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Thread: Mirage MSRP too expensive? Complaint!

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    Mirage MSRP too expensive? Complaint!

    Do you think a sticker price of $16k is taking away what attracted you to the mirage in the first place?

    For me it did. And not by just a little, but by well over 60%!
    Won't take long before they follow the example of the Spark, the Versa, or other, where marketing people determine what people want is what actually no one wants, and jack up the price for every stupid addition they add to the car.
    Sometimes, a new model introduces a new color, while charging the model $500 more, regardless of color option.

    Personally, I liked the Spark when it just came out with a $9,7k sticker price.
    The next year, it surpassed $10k. I didn't have the money for it. But then it quickly shot to $13k a year later, and wasn't worth it for me anymore.
    And when they swapped the engine from a 1.2l DI, to a 1.4l port injected, and bumped the price by another few thousand dollars, it was far from being considered as a car I'd purchase.

    Same with the mirage.

    The <2015 models of the mirage looked like crap, but was priced right.
    If they only released the 2017 model for that price!
    The newer model facelift was a welcome addition, and made it possible for people to actually consider the car purchasable.
    While the new facelift certainly does require more money, it's really not that much. The overall production cost of the vehicle remains the same. Just some retooling, for different injection molds.

    It's not that they now include a turboed version for this price...


    I find that there's nothing that justifies the mirage's max price for even a buck over $12k (and that's for the full option!).
    The base model should go for under $10k in my opinion.

    If they add $1k above that price, they should include following items if they want to be marketable:
    Northern sold models should come standard with darker colors in and out, an engine block heater all weather carpet set, and a winter tire set;
    while southern models should come standard with lighter colors, (better) AC and tinted windows, and a slightly larger radiator.


    But at nearly $7k above this price, this car is hugely overpriced, terribly underwhelming, and if we look at the market, following similar cars, it won't take long before Mitsubishi will have to discontinue the car soon!

    It outgrew the toy it was, but isn't yet the adult vehicle it aims to be.

    I think people who want an economy vehicle, a cheap vehicle to go from A to B, want it cheap.
    And people who want luxury, will pay for luxury.
    The mirage being in a market somewhere in between, being overwhelmingly beaten by most other cars in almost every field is embarrassing!

    Heck, if a Spark costs $1k less, but gets 40MPG instead of 50, the $1k buys them on average 16k miles.
    Or over the course of 100k miles, the $1k discount invested in fuel round about buys you back that 10MPG difference!

    Not to diss on the Mirage, but current pricing is just absolutely ridiculous!


    Last edited by ProDigit; 09-30-2020 at 06:24 PM.

  2. #2
    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ProDigit View Post

    It outgrew the toy it was, but isn't yet the adult vehicle it aims to be.

    I think people who want an economy vehicle, a cheap vehicle to go from A to B, want it cheap.
    And people who want luxury, will pay for luxury.
    The mirage being in a market somewhere in between, being overwhelmingly beaten by most other cars in almost every field is embarrassing!
    Not sure why you disparage the looks of the '13-15 Mirage's, but anyway... to me, the only way to buy a new Mirage is the base model, preferably manual. This is an economy car, and to put glitter on something, doesn't make it pretty.

    So I like my base Mirage, it is what it is.

    I paid $12,495 plus taxes and freight and 2.9% financing on top of it all. For under $20k Canadian, my Mirage has been a pretty cheap and reliable car for almost 7 years now.

    I don't think the Mirage does well when it plays dress-up, either. But the thing is, people want gizmos and gadgets. All the other car companies really push Apple CarPlay etc. To me, I don't really care. I don't even have a data plan on my phone.

    Also, the Mirage with 5 speed and no AC and being so light, it's kinda a novelty to an earlier time in automotive history. Inadvertently a driver's car. But if your butt is being warmed and your gears are being shifted for you, it's dulling your senses

    PS the Mirage is waaaay better looking than the Spark. At least the Mirage has good proportions. The Spark looks so weird.

        __________________________________________

        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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  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by ProDigit View Post
    Do you think a sticker price of $16k is taking away what attracted you to the mirage in the first place?

