Originally Posted by
Mark
I've never seen or driven a Micra. If I was keeping a car past its warranty period, I would not buy a Nissan with a CVT transmission. I don't care what the price is or what features it may have. The Micra sounds like a nice car, but I have no faith in CVT transmissions (especially in Nissan's). This is just one person's opinion. Others may feel differently.
Some of my opinion sort of carries over to the Mirage, too. I am not convinced the CVT transmission are designed to last the life of the car. If a car is near the last few remaining years of its life, who wants to spend a huge amount of money on a transmission? Yet, without a working transmission the car is useless.
I don't understand your comment that the Mirage is to slow? It goes down the highway the same speed of every other car I am around. Prior to my purchase of my 2017 Mirage ES (manual), I watched a review done in Germany. The car reviewer did a great job of reviewing the Mirage. Part of his review included him driving a manual transmission Mirage on the Autobahn highway. Likewise I have done 75-80 mph on a trip out west, & I didn't perceive any issues. If I am in a high traffic area on a 4-lane highway, I do feel a little small. A person feels a little safer & more secure at higher speeds in a larger vehicle (especially when you are surrounded by larger vehicles). In Europe this would be less of an issue, because small cars are more popular.
In the United States, the base level 2019 Mirage with manual transmission comes with quite a few features including A/C & cruise control. A person may want to upgrade the wheels for summer months, & used the steel rims for winter tires. Beyond that, the base model is a nice car for the money. I like my Mirage, but I wouldn't pay a lot of money for one.
I've owned my Mirage for about 15 months. In that time, I have driven it over 20,000 miles. During that time I have put about 3,000 miles on my 2011 Subaru Forester. Yet, there are times when I need the Forester. The Mirage can't do everything. My parents live 4-hours one way. I've made that trip numerous times. Since buying the Mirage, it has done all those trips except one.
If a lot of extra features are important to you, it sounds like you may be happier with the Micra. If extra horsepower is important to you, you may like the Micra. None of those things are important to me. I wanted a car that was affordable, reliable, and economical. For me that car was a highly discounted Mirage with a manual transmission. Trim levels in Canada may be different, & I realize that.