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Thread: Hello from Charlotte

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    Hello from Charlotte

    Been lurking around the site for a few days now and even asked a couple of questions but I thought it's time I'd make a formal introduction.

    I drove a Metro for about 7 years as a daily driver and throughly enjoyed it and the knowledge I gained was tremendous. However 3 years ago I decided I that was not going to maintain 4 gas cars any longer and sold all my cars in favor for 2 electric cars -- BMW i3 and a Fiat 500e ..... still driving these to this very day.

    Now my 16 yr old daughter is getting ready to drive and at first I thought an electric would be perfect for her. However in 2 years she will in college and having to charge an electric car in a college setting may not be ideal. So I thought why not just get a Mirage -- affordable reliable car and if she destroys it I'm not out too much money.

    Four days ago I picked up this 2014 ES CVT with 65k miles from the original owner for 4800$. Super clean car and awesome service records. Looking forward to doing minor mods and wrenching with gas cars again.


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    Last edited by Shaft; 07-07-2020 at 02:41 AM.

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    Fummins (07-07-2020),inuvik (07-07-2020),Mark (07-07-2020),MetroMPG (07-08-2020)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Shaft View Post

    Four days ago I picked up this 2014 ES CVT with 65k miles from the original owner for 4800$. Super clean car and awesome service records. Looking forward to doing minor mods and wrenching with gas cars again.
    Affordable, reliable, & economical are the three strengths of a Mirage. These 3-cylinder cars sort of grow on you, but it sounds like you experienced that with your former Metro.

    Buying from an original owner (private party), who took care of the car, is the best way of purchasing a car in my opinion. Your Mirage looks great! The aftermarket wheels & red pin striping look nice, too!

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    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shaft View Post
    Been lurking around the site for a few days now and even asked a couple of questions but I thought it's time I'd make a formal introduction.

    I drove a Metro for about 7 years as a daily driver and throughly enjoyed it and the knowledge I gained was tremendous. However 3 years ago I decided I that was not going to maintain 4 gas cars any longer and sold all my cars in favor for 2 electric cars -- BMW i3 and a Fiat 500e ..... still driving these to this very day.

    Now my 16 yr old daughter is getting ready to drive and at first I thought an electric would be perfect for her. However in 2 years she will in college and having to charge an electric car in a college setting may not be ideal. So I thought why not just get a Mirage -- affordable reliable car and if she destroys it I'm not out too much money.

    Four days ago I picked up this 2014 ES CVT with 65k miles from the original owner for 4800$. Super clean car and awesome service records. Looking forward to doing minor mods and wrenching with gas cars again.
    Hello Shaft. Welcome to the forum and thanks for making in introductory post.

    I'm interested in learning more about your experience with electric cars because I think an electric car would work just fine for 95% of my transportation needs.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Eggman View Post
    Hello Shaft. Welcome to the forum and thanks for making in introductory post.

    I'm interested in learning more about your experience with electric cars because I think an electric car would work just fine for 95% of my transportation needs.
    Eggman - I could not be any happier with my decision to switch over to electric cars 3 years ago. You're exactly right, an entry level electric car will serve most of people's basic transportation needs (i.e. to and from work) and very affordable to purchase as a used car. Take my Fiat 500e for example -- I bought my 2014 500e 3 yrs ago with 25K miles for $6500. I'd be silly not to jump on that deal where I don't have to do any maintenance (other than tires) and obviously no gas to purchase. I've driven this 500e roughly 40K miles and its dead nuts reliable. In terms of electricity consumption, on average it cost me $16 a month to fuel this Fiat – 30 miles round trip daily to and from work and weekend errands.

    Three years I bought my wife's BMW i3 for $18k ($55k brand new) with 9k miles on the clock. Way more technology, a lot more refined and much faster than the Fiat 500e. Just showing the value of these used EVs.

    I find it hilarious now (as an EV owner for the past 3 yrs) on how folks in the Mirage and Metro community go to great lengths to squeeze every single MPG out of these little 3 cylinders. I mean folks spend a lot of money and effort to their cars to make it fuel efficient as possible. Why not just buy an electric car for basic commuting needs and not have to worry about modifying a Metro or Mirage.

    I get it, some folks enjoy wrenching on cars (myself included) and some folks gotta have a big truck or SUV just in case "I need to haul something". But reality unless you do it for a living, how often do we really buy sheets of plywood, or haul big lumber or buy a couch or haul a trailer? What I do now if I need a truck is I rent one from Lowes or Home Depot fairly cheap. If need to go on a long distance driving with the family for vacation we rent an SUV or a sedan therefore mitigating the expenses on gas vehicles that are not needed on a daily basis.

    Unfortunately I had to purchase this Mirage for my daughter as her first car due to her transportation needs when she’s in college. If I had a choice, I would’ve bought another 500e – I see one locally for sale for $5K with 36k miles. So overall an electric car is a no brainer since it will serve most of your commuting needs while doing it on the cheap side. And a lot more fun to drive than a 3 cylinder vehicle.
    Last edited by Shaft; 07-07-2020 at 01:38 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark View Post
    Affordable, reliable, & economical are the three strengths of a Mirage. These 3-cylinder cars sort of grow on you, but it sounds like you experienced that with your former Metro.