    For me it did. And not by just a little, but by well over 60%!
    Won't take long before they follow the example of the Spark, the Versa, or other, where marketing people determine what people want is what actually no one wants, and jack up the price for every stupid addition they add to the car.
    Sometimes, a new model introduces a new color, while charging the model $500 more, regardless of color option.

    Personally, I liked the Spark when it just came out with a $9,7k sticker price.
    The next year, it surpassed $10k. I didn't have the money for it. But then it quickly shot to $13k a year later, and wasn't worth it for me anymore.
    And when they swapped the engine from a 1.2l DI, to a 1.4l port injected, and bumped the price by another few thousand dollars, it was far from being considered as a car I'd purchase.

    Same with the mirage.

    The <2015 models of the mirage looked like crap, but was priced right.
    If they only released the 2017 model for that price!
    The newer model facelift was a welcome addition, and made it possible for people to actually consider the car purchasable.
    While the new facelift certainly does require more money, it's really not that much. The overall production cost of the vehicle remains the same. Just some retooling, for different injection molds.

    It's not that they now include a turboed version for this price...


    I find that there's nothing that justifies the mirage's max price for even a buck over $12k (and that's for the full option!).
    The base model should go for under $10k in my opinion.

    If they add $1k above that price, they should include following items if they want to be marketable:
    Northern sold models should come standard with darker colors in and out, an engine block heater all weather carpet set, and a winter tire set;
    while southern models should come standard with lighter colors, (better) AC and tinted windows, and a slightly larger radiator.


    But at nearly $7k above this price, this car is hugely overpriced, terribly underwhelming, and if we look at the market, following similar cars, it won't take long before Mitsubishi will have to discontinue the car soon!

    It outgrew the toy it was, but isn't yet the adult vehicle it aims to be.

    I think people who want an economy vehicle, a cheap vehicle to go from A to B, want it cheap.
    And people who want luxury, will pay for luxury.
    The mirage being in a market somewhere in between, being overwhelmingly beaten by most other cars in almost every field is embarrassing!

    Heck, if a Spark costs $1k less, but gets 40MPG instead of 50, the $1k buys them on average 16k miles.
    Or over the course of 100k miles, the $1k discount invested in fuel round about buys you back that 10MPG difference!

    Not to diss on the Mirage, but current pricing is just absolutely ridiculous!
    I don't recall the 1.2l in our 2014 being direct injection. The 1.4l has almost 20 more horsepower than the 1.2l.

    I've noticed the price of a lot of things going up. Even used Mirages. It was relatively easy to find a Mirage around here for around $5-7000 with around 100,000km or less. Now it seems the dealers ask stupid amounts and stupid private sellers think they can ask the same for their garbage pail on wheels.
    Back to the point, I think if these things keep creeping up in price a lot of people might just spend the extra few dollars and get something more refined with more options or even buy a slightly used better car for the same or less money. The things I like most about mine are it doesn't and shouldn't break down, it's cheap on fuel regardless of how you drive it, if it does break it's easy to work on, and best of all-it's paid for.
    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)


  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by dspace9 View Post
    Not sure why you disparage the looks of the '13-15 Mirage's, but anyway... to me, the only way to buy a new Mirage is the base model, preferably manual. This is an economy car, and to put glitter on something, doesn't make it pretty.

    So I like my base Mirage, it is what it is.

    I paid $12,495 plus taxes and freight and 2.9% financing on top of it all. For under $20k Canadian, my Mirage has been a pretty cheap and reliable car for almost 7 years now.

    I don't think the Mirage does well when it plays dress-up, either. But the thing is, people want gizmos and gadgets. All the other car companies really push Apple CarPlay etc. To me, I don't really care. I don't even have a data plan on my phone.

