The Mirage is EASY to work on!

[Mark]

The trick seats that you guys are raving about are indicative of a difference in design philosophy between the two cars. It's not a deficiency in the Mirage design at all. It's a feature. They kept things simple and LIGHT WEIGHT. The rear seats (which includes the hinges and hardware) is crazy light on the Mirage. Something like 40 pounds total... including the seatbelts! I'd bet that the Honda rear seats are at least 20 pounds heavier. And that's just the rear seats. All told, the Honda is 200-250 pounds heavier than the Mirage, and that has an effect on the other common comparison between the Mirage and the Fit: fuel economy.

The Mirage was designed from the start to be a fuel economy king, and to be inexpensive to manufacture and buy, and easy to build and maintain. They achieved those goals.

That same "keep things simple" and "make the car easy to maintain" philosophy is what makes the car easy to work on.

How the rear seats just flopped down in the Mirage are lame! They could have done better.

The cheap 1988-93 Ford Festiva hatchbacks had a rear seat that folded down & then the entire rear seat could be flipped forward. This left a very large flat space behind the front seats. It was much better for hauling dogs & other gear in back. I highly doubt the rear seat of Festiva weighed more than a Mirage rear seat. The Festiva surely wasn't a more expensive car. Rear head rests weren't found on cars back then, & that simplified rear seats folding & flipping better, too.

[Loren]

Y'all put a lot more thought into rear seats than I do!

I usually opt for a 2-door car because I don't use back seats. If they're there, they fold down, and I can carry stuff back there when I need to. That's about as far as my thought process goes.

I'd be annoyed if they DIDN'T fold down. But, the details of HOW they fold down is not important to me.

[Mark]

Y'all put a lot more thought into rear seats than I do!

Coming from a man who removed the rear seats from his Mirage!

Ironically, I don't know of anyone who has shared more about the rear seats in his Mirage than you. Not to pick on you, because I love your posts. I realize weight reduction was your goal, but you made an effort to create a nice useable flat space behind your front seats. I thought your end product was great by the way!

[Loren]

I was just going to toss some kind of rug back there to cover it up and muffle some sound, honestly. A friend of mine is a carpet installer, and used to do custom van interiors. He offered to put something together for me, and that's how that happened. I agree, it's quite nice... but, left to my own means... yeah, I really just wanted to get the weight out.

[fc321]

When making my purchasing decision in 2016 I had it narrowed down to Chevy Spark, Mirage or Versa.

I drove an automatic transmission Spark first and the car felt like a toy. It was severely underpowered. I didnt like the looks either.

The Versa (sedan) was better but had a rear seat that wouldnt fold down AT ALL. That was not going to work for me because I like to transport a lawnmower to mow the grass at my rental properties and being a landlord means you frequently need to transport construction materials.

A hatchback gives alot more versatility for doing so. And the Nissan dealer was not really willing to "make a deal" on the price. Couldnt even get me under 11k. I ended up getting the Mirage for 9k.

The Honda fit I never even test-drove it because the price was so much higher. Same with the Hyundai accent or Kia Rio. The dealers wanted too high of a price.

[UnderBridgeDweller]

Do you guys think that a Honda Fit of the same year as Mirage is worth the extra premium price? I def considered the Honda Fit before buying mine but the price difference was SIGNIFICANT I think it was an extra $5000. So being that I got my Mirage for $9000 (because the Dealers were under duress at the time since the new generation Mirage had just come out and they wanted to clear out the 2015's)

My gf has a 2015 Fit with CVT that she insists that I drive when we are together---because she doesn't like me critiquing her driving, go figure. We typically take it down the freeway about 20 miles, some of which is a 2000 foot elevation drop via rolling hills. On the
return trip, uphill, the Fit typically gets away from me, has me running 75 or more without me feeling like I'm trying. We are often the only folks in the fast lane and only a few people gain and pass us--we always pull to the right when clear. It doesn't struggle. I don't feel as though I am using that much throttle.

I had a Geo Metro 3/5 and on the same hills, it would be struggling to maintain 55 in one of the trucker lanes. So I think the Fit is a different animal, appeals to a different customer. MPG on computer says 36 to 38. Unsure of accuracy. Different, for sure.

[Mark]

I had a Geo Metro 3/5 and on the same hills, it would be struggling to maintain 55 in one of the trucker lanes. So I think the Fit is a different animal, appeals to a different customer. MPG on computer says 36 to 38. Unsure of accuracy. Different, for sure.

Geo Metro were rated 55 to 79 horsepower depending on the model year.

2014-19 Mirage is rated 74 or 78 horsepower depending on the model year.

2015 Honda Fit has 130 horsepower. Not bad output for a 1.5L engine The Fit is heavier, but not that much heavier. The Honda Fit is a nice vehicle, & it warrants a higher MSRP. It would be hard to argue otherwise.

[UnderBridgeDweller]

The Honda Fit is a nice vehicle, & it warrants a higher MSRP. It would be hard to argue otherwise.

I hope I didn't come across as a Mirage Mauler and a Fit Fan. The Fit has some bad points, ones even my gf notices. Lots of engine noise and seems slow when accelerating. And she got it slightly used for probably $15K, a 2015. That is way too much more than $9K for a new Mirage for my tastes. I would take the Mirage for sure, although I actually have never sat in one--ha, ha.

[Mark]

I hope I didn't come across as a Mirage Mauler and a Fit Fan. The Fit has some bad points, ones even my gf notices. Lots of engine noise and seems slow when accelerating. And she got it slightly used for probably $15K, a 2015. That is way too much more than $9K for a new Mirage for my tastes. I would take the Mirage for sure, although I actually have never sat in one--ha, ha.

You wouldn't think a Honda Fit with a 130 hp engine would seem slow (accelerating)? A 2015 Yaris (106 hp), Mazda 2 (100 hp), and Mirage (74 hp) aren't anywhere near that. Then again, I've always driven/owned manuals.

Honda producing 130 hp with 1.5L (non-turbo) engine is quite good! I would prefer this engine over any small car with a turbo engine.

Just to put things in perspective. Years ago, I owned a 1988 Isuzu Trooper. It had a 4-cylinder, 2.6L that only put out 120 horsepower. Honda is getting more horsepower from a 4-cylinder 1.5L engine, & a 4WD Trooper was way more of a load to move down the road than a Fit.

If a Honda Fit with 130 horsepower feels like a dog, something isn't quite right (transmission)? It should be quite good!

By the way - I don't feel my 2017 Mirage ES (manual) is under powered at all. When I realized that I could buy a new Mirage for under $10,000, that caught my attention, too. If your main goals are affordability, reliability, & super economical, the Mirage is hard to beat in the U.S. market. I could afford any small car I wanted. I am happy with my Mirage, & I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one. At the same time, it may not be the right car for everyone. It's a small car & with that come certain limitations.

[Dirk Diggler]

Why did you have to replace the engine? 2015 seems so young for that?