Cheap Plastic Car :: 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage DE (Garage entry)

[Mark]

302,915 miles

Paid the mechanic to replace my transmission, clutch, and do front/rear brakes.

I provided him with a low mileage transmission from LKQ, Redline gear oil, brake calipers and turned rotors for the front, brake shoes for the rear (he turned the drums himself), and OEM clutch parts. I decided not to risk the $100 eBay kit being low quality since I splurged and payed the mechanic to do the work.

Here’s what a 300k mile clutch disc looks like.

It's really nice to hear from you Steve!

Not knowing what happened to the "Cheap Plastic Car" was leaving a void in my life! I must live a sad life!

What inspired you to revive the old Mirage, & what are plans for it? Will it become your daily driver again?

If my memory serves me right, you were driving your dad's car at the time of your Mirage having issues. Had you looked at any other vehicles in the meantime?

Given the current car market, fixing up the old Mirage may have seemed more worthwhile to you?

Sorry for all the questions. It's just really good to see you back on the forum!

[stevedmc]

What inspired you to revive the old Mirage, & what are plans for it? Will it become your daily driver again?

Certainly glad to be back. Dad's car now has a check engine light that is causing it to not pass emissions. Being that it doesn't look like a cheap and easy fix, I had to think of something to keep me on the road.

About three weeks ago I decided I'd just buy a new car. I decided I wanted to splurge and get a Nissan Versa. After calling a dozen dealerships looking for one with a manual transmission they all pretty much told me the same thing, "We don't have anything in stock, special order only, and its going to cost you more than MSRP."

Later that week I dropped the Mitsubishi off at a shop and had him get it back on the road since I'm too lazy to do my own work. In today's car market, even if I ended up paying $5k in repairs (I didn't), it just makes more sense to keep what you have other than buy another vehicle. Even used vehicles are selling for more than what new cars costed a year or two ago. Crazy times we live in.

[Fummins]

Certainly glad to be back. Dad's car now has a check engine light that is causing it to not pass emissions. Being that it doesn't look like a cheap and easy fix, I had to think of something to keep me on the road.

About three weeks ago I decided I'd just buy a new car. I decided I wanted to splurge and get a Nissan Versa. After calling a dozen dealerships looking for one with a manual transmission they all pretty much told me the same thing, "We don't have anything in stock, special order only, and its going to cost you more than MSRP."

Later that week I dropped the Mitsubishi off at a shop and had him get it back on the road since I'm too lazy to do my own work. In today's car market, even if I ended up paying $5k in repairs (I didn't), it just makes more sense to keep what you have other than buy another vehicle. Even used vehicles are selling for more than what new cars cost a year or two ago. Crazy times we live in.

I agree, I just replaced the engine and transmission in mine last month. I can't buy any running driving roadworthy car for what it cost to buy both parts. Now I have a car with under 6000km on the drivetrain.

I get tired of driving a Mirage now and then. Then I look at other people who are still making payments or just finished their last payment and start having major costly issues.

It looks like you still have the highest mileage Mirage on the forum. Our highest one at work was crashed at 475k km(295k miles).

[stevedmc]

I get tired of driving a Mirage now and then.

After driving the Camry for over a year, it certainly has taken some adjusting getting used how underpowered the Mirage is, but at least it is cheap to repair and will save me some serious money on gas.

I think I paid LKQ $700 for the transmission, $350ish for OEM clutch parts, and another $1,167 to the mechanic who also resurfaced the flywheel, took care of my brake work, including the rear drums which I had been putting off for a very long time.

So for about $2,300 I have a car that's possibly good for another 300k miles. Honestly, I was surprised at the condition of the old clutch disc. I'm no expert but it looks like it had plenty of life left.

I have noticed a bit of road noise since getting back on the road in the Mirage. I can't remember if its normal or not. The plan is to get the tires balanced sometime next week and if that doesn't fix the noise, I'll just drop it off at the mechanic again to have the bearings replaced. I probably should have had him do it anyway. At 300k miles, its reasonable to expect a few wear items to need replacing.

[stevedmc]

One of the reasons I was considering a Nissan Versa is the engine is a little bigger but still a gas saver. Was going to have fun driving around a peppy little manual transmission car, but certainly not at a price above MSRP.

Just a few years ago you could find them easily around $12,000. Now the same car is feting $18k for a cheap little subcompact car! No thank you! I'll just get new bearings on what I have, and maybe splurge to get some dents removed and the car painted.

[Cobrajet]

[Cobrajet]

[Cobrajet]

I decided not to risk the $100 eBay kit being low quality since I splurged and payed the mechanic to do the work.

I have the $100 kit. Ordered it when my second clutch cable snapped and I thought I needed to do a clutch. Looks okay to me, but we know OEM will go 300k!

[MetroMPG]

Here’s what a 300k mile clutch disc looks like.

How much for your old clutch? Plenty of life left in it.

[stevedmc]

I have noticed a bit of road noise since getting back on the road in the Mirage. I can't remember if its normal or not. The plan is to get the tires balanced sometime next week and if that doesn't fix the noise, I'll just drop it off at the mechanic again to have the bearings replaced. I probably should have had him do it anyway. At 300k miles, its reasonable to expect a few wear items to need replacing.

306,108 miles I haven't had the tires rotated/balanced yet. I ended up inspecting the car myself and found that the rear passenger side drum brake was not properly adjusted. The shoes were rubbing on the hub!

I ended up figuring out how to adjust the brakes myself and the noise is gone. I don't like monkeying with drum brakes. There is a reason I paid a mechanic to do those brakes and evidentially he doesn't like drum brakes either.