    Also, the Mirage with 5 speed and no AC and being so light, it's kinda a novelty to an earlier time in automotive history. Inadvertently a driver's car. But if your butt is being warmed and your gears are being shifted for you, it's dulling your senses

    PS the Mirage is waaaay better looking than the Spark. At least the Mirage has good proportions. The Spark looks so weird.
    Chrome don't get you home. Some like flashy chrome I guess. I do like the front end of the 17's more but don't like the chrome. It's like putting lipstick on a pig. I can admit the 15 and older Mirages to look old as eff. Like an mid-late 90's metro lol. It's a car, it doesn't have feelings.
    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)


  6. #5
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Yeah, I'm with you. I struggle with making the mental adjustment to current pricing of "things" in general. And anything over about $12k seems like a lot for the Mirage.

    But, is it?

    I remember taking a loan for $8k on my first new car, which was a 1986 Chevy Sprint.

    You can calculate what inflation has done to the value of a dollar over time. Or, if you're lazy like me, you can find a calculator:
    https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

    $8k in 1986 = almost $19k in 2020!

    So... given that the Mirage has a LOT more going for it than a Sprint had (nothing against the Sprint/Swift/Metro), given inflation... the Mirage is kind of a bargain.

    Even if you figure I paid too much for my Metro, which I surely did (I was young and stupid)... let's say I paid $6k for it. That still equates to $14,000 in 2020.

    It's hard to make that mental adjustment to the inflation-adjusted value of things!

    I bought a nicely equipped Saturn coupe in 1994 for about $14k. (no haggle pricing, yo) In my mind, that car and anything equivalent to it should be around $14,000. Okay, maybe $15-18k, right? No! I'm WAY off! $14k in 1994 = $24.5k now. And guess what? Entry level sports coupes can be had for right around that price.

    So, yeah... $18k seems like a lot. And I can't get past it, either. But, in reality, the price of new cars is tracking the inflation rate... AND cars are significantly BETTER than they used to be.

    My solution is to just buy used. Get something a couple years old for half to 2/3 the price of new. You still get all the perks of a new modern car (or as many of them as you care to have), but at a more palatable price. I think my Mirage is a fantastic car for the $6800 that I paid for it!

    If I had to pay $18k for a Mirage... I'd surely come up with another $2-3k and get something a lot better. I love the Mirage, but not THAT much.

    One more historical anecdote:

    1985 Yugo GV, new price: $3990 (which was considered unbelievably cheap at the time)

    $3990 in 2020 dollars is $9638.

    Saying that a new Mirage (even the base model) is worth about the same as a Yugo is laughable, don't you think? The engineering of the Mirage, the fuel economy, build quality, reliability, safety... all worlds better than a Yugo. In 2020, the Mirage is definitely worth WAY more than $10k.

    But, I get where you're coming from. It's just hard to make those mental inflation adjustments.
    Simplify and add lightness.

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    Senior Member Top_Fuel's Avatar
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    You can still buy a new manual transmission Mirage in the US for about $11K...regardless of what the sticker price is.

    This is probably a click-bait ad with $2K worth of hidden fees...but you get the idea.

    Name:  jemkins.jpg
Views: 439
Size:  60.2 KB

    I would have posted a link to White Bear Mitsubishi...but they ran out of 5-speed Mirages last month. They almost always have a near-$10K 5-speed Mirage advertised.

        __________________________________________

        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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    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    You usually have to qualify for all of the available discounts to get those kinds of prices. Have to be military or student. Have to trade in a Mitsubishi to get the "loyalty" discount. On and on. When I was buying, there were places fairly locally that advertised sub-$10k, but the best any of them could do for ME was $11,500. Which, honestly, wasn't bad... but $6800 for a sub-30k mile car seemed a lot better.

    It's stunning how cheap these cars can be had!

    Anybody who's been driving for 30+ years and grew up on crappy cars of the 70's and 80's (or older) knows that ANY new car, even the cheapest and crappiest ones, are freakin' amazing cars. Realistically, any one of the cars you can get for under $20k right now is better than anything built prior to 1985.
    Simplify and add lightness.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ProDigit View Post
    Do you think a sticker price of $16k is taking away what attracted you to the mirage in the first place?

    For me it did. And not by just a little, but by well over 60%!
    Won't take long before they follow the example of the Spark, the Versa, or other, where marketing people determine what people want is what actually no one wants, and jack up the price for every stupid addition they add to the car.
    Sometimes, a new model introduces a new color, while charging the model $500 more, regardless of color option.