    Buying from an original owner (private party), who took care of the car, is the best way of purchasing a car in my opinion. Your Mirage looks great! The aftermarket wheels & red pin striping look nice, too!
    Yeah great original owner -- female in her mid 50's. Very nice lady and had the car serviced on time so I its highly unlikely that she abused the car.

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Shaft View Post



    I found it hilarious now (as an EV owner for the past 3 yrs) on how folks in the Mirage and Metro community go to great lengths to squeeze every single MPG out of these little 3 cylinders. I mean folks spend a lot of money and effort to their cars to make it fuel efficient as possible. Why not just buy an electric car for basic commuting needs and not have to worry about modifying a Metro or Mirage.

    I get it, some folks enjoy wrenching on cars (myself included) and some folks gotta have a big truck or SUV just in case "I need to haul something". But reality unless you do it for a living, how often do we really buy sheets of plywood, or haul big lumber or buy a couch or haul a trailer? What I do now if I need a truck is I rent one from Lowes or Home Depot fairly cheap. If need to go on a long distance driving with the family for vacation we rent an SUV or a sedan therefore mitigating the expenses on gas vehicles that are not needed on a daily basis.
    If I could have found an ev for close to the same price as a Mirage I would have hopped on it too. The only "cheap" ev's around here are old Nissan leaf's. I'm still interested in them and would like to get one, one day.

    I assume people go to great lengths to stretch every last gallon of gas from a small car mostly as a challenge. And most likely because a Mirage and Metro make more sense for most people. Cheaper to buy, will never have to worry about an expensive battery replacement worth more than the car itself and you can actually go on a last minute trip somewhere without having to rent a car. Just put gas in it and drive. I personally don't far out of my way to get crazy mileage, the most I do is turn the ac and heater off. I won't sacrifice comfort for economy, I'm not that poor. But I own a Mirage and I contradict my self.

    I honestly hate working on my own cars. That's the reason I bought a Mirage. I don't have to. Plus it's cheap, the extra money I'll spend on gas in 3-5 years likely won't pay for a low mileage ev in that time. I spend under $60/month in fuel. And change the oil twice a year. I've already cut my fuel bill almost in half compared to the wifes optima I was driving previously.

    I'd like an ev for a commuter, I only do about 30miles a day round trip. I like the i3 but they're not cheap out here. The ioniq hybrid has good range, economy, price and seems far more common around here than other hybrids and ev's. That is one that'd I'd consider have you looked into them or others before you bought yours?
    Mirage videos:

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE wussie cvt edition. 1.2 automatic: 37.7 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.3 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member Cobrajet's Avatar
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    Great car at a great price. That car has the factory navigation system and backup camera as well. Pretty unusual option on the '14-'15 cars. Your Mirage was top-of-the-line when new.

    It should serve your daughter very well.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Fummins View Post
    If I could have found an ev for close to the same price as a Mirage I would have hopped on it too. The only "cheap" ev's around here are old Nissan leaf's. I'm still interested in them and would like to get one, one day.

    I assume people go to great lengths to stretch every last gallon of gas from a small car mostly as a challenge. And most likely because a Mirage and Metro make more sense for most people. Cheaper to buy, will never have to worry about an expensive battery replacement worth more than the car itself and you can actually go on a last minute trip somewhere without having to rent a car. Just put gas in it and drive. I personally don't far out of my way to get crazy mileage, the most I do is turn the ac and heater off. I won't sacrifice comfort for economy, I'm not that poor. But I own a Mirage and I contradict my self.

    I'd like an ev for a commuter, I only do about 30miles a day round trip. I like the i3 but they're not cheap out here. The ioniq hybrid has good range, economy, price and seems far more common around here than other hybrids and ev's. That is one that'd I'd consider have you looked into them or others before you bought yours?

    Fummins -

    Definitely stay away from cheaper 1st gen Leafs --- bad battery management. Second gen leafs (2017+) have great improvements.

    I'm not too worried about battery replacement .... my 6 yr old Fiat at 63K miles has no noticeable battery degradation and I still have bumper to bumper warranty til 75K miles.

    When I was first looking into EVs, I did not consider plug in hybrids just 100% electric -- I was trying not to deal with internal combustion engines. At the time the i3 and 500e made the most financial sense to me.
    Last edited by Shaft; 07-07-2020 at 03:34 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cobrajet View Post
    Great car at a great price. That car has the factory navigation system and backup camera as well. Pretty unusual option on the '14-'15 cars. Your Mirage was top-of-the-line when new.

    It should serve your daughter very well.
    Thanks Cobrajet. I had to drive a couple of hours away to get his car -- given the price and equipment I thought it was a decent deal.

    I'm very afraid to find out how misaligned the real wheels are. I know it does mean anything but the car drives straight.
    Last edited by Shaft; 07-07-2020 at 03:55 PM.

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    Senior Member Top_Fuel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cobrajet View Post
    That car has the factory navigation system and backup camera as well. Pretty unusual option on the '14-'15 cars.
    I wondered if that was a camera sticking off the hatch. I didn't know that was an option back then.


        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)


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