. I will probably stick with dealership oil changes til the warranty ends at least. My first oil change was free, so I have almost 2 years of cheap oil changes. I''ll remember to change the engine &cabin air filter myself since it looks easy.
Last edited by highwire; 02-15-2020 at 09:31 PM. Reason: Added W to 0-20 and additional info
Everyone's situation is surely different. I am by no means questioning you or your decisions. I share things for other readers to ponder, too. If you paid off your new Mirage in 4-months, very few of us are in the position to question you or your finances. This being your first new car makes it even more amazing! I sincerely mean that! It's great to own a paid off vehicle that will give you many, many years of good service. You have way more wisdom than I had at your age. I am assuming your are under 50 something, however!
Dealerships aren't making a lot of money off of just selling cars these days. It's the extra add-ons that are generating more profit for them. I would question the need of a 5-year/60,000 miles bumper-to-bumper warranty, 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty, & 5-year/unlimited miles roadside assistance vehicle needing much extra for warranty. Replacing a steel wheel on my Mirage would cost $50 (aftermarket with free-shipping). Does that warrant extra wheel insurance? How many alloy wheels are destroyed on a Mirage per year? If a Mirage is highly discounted, is gap insurance really needed? I just question of all those type of add-on items, & I would do that for any new car purchase.
The 2019 Mirages have become a little more expensive over the recent years, but the ES trim level comes with some extra nice features not found on my 2017 ES. Cruise control becoming standard in 2019 is especially nice. None of these changes have impacted the SE or GT, but the ES has surely evolved since 2017. The Mirage has some really nice features for an economy car. You should feel really good about your purchase, especially since it's all paid for already! That's awesome!
Thank you Mark,
I am right in the middle between 30 and 40 . Being aware of the add-ons being the most costly part of a new car, I stuck to the ES trim. The warranty was probably the only thing I didn't need, but having read this forum, I am surprised how many more things are standard on the 2019 compared to the 2014 Mirage, the latter which had no AC on the base. I only tried cruise control a couple times but I think it uses more fuel uphill since it tried to match the speed rather than letting go of the acceleration to keep the RPM low. Also, the feature I enjoy most is the Rear backup camera, which helps me spot things with the wide-angle lens. I still turn around to check what the camera doesn't see, like behind a parked adjacent car, but it is still a huge upgrade compared to a simple radio knob.
It seems like they are still adding features to the newer base models, like climate control. One thing I wish though, was that the Tire Pressure monitor had 4 tire indicators instead of one. I only had the indicator on a couple days this week, since the temperature dipped below 10 degrees F. Which is not typical, but it has been about a month since the tires were last checked, so that could be 34 PSI or 29 PSI. After driving 30 minutes, the light turned off yesterday. And this afternoon it didn't turn on when the starting temp outside was 30 degrees. So I might not need air just yet. Though this winter likely has 2-3 more sub 15 F days, so I might need to check my pressure soon.
I am very happy with my Mirage. I use Top Tier fuel 90% of the time, and try to drive it less than 60mph unless keeping up with traffic. I haven't wanted to treat a car like a baby as much as this one since I know it can age quickly if I don't. It needs a crib too ( a garage)- hoping I won't have to park it outside overnight in a year or so when I look for a house.
Last edited by highwire; 02-15-2020 at 11:23 PM. Reason: typo fix