Decided to gamble on the little car that every reviewer hates

[Mark]

Okay, so using some info I got from Fummins I went to Biggers Mitsubishi today and told them about the turn signal sound. The guy said they had to figure out how to change it on an Eclipse Cross back to the clicking sound because people didn't like it. Whoops... that's my fault hahahaha. Anyway, they went under the Meter settings on the MUT-III, changed the sound, washed my car, and didn't charge me a dime. Hurray!

Speaking of Biggers, they have an orange LE Mirage on their showroom floor that my daughter absolutely loves every time we've been there haha. Someone needs to buy that.

Sounds like Biggers has been very good to you even though you bought your Mirage elsewhere. That's awesome!

I imagine an orange Mirage with those LE black alloy wheels does look sharp. Sounds like your daughter has a good taste in cars.

[Dodge Aries K]

Yeah their service department is top notch for sure. More dealers could stand to learn from them.

As for my kid, she said she likes that car except that it's an automatic hahaha. She says it needs a manual transmission! Then she goes and says HER Yaris is a manual (remember, she's not even 8 yet) and that she wants any car she drives to be a manual. I'm so proud hahahaha

[Scratchpaddy]

Glad to hear you're raising her right.

When I got my Mirage, I wanted either orange or blue. But, now that I've seen one or two orange ones driving around here, I'm glad I got blue. Orange is almost camouflage in the landscape here. Blue is a nice contrast. If I lived some place more green, I'd probably prefer the orange.

[Dodge Aries K]

I would have happily taken blue, orange, or that really pretty wine red color... or even the bright red. Would have paid extra for that bright green they used to have but sadly don't anymore. I really didn't want black, white, silver, or gray. That means the only available colors to me at the time were black, white, silver, and gray so I went with the one I hated the least. For me personally, it has to be the right car to look good in white or black... my LeBaron is white with white wheels and everything and I think it's stunning. But the Mirage is more goofy or bubbly in it's design so having a fun color I think is more appropriate for it. Plus, for whatever reason I want each car I own to be a different color so that makes it a bit more fun. So far we have the gray Mirage, silver, truck, mint green Avalon, tan Corolla, bright blue Corolla, dark blue Yaris, sky blue Yaris, white LeBaron, and soon a maroon Reliant. I think the dark blue Yaris will eventually get painted a Neon green or a hot pink depending if myself or my daughter gets our way because sadly the clear coat is splotchy and peeling in spots all over the roof. It looks pretty bad now... poor car.

[Dodge Aries K]

Yes... $24 well spent because I am incredibly stupid hahahaha.

[Dodge Aries K]

So I've put almost 5500 miles on the Mirage since I bought it back in January.

The bad: **** dealer service. Horrid awful terrible dealers (for the most part). Not the car's fault but... still. Rear axle was bad, replaced under warranty. The transmission is kind of notchy/grindy when it's cold... seems fine after it warms up a bit and other Mirages I have driven were the same. Maybe that's not right, I don't know. Wind noise is bad, stock tires are awful but I knew that going into it. My car isn't prewired for heated seats, the on dash outside temp display, and heated mirrors so that was a bummer.

The good: I drive this thing all the time... even with my horrible knee and back I am relatively comfortable. The light clutch pedal is VERY light and effortless to push which is good because of previously mentioned health issues and my desire to drive a stick. Fuel economy is excellent... I can make it from my house north of Rockford all the way down to St Louis without stopping for fuel or discomfort so that's really nice. Instant heat and good air conditioner. Utility factor... I added a hitch to my car and used a cargo basket to transport a transmission from a Dodge Daytona on the back while me and two other people were in the car and still got 40 MPG's.

I plan on eventually upgrading the car a bit further with the rear sway bar thing, a bit stiffer rear springs, and slightly larger tires for the alloy wheels I have sitting here so that way it will be a little more capable for carrying more junk and also I think that will make the ride a bit better.

If you can drive a stick and don't mind shopping around to find a non sucky dealer there really isn't a better deal out there than these little cars for cheap dependable transportation.

[Pryme]

Yes... $24 well spent because I am incredibly stupid hahahaha.

That's like almost two mirage fill ups man!! My mirages have "SE" there already lol

[Dodge Aries K]

That's like almost two mirage fill ups man!! My mirages have "SE" there already lol

Hahaha yes. This one had nothing so I was like... well... it's basically been turned into the RF edition they just announced except with a manual gearbox so... why not.

[Eggman]

I added a hitch to my car and used a cargo basket to transport a transmission from a Dodge Daytona on the back while me and two other people were in the car and still got 40 MPG's.

I had a Daytona Pacifica and really liked driving it.

Did you get the Getrag transaxle? That was supposed to be an upgrade to what Chrysler was using before.

[Dodge Aries K]

Hahaha it was the A555 which has the Getrag gearset! It was for a friend of mine, not for me. And yeah those old Daytonas were pretty neat.