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Thread: The horrible story of attempting to find a decent used Mitsubishi Mirage

  1. #21
    Senior Member Dodge Aries K's Avatar
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    The craphole LeBaron sold but the nice Shadow is still here. Still waiting for a home. Going to get my turbo Plymouth Voyager ready to go next I think.


    -Karl B. No Mirages currently...

  2. #22
    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dodge Aries K View Post
    The craphole LeBaron sold but the nice Shadow is still here. Still waiting for a home. Going to get my turbo Plymouth Voyager ready to go next I think.
    That's cool. I didn't know there was a Turbo version of the Voyager. I knew a few people who had one of those vans.

    My Dad had a Plymouth Valiant growing up. 1962 or 63, black, with red and white vinyl interior. This is back in the 80s. Beautiful 2 door hard top. Had very, very low miles. And there were some minor things that distinguished the Valiant from the American Dodge Dart. Not sure the details. Still have the Slant 6 club sticker.

    We should have kept it.

        __________________________________________

        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)


  3. #23
    Senior Member Cobrajet's Avatar
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    Yikes! On Seattle Craigslist (yes, I know fewer people use it today), there are a grand total of SEVEN used 2014-2020 Mirages for sale. That's it. Cheapest is $5,485, most expensive is $7,950. There are about the same number on OfferUp.

    Makes me wonder what my never-in-an-accident Infrared 2015 ES manual with 160k is worth. As a bonus, it comes with every receipt and maintenance record since new and was only owned by one fastidious lunatic who is good with a wrench and doesn't trust anyone else to work on his cars.

    Hate to say it, but your experience just proves the car reviewers we loathe are right. The Mirage is a no-credit special for people who beat on them until the repo man shows up and/or the car starts having problems.

    The CarMax type places are catering to a better demographic, I suppose. Keep in mind that even $9,000 is pretty cheap for what nowadays can be considered a late-model used car.

  4. #24
    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by twister77 View Post
    Yep, I have the exact same principle for car purchases.
    Yep. This strategy has proven to be pretty effective with my Mirage purchase. Getting harder to find true econo car-priced cars these days.

    Sometimes I keep an eye out for interesting used car finds. I found a 2016 Fiat 500x CUV manual, with around 100,000 km's on it. For sale for $9000 at the Mini Toronto dealership. 6 speed manual. Looks good, and that is the closest I can get to an Italian car lol.

    Maybe Dodge Aries, being into Mopar, might know about Fiat's too?

    https://www.autotrader.ca/a/fiat/500...%202S0&sprx=-2

        __________________________________________

        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)


  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dodge Aries K View Post
    However, the owner was clueless... he needed $7000 and was going to pay $2000 himself to pay off the car (Mad City price gouging at it's finest!) and he wasn't even totally sure WHO had his loan! This was way too much of a risk for me to deal with
    I am trying to understand this. Are you saying that a loan on a car is transferred together with the car? How would that have worked in this case? He pays you $2000, you get the car, and are responsible for paying off the loan?
    If so, how are you supposed to know if there is a loan on a car? Is there some register?

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2013 Space Star Cleartec Intense 1.0 manual: 55.7 mpg (US) ... 23.7 km/L ... 4.2 L/100 km ... 66.9 mpg (Imp)


  6. #26
    Senior Member Dodge Aries K's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dspace9 View Post
    Maybe Dodge Aries, being into Mopar, might know about Fiat's too?
    Yeah, they're no good. I like the old K cars and their offspring... past that though into the "round" era of stuff and beyond I have zero interest in and try to avoid.

    As for the loan thing, the car title gets held by the bank since the bank owns it until it's paid off. So the guy wanted me to give him money, take the car, and he was going to take my money and some of his money he saved up to pay off the car. After he pays off the car, the bank will send him the title. Once he has that, he has to sign it and give it to me. Obviously, too many steps involved with waaaaaaay too much risk to me so that wasn't going to happen. Normally my policy is no title, no purchase.
    -Karl B. No Mirages currently...

