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Thread: "2020 Spark is terrible but at least its better than a Mirage" - CR /Motor Biscuit

  1. #11
    Corollas are cheaper than CVT replacements??


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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  2. #12
    Senior Member Dirk Diggler's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MetroMPG View Post
    Corollas are cheaper than CVT replacements??
    If I can find a pre 04/01/14 used one in good shape and a shop willing to put it in Id consider it. If not, Id put the $6 to $7 Id spend on a new cvt to an older Corolla/Civic under 100k miles. Ive had the best success with longterm reliability with 2 Honda Accords over the years. I do love my Mirage though and hope to get at least another 5 or so years with it. Depending on whether I I continued to do gig work in it.

  3. #13
    Where's the leak ma'am? Marklovski's Avatar
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    only corollas you should get is the pre 2008 ones. I wouldn't recommend models around the 2011 year because of the amount of electrical issues I had and heard people have, ie. Bad battery ground, light on shifter keeps turning off and on every few months, light on AC knob went off but slapped the center console a few times and went back on, for some reason airbag light goes on during really hot days (I'm on 3rd airbag recall right now), and alternator died from weak battery caused by bad ground.

    I've seen a good handfull of people complain about the battery ground and premature alternator failure with 2010-11 models. One man even had the dealer figure out what was wrong and spent $1000 before he figured it out himself. If you do get a Corolla make sure its a 1995-2007.

    Why not a Civic Si instead. I've seen the 90s hatches go for 3k-5k.
    Fuel Log: Good enough
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  5. #14
    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marklovski View Post
    only corollas you should get is the pre 2008 ones. I wouldn't recommend models around the 2011 year because of the amount of electrical issues I had and heard people have, ie. Bad battery ground, light on shifter keeps turning off and on every few months, light on AC knob went off but slapped the center console a few times and went back on, for some reason airbag light goes on during really hot days (I'm on 3rd airbag recall right now), and alternator died from weak battery caused by bad ground.

    I've seen a good handfull of people complain about the battery ground and premature alternator failure with 2010-11 models. One man even had the dealer figure out what was wrong and spent $1000 before he figured it out himself. If you do get a Corolla make sure its a 1995-2007.

    Why not a Civic Si instead. I've seen the 90s hatches go for 3k-5k.
    Have you seen this recent news story? The Civic Si, a 2000, and going for over $50,000?!?!

    https://driving.ca/honda/auto-news/n...000-at-auction

    I'm debating about replacing my Mirage with a 2019 Mazda 3 GX trim, with 178 hp and a 6 speed manual. I need more options, the Mirage is too small and I am like 6'2. I'm bigger than I was when I bought my Mirage originally. Thanks Mirage!

    https://www.autotrader.ca/a/mazda/ma...202S0&sprx=100

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 42.2 mpg (US) ... 17.9 km/L ... 5.6 L/100 km ... 50.7 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Cobrajet View Post
    FFS, it is a $15,000 economy car! What do these idiots expect? Seven second zero-to-sixty times? Tech that would make a Lexus owner feel cheated? Mercedes-level build quality? BMW-esque handling??

    Why are they bothering to review the absolute cheapest economy cars in the first place if their advice is always going to be, "Spend more money."?
    I agree and don't get it either. Every negative review I've read/seen the "reviewers" complain about hard plastics, slow acceleration, the door handles are the old style, and that it doesn't corner like a Porsche.

    I don't understand why they are complaining without taking into account that it is a cheap car and is not meant to be a Mercedes, Lexus, or even more expensive Honda/Toyota/Mazda. It is cheap and of course it can't be comparable to cars that are 25% - 50% more expensive!

    Two things I've noticed about the reviews as well. Most reviews from the US are negative, while those from Europe/Asia/Australia are more positive. Secondly, it seems there is a huge double standard with the reviewers. I read a review of the Volkswagen Up in which the reviewer said sure, it has hard plastics, but it's okay because it's a cheap car. The same reviewer then said how terrible it is that the Mirage had hard plastic inside; completely unacceptable! Okay for the VW Up, not okay for the Mirage.

    I've stopped reading/viewing any Mirage/Space Star reviews because most of them are just annoying.

    For the same price I paid for my loaded new 2019 Space Star, I could have gotten a competitor with no cruise control, no power windows or door locks, no infotainment system, no heated seats, a 3 year warranty instead of a 5 year warranty, and on and on. I'm very happy I was able to get a well-equipped and fuel-efficient car without any loan that should last me a number of years. It handles the Swiss mountains fine, as well!

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  8. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Acronychal View Post
    I agree and don't get it either. Every negative review I've read/seen the "reviewers" complain about hard plastics, slow acceleration, the door handles are the old style, and that it doesn't corner like a Porsche.

    I don't understand why they are complaining without taking into account that it is a cheap car and is not meant to be a Mercedes, Lexus, or even more expensive Honda/Toyota/Mazda. It is cheap and of course it can't be comparable to cars that are 25% - 50% more expensive!