    Personally, I liked the Spark when it just came out with a $9,7k sticker price.
    The next year, it surpassed $10k. I didn't have the money for it. But then it quickly shot to $13k a year later, and wasn't worth it for me anymore.
    And when they swapped the engine from a 1.2l DI, to a 1.4l port injected, and bumped the price by another few thousand dollars, it was far from being considered as a car I'd purchase.

    Same with the mirage.

    The <2015 models of the mirage looked like crap, but was priced right.
    If they only released the 2017 model for that price!
    The newer model facelift was a welcome addition, and made it possible for people to actually consider the car purchasable.
    While the new facelift certainly does require more money, it's really not that much. The overall production cost of the vehicle remains the same. Just some retooling, for different injection molds.

    It's not that they now include a turboed version for this price...


    I find that there's nothing that justifies the mirage's max price for even a buck over $12k (and that's for the full option!).
    The base model should go for under $10k in my opinion.

    If they add $1k above that price, they should include following items if they want to be marketable:
    Northern sold models should come standard with darker colors in and out, an engine block heater all weather carpet set, and a winter tire set;
    while southern models should come standard with lighter colors, (better) AC and tinted windows, and a slightly larger radiator.


    But at nearly $7k above this price, this car is hugely overpriced, terribly underwhelming, and if we look at the market, following similar cars, it won't take long before Mitsubishi will have to discontinue the car soon!

    It outgrew the toy it was, but isn't yet the adult vehicle it aims to be.

    I think people who want an economy vehicle, a cheap vehicle to go from A to B, want it cheap.
    And people who want luxury, will pay for luxury.
    The mirage being in a market somewhere in between, being overwhelmingly beaten by most other cars in almost every field is embarrassing!

    Heck, if a Spark costs $1k less, but gets 40MPG instead of 50, the $1k buys them on average 16k miles.
    Or over the course of 100k miles, the $1k discount invested in fuel round about buys you back that 10MPG difference!

    Not to diss on the Mirage, but current pricing is just absolutely ridiculous!
    I totally agree with you. I find it utterly ridiculous that there's only $2,000 difference between all four Mirage trim levels in CVT ($15,295-17,295 MSRP price range). Some may think that's a good thing, but it makes the base price way more than I would be interested in paying for a Mirage. Obviously a manual transmission knocks $1,200 off that, but I am trying to compare apples to apples here.

    Every year since 2017 new standard features were added to the base model (& LE). Meanwhile the upper SE & GT trim levels haven't changed (other than price going up). Does that make the ES a better value?

    I became interested in the Mirage in 2017 when I found out that I could get a new for $9,000 (under $10,000 OTD). I had the impression this pricing wouldn't last for very long, & I decided to take advantage of that.

    If I had qualified for all the rebates ($500 financing, $500 loyalty, $500 military, & $500 VIP discounts) at the time, a $9500 2017 Mirage could be had for $7,500 brand new. This is the price I found when I really started to look around. I did not negotiate this price. It took $854.70 (tax, registration, documentation fees, new state plates, etc...) to push my Mirage out the door of this dealership & into my driveway. Since I only qualified for the $500 financing rebate (which I switch over to my credit union 3 months later), I was looking at Mirages for $9,000 at the time. If I had only dealt with my local Mitsubishi dealership, I would be driving something else.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Loren View Post
    If I had to pay $18k for a Mirage... I'd surely come up with another $2-3k and get something a lot better. I love the Mirage, but not THAT much.
    18k will get you a year old Fiesta ST with less than 10k miles on it... I guarantee that's the route I would go.
    Resident Tire Engineer

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 44.4 mpg (US) ... 18.9 km/L ... 5.3 L/100 km ... 53.3 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Basic View Post
    18k will get you a year old Fiesta ST with less than 10k miles on it... I guarantee that's the route I would go.
    A Ford Focus or Fiesta with a dual-clutch automatic transmissions would be one of the last cars in the U.S. market I would buy. I would avoid them like the plague (probably a poor choice of words).



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