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    dspace9 (09-13-2020),Space Wolf (09-13-2020)

  8. #27
    Senior Member Dodge Aries K's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cobrajet View Post
    Hate to say it, but your experience just proves the car reviewers we loathe are right. The Mirage is a no-credit special for people who beat on them until the repo man shows up and/or the car starts having problems.
    This is exactly correct. It's not the car's fault, but the worthless garbage people that apparently usually end up buying them. If you're bored, do a search for one or two year old Mirages for sale at dealers that offer carfax or autocheck. Then see how many of them are repo deluxe hahahaha.
    -Karl B. No Mirages currently...

  9. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Space Wolf View Post
    I am trying to understand this. Are you saying that a loan on a car is transferred together with the car? How would that have worked in this case? He pays you $2000, you get the car, and are responsible for paying off the loan?
    If so, how are you supposed to know if there is a loan on a car? Is there some register?
    I am not sure your question was answered? In order to sell your car in Wisconsin, you must have the vehicle's title that you can sign over to the next owner.

    If you have a lien on your vehicle, you no longer received the title in Wisconsin. The bank with the lien keeps your vehicle's title until the loan is paid off in full. Years ago you received the title at the time of purchase, but any lien on the vehicle would be listed on the title. Once you paid off the lien, you would re-apply for a cleared title.

    The bottom line is that the lien on the vehicle must be paid in full before the title will be released by the bank carrying the loan. If you don't have a cleared title, your bank is sort of selling the car for you.

    So let's say you trade in your Mirage, but still have a lien left on it. During the trade/transaction, the dealer is going to make sure the funds are there to pay off the lien on your Mirage. Paying off the lien will release the title to them, & they can resell your Mirage to someone else. If you still had a lien on your former car that is going to roll over to the next one.

    So let's say you want to buy a used Mirage from a private party owner, & they still have a lien on the vehicle. That party will have to use the funds you are paying them to clear their title with the bank. Once the lien is paid off, the previous owner can transfer the title to you. Thus, some risk is involved in these transactions. You are paying someone who doesn't have the title to hand over to you. That's provided you are paying cash for the car, & you aren't financing with a different bank. If you are financing the car again, your bank or credit union will make sure the title gets transferred to them. Once the car is paid off, you will receive your title from your bank.

    This is how my 2017 Mirage transaction took place.

    When I purchased my brand new 2017 Mirage, the OTD price was $10,153.70. I had to finance $10,000 with Ally to buy the car at that price, because an extra $500 rebate was included. Since the deal was made over the phone, I paid $153.70 when the car was delivered to my home. My loan rate with Ally was 4%/60 months (set up the financing on the dealer's website).

    Three months later, I refinanced ($9,000) my (now used) Mirage with my local credit for 2.74%/60 months. It cost me $29.50 to refinance my car loan on line. I never visited a bank during any of these transactions. My Mirage title was now transferred from Ally to my local credit union. Eventually, I just paid off the Mirage a year or so later. I also sold a motorcycle during that time, & put the money towards my Mirage loan. Once I paid off my Mirage, I received my cleared title from my local credit union. When I sell my Mirage to a private party or dealer some day, I just sign off the title to them.

    Vehicles are also registered & vehicle registration is renewed each year. That keeps your plates current. If I bought a used Mirage for $5000 & paid cash to a private party, I will have to pay my sale tax when registering the Mirage with the state. Thus, $5000 x .055 (5.5%) = $275 in Wisconsin sales tax would be added to my first registration fee for the vehicle.

    The bottom line is that they get you one way or another!
    Last edited by Mark; 09-13-2020 at 05:20 PM.

  10. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark View Post
    That's provided you are paying cash for the car, & you aren't financing with a different bank. If you are financing the car again, your bank or credit union will make sure the title gets transferred to them.
    In that case, do you pay higher interest? The risk is the same, I suppose, but now the bank is bearing it. They won't be doing that for philanthropy, do they?

