This is where your Mirage is going to rust out. (Body/chassis corrosion)

[MetroMPG]

Thanks, foama.

[dspace9]

I sound like a broken record on this one, but anyone buying a new Mirage ought to consider Krown rust control, or some similar method. Oil spray from the inside, when done properly, saves your car. My Mirage is 6+ years old and looks almost new underneath. And from the outside the doors etc everything is perfect.

Also I think the Dodge Caliber has a lot shared with the Mitsubishi Lancer, I read that in the Lemon Aid used car guide.

[MetroMPG]

This is kind of an odd spot for rust, and it's been there since I bought the car. One of the hatch lifts is worse than the other.
Attachment 17665

I checked and my hatch strut mounts are exactly like yours.

[MetroMPG]

Is there any rust under the hood? I have seen some cars where the rust in the strut towers was so bad, you wondered if the top of the strut was going to blow through the hood the next time you drove over a speed bump or railroad crossing.

Upper radiator support has rust starting on the spot welds & other places. I posted a few pics in post #1.

The strut towers look OK from under the hood - haven't checked from inside the wheel well, but I'll get to that as well...

Attachment 17709

[MetroMPG]

Worst chrome-plated lugnuts ever:



I just spray painted them black (also the lock nut).

[Fummins]

My nuts are looking pretty old and crusty too. I'm grinching some from some 30 year old Mazda's I've been scraping out that are pretty mint in comparison.

[Top_Fuel]

I don't know how you would describe the factory lug nuts. They aren't bare steel...but I'm not sure they are really chrome plated, either. I think they have some cheaper plating process. These were off of my brand new car...



Locking lug nuts on a Mirage?!? Someone would steal these wheels!?!

[Fummins]

I think the wifes sorrento probably has them too. I'll have to throw them in the trash if it does.
My center caps look like the paint faded away or flaked away. I'll have to look again, but I'm sure they look like the pooh.

[MetroMPG]

My center caps were all garbage too - sandblasted / peeling... I re-sprayed them with some random silver paint I had. Matches the wheels OK.

...

I painted my nuts black! I like it better than shiny anyway. And wirebrushed & repainted the drums:



I seem to remember I had a car with black plastic nut covers that slipped over the unfinished steel lug nuts. Maybe on my VW GTI wheels?

[ProDigit]

Horrendous!
Looks like a car from the 1980s!
Is the mirage not getting undercoating from the factory or something?
I bet it won't matter much in South Florida, where we only use tablesalt to eat, but that looks really bad!
What model year is it?