The wife and I picked up this little car last April 2019 for our son to learn how to drive a manual and be his first car.
Here's how we acquired it:
We went to go and pick up a rebuilt status Micra a province away. When we saw it, we backed out of the deal and left. We had a 12hr drive home so my wife started to look at something else we could pick up on our way home. We found this gem and called the owner. It is a 2018 ES Mirage Manual. It had 4100km on it and it had a rebuilt status. The price was right so we told the owner that we will come by and see it the following day. We re-routed our trip to go and see this little car. We didn't hold our breath because of how the Micra looked.
We pulled up to the house and it was sitting on the driveway. It looked great. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. The owner came out and unlocked the car. It still had the protective sticker on the center screen and airbag placard. He showed me the damage and it was minor. Front bumper, front fender was replaced and there was still slight damage on the drivers door. The car had full 3m installed except for the front bumper and the fender. We took it for a drive. It was slow compared to everything else I have ever driven (that includes golf carts LOL) but in perfect condition. Had a back up camera which is pretty sweet for a little car like this. He wanted 5800 for it. He took 5200 for it and we loaded it up on our trailer and took it home.
We cleaned it up and vacuumed it out and presented it to my son. He was super happy. I ended up daily driving the car back and forth to work for over a year now. I have put on over 15000km. This thing is a blast to drive as compared to my 16 Ram 3500 Diesel. Even with the added insurance, I'm saving money on daily driving this. I was a bit worried for winter because it gets cold here. I bought winter tires and this thing was awesome. No issues what so ever.
Knowing I was going to drive it, I installed a car starter and auto door locks. Its a bit more complicated than one might think. Because the car came with manual locks, I had to find a VIN for a more optioned car with auto door locks. I purchases all 5 actuators from Mitsubishi and had my car installer install them. Now I have command start and power door locks. That makes it a lot easier to lock and unlock the car especially when going to the store.
I also bought a set of 15" Enkei wheels with 195 tires. I soon realized I had to roll the rear fenders so that it didn't rub. Reading these forums I expected that so I rolled them. Car looked great but then the fender gap was getting to me. Sooooo, I order a set of RSR Springs from Japan. My son and I installed them and the car looks fantastic. It handles way better and the car is less bouncy. Anyways. Onto the pics.
R.K.