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2013 Space Star Cleartec Intense 1.0 manual: 55.7 mpg (US) ... 23.7 km/L ... 4.2 L/100 km ... 66.9 mpg (Imp)


  11. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Space Wolf View Post
    In that case, do you pay higher interest? The risk is the same, I suppose, but now the bank is bearing it. They won't be doing that for philanthropy, do they?
    Your credit rating will most likely dictate what rate your bank will offer, & I have used the same credit union for 30+ years. My auto loan contact was a former student of mine in school (small town service).

    In my case, I believe my credit union offered me 2.49%/60 months for a new vehicle purchase & 2.79%/60 months for a used car purchase. I knew those rates prior to making a deal on a car. To receive an extra $500 rebate for financing $10,000, I used Ally's 4% financing for 3 months. Both the manager of the dealership & my bank suggested I go that route. In all honesty, I probably should have done a 36 or 48 month loan with both Ally & my credit union, & it would have given me a better rate. I was going to pay off the car early regardless. If a financial emergency did come up, however, I had the luxury of just making the monthly payments. I guess that was the security I was going for.

    In all honesty, I typically like to buy low mileage used vehicles. I was interested in the updated Mirage in 2017, & used ones with a manual transmission didn't exist. Since these cars were selling for $9,000 new (less than $10,000 OTD), I saw no point in waiting a year or two for a used one. My deal came in slightly above $10,000, because the color Mirage I wanted was found on another dealership's lot (& it had factory Bluetooth/center armrest, & pulse lighting added). Since they were going out of their way to get the car from somewhere else & deliver it 4-hours to my home one way, I wasn't going to bicker over the extra $299 added to the deal for those items.

    I only share these things, because there are differently ways to buy cars these days. I test drove one locally & gave them a chance to make a deal. Then I ordered a car over the phone without even using a salesman. I talked directly to the manager, & he assigned one of his salesman to deliver my car. The delivery of the car sealed the deal for me, because I wasn't trading a car & didn't really have anyone to help me get a new car at the time. I shared that, & the manager eliminated that issue, too. Not all dealerships are created equal.

    I sort of do things backwards. My beater cars (daily drivers) usually end up being discounted new cars, & my other more expensive vehicles tend to slightly used vehicles.

    I bought my 2011 Subaru Forester 2.5X manual in 2013 (15,000 miles) for $17,000. I don't remember the OTD price any more. $17,000 for slightly used Forester was a good deal. I think it sat on their lot in Milwaukee, because manuals are less popular in cities.

    Prior to my Forester, I paid $12,000 in 2004 for a 2000 Honda CR-V LX AWD manual (with 20,000 miles). That was a private party transaction. It was owned by a nurse who used the vehicle in the winter (Green Bay, WI). During the summer, she drove a convertible & motorcycle. Thus, it was very low mileage, & she was originally from my childhood hometown area. She had just purchased a new Ford Escape at the time. I feel my $12,000 CR-V may have been one of my better vehicle purchases. I really like the 1st & 2nd generation ones that offered AWD/manual. That vehicle was rear ended. Otherwise, I may still have it. The 2000 Honda CR-V had 154,000 miles on it at the time, & I received $5,900 for it. I was only carrying liability on it, but the money came from the other person's liability insurance. That money went toward the Forester deal in 2013. By 2013 AWD manuals were disappearing, & that is how I ended up trying a Subaru.

    Prior to all this, I bought a 1990 Ford Festiva L manual for $5,300 brand new. These cars were designed by Mazda, built by KIA, & sold by Ford. When Ford offered a $1000 rebate on a brand new $6,300 car, I bought one. I drove that car until my 2004 Honda CR-V purchase. During those years, I was still married & we owned some other vehicles. These, however, have been my primary vehicle for myself. The Festiva was a tough little car. It's the one car I regret selling. I should have kept it another 10 years, because it would have saved wear & tear/mileage going on my CR-V. The Festiva was great on fuel, very reliable, & liability insurance was cheap ($99 every 6 months or a year). I don't remember any more. I just remember paying $99 once or twice a year for insurance. A guy should keep cheap transportation like that!

    This is why I scratch my head at new vehicles being over $30,000 these days. I have hard time justify paying that much for two of them. Vehicles are just money pits. They are not investments!



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