    Two things I've noticed about the reviews as well. Most reviews from the US are negative, while those from Europe/Asia/Australia are more positive. Secondly, it seems there is a huge double standard with the reviewers. I read a review of the Volkswagen Up in which the reviewer said sure, it has hard plastics, but it's okay because it's a cheap car. The same reviewer then said how terrible it is that the Mirage had hard plastic inside; completely unacceptable! Okay for the VW Up, not okay for the Mirage.

    I've stopped reading/viewing any Mirage/Space Star reviews because most of them are just annoying.

    For the same price I paid for my loaded new 2019 Space Star, I could have gotten a competitor with no cruise control, no power windows or door locks, no infotainment system, no heated seats, a 3 year warranty instead of a 5 year warranty, and on and on. I'm very happy I was able to get a well-equipped and fuel-efficient car without any loan that should last me a number of years. It handles the Swiss mountains fine, as well!
    I agree. The funny part about the cheap plastic door handles and basically most everything else on the car is they last. As cheap and crappy as the Mirage looks, it works and is easy to repair.
    Mirage videos:

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        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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  10. #17
    Senior Member fc321's Avatar
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    I remember test driving a Spark in 2016 (prior to test driving the Mirage). And all I can say about the Spark is that its a total piece of sh1t. I was test driving an automatic because Chevy dealer had no manuals on the floor.

    Spark had a really pretty touch screen display radio. But the actual "driving" was a joke. The car was completely underpowered, I mean to the point it felt dangerous. Im not even a leadfoot but that Spark did not have enough torque to get out of the way in an emergency. It felt like a toy car.

    Have you ever ridden a 50cc Chinese scooter like the ones they rent out at the Beach (Tao-Tao)? Well same scooter had more "get up and go" than the Spark did.
    2015 Mirage DE 5 speed Manual - 30k miles

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 44.9 mpg (US) ... 19.1 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 53.9 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by fc321 View Post
    I remember test driving a Spark in 2016 (prior to test driving the Mirage). And all I can say about the Spark is that its a total piece of sh1t. I was test driving an automatic because Chevy dealer had no manuals on the floor.

    Spark had a really pretty touch screen display radio. But the actual "driving" was a joke. The car was completely underpowered, I mean to the point it felt dangerous. Im not even a leadfoot but that Spark did not have enough torque to get out of the way in an emergency. It felt like a toy car.

    Have you ever ridden a 50cc Chinese scooter like the ones they rent out at the Beach (Tao-Tao)? Well same scooter had more "get up and go" than the Spark did.
    If you are comparing a Spark CVT to your Mirage manual, that's not really comparing apples to apples. If comparing CVT vs CVT or manual vs manual, I have a hard time believing a 78 hp Mirage would blow away a 98 hp Spark going from 0-60 mph.

    I can't say that I have ever driven a Mirage or Spark with a CVT, however.

  12. #19
    Senior Member Dirk Diggler's Avatar
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    I test drove a 2019 Spark and wasnt impressed with the interior space at all. I can see why Uber allows Mirages and not Sparks. I also checked out its engine bay.....whoa there isnt hardly any space in there at all! The Mirage bay looked like the grand canyon in comparison. The Spark seating position was more comfortable though IIRC. The salesman didnt even know it had a CVT transmission either lol.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Acronychal View Post
    I agree and don't get it either. Every negative review I've read/seen the "reviewers" complain about hard plastics, slow acceleration, the door handles are the old style, and that it doesn't corner like a Porsche.

    I don't understand why they are complaining without taking into account that it is a cheap car and is not meant to be a Mercedes, Lexus, or even more expensive Honda/Toyota/Mazda. It is cheap and of course it can't be comparable to cars that are 25% - 50% more expensive!

    Two things I've noticed about the reviews as well. Most reviews from the US are negative, while those from Europe/Asia/Australia are more positive. Secondly, it seems there is a huge double standard with the reviewers. I read a review of the Volkswagen Up in which the reviewer said sure, it has hard plastics, but it's okay because it's a cheap car. The same reviewer then said how terrible it is that the Mirage had hard plastic inside; completely unacceptable! Okay for the VW Up, not okay for the Mirage.

    I've stopped reading/viewing any Mirage/Space Star reviews because most of them are just annoying.
    100% agree about the biased reviews. As much as I want to read up more on the latest cars and such, it's annoying to read the reviews because you know they're immediately biased already by comparing the car to another car that's not even in it's class. It's a bummer that these reviews gets to most readers and they just stray away from the cars instead of actually driving it. It's annoying to watch cars like these get trampled on by a "car reviewer" because they're actually great cars too.

    haha, I don't understand the 'interior' reviews too. Like, are you going to get in your car EVERY day and be like "ah yes, I love this tiny wood finish and these chrome circle things on the dials". I think it's just non-sense that "car reviewers" would actually bash a cheap car's interior....because it's cheap.

    I haven't driven a Spark but I've been reading online that they do have issues though, especially on their forums.


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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 43.4 mpg (US) ... 18.5 km/L ... 5.4 L/100 km ... 52.2 mpg (Imp)


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