Originally Posted by
Slayer7.62
It’s a situation where I don’t necessarily want a mirage (I drive as a hobby and would rather have something sporty.) However, financial circumstances dictate that it may not be feasible to continue with the running costs of my current crv (a 2004, just put nearly $3,000 into it for major repairs, unfortunately before really discovering the mirage.)
The way I’m looking at it is that if my car were to need more repairs, realistically I’m better off going for a mirage. The savings in fuel alone would probably make up for the car payment. While I enjoy tossing around the crv on the backroads and occasional dirt road, I can’t help but think the manual mirage with a sway bar would be more fun (maybe minus my stupid runs up the mountain roads in snow storms.)
The other cars (that I would rather have) would be the Mazda Miata or the Honda Civic Si. However up here the Miata really isn’t a good choice for an only vehicle. I think I’m in a situation similar to your friend, and I unfortunately discovered the mirage (and this forum) right after making the repairs to my CRV. Local used cars were too expensive/in rough shape for the money, and if I knew about the mirage I honestly would’ve just hunted one down at the time (I honestly discounted it years ago when shopping for a Honda Fit due to critic reviews, which I now realize are based on msrp and not real world prices, as well as unfair comparisons to cars that cost 50-100% more.)
From July of 2013 to March of this year, I drove a manual FIAT 500 Abarth. I LOVE to drive, I LOVE sporty cars. The Abarth actually knocked the Miata completly out of my radar once I drove it. When I got rear ended, it got totaled. I bought an interim 1997 Corolla for $1200 until I could figure out what to do next. I have driven a gazillion cars, been to a gazillion car dealers, but have't given Mitsubishi a second glance, especially the Mirage/G4 (which I have) based on "professional" reviews. I've been loving no car payment, and wasn't in the market yet for anything. On August 13, I went to buy cat food, and wound up walking past the Mitsubishi dealer to get to the KIA and VW dealer. But the drastically marked down prices of their remained 2018's made me take a quick look. On the walk back I decided to drive both a manual and CVT. I really loved the manual, but they had none with cruise (2018) which I wanted, and the Portland traffic can be brutal, and I just didn't want to deal with a manual in rush hour anymore. So on the 14th I bought one with a CVT, and the upgrade 15 inch wheels. I've since put on almost 1300 miles, mostly doing delivery but also with one road trip to the Oregon coast. I've driven this car in just about every possible place because of my work. Once you 'learn' how to drive the car, make the most of the CVT/engine, this car is a hoot to drive. The CVT has a Ds mode, when to tap it over from D to Ds, it does a 'downshift' and will hold it. If you then floor it while in Ds, it's a 'sport' mode with aggressive shifts points/hold. Flip back to D, and you 'upshift' and shift points return to normal (and you get the ECO light back). I've routinely had this car up at the 6k rpm range and it just LOVES to play. I'd strongly urge you to drive a CVT using the Ds mode, and playing around with gas pedal modulation. Off the line, this car is slow. But once you get going, it wants and loves to play. And if you can, try the 14 inch steels vs 15 inch wheels. To me, there's a huge difference. Also, the brakes are amazing in this car, which contribute to the 'sporty' feel I love. Handling is surprisingly good, and i have it on the list to do a sway bar at some point. I got my new leftover 2018 for $10k, almost a full $8 off the MSRP of my car (has the $800 wheel/audio package, cruise, fog lights, wheel locks, all of which I'm happy to have). For personal tastes, I like the look and operations of the manual HVAC over the auto climate also. Before buying this, I'd looked at a gazillion different new and used cars, trucks, suvs. Price, warranty, equipment, reliability, MPG, this car is worth a serious look. Best of luck to you!
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View my fuel log 2018 Mirage G4 ES 1.2 automatic: 32.5 mpg (US) ... 13.8 km/L ... 7.2 L/100 km ... 39.0 mpg (Imp)