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Thread: New member and hopefully a mirage owner w/ a few questions

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    New member and hopefully a mirage owner w/ a few questions

    Hello,

    Just discovered the vehicle and blows my mind that its not promoted as the most affordable car in the market.

    That said I am currently looking for a new car. My current car is an 01 Corolla w/ 128k miles but its burning and leaking oil every 60 miles. I put oil every day. The previous owner messed it up, I got it as my first car in college at $2.5K cash when it had 79k miles in 2016. My dad justified the car leaking oil as it was apparently a flaw by Toyota when it produced the corollas during that time period. Back then it wasn't an issue as I would only drive 1000 miles a year and I knew this was a car to be driven until it died.

    Which now brings me to the present. I now drive 60 miles a day round trip from work and home on my graveyard shift. My corolla had its third engine misfire this year and 3 spark plug changes this last 4 months. I 've been to two local mechanics, the second one did a diagnostic and found a hole in the cylinder. He recommended to look for a new car as although he could put an new engine. Its not a guarantee that my soon to be 20 year old car will really be fixed not to mention, I'm spending more on it than the price I bought it.


    I then looked all over the internet for cheap cars and I found this car along with this forum. Although I considered other used cars of the same brand and model. The price point is what hooked me to the mirage. I'm currently looking at a 2019 used Mirage G4 ES CVT in a local dealer in LA which is priced at $9800 with a carfax mileage of 5979. From the carfax, it looks like it was either a loaner or an unsold car as it was just sent from Lakewood Mitsubishi to the one in LA.

    I am interested in it and will schedule an appointment in a few days. That said

    1) For those who own the sedan or the mirage, how does this car perform in the high way ?

    2)How is the MPG when you drive 65-70 only ?

    3) Can this car handle driving up hill on a daily basis ?

    4) Is this a car I should consider for my daily commutes ?


    Thank you,

    hopefulmirageowner

    edit: ( I drive 68-75 miles an hour in the freeway daily due to my night time work hours in LA)


    Last edited by hopefulmirageowner; 12-08-2020 at 08:30 AM.

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    Senior Member PityOnU's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hopefulmirageowner View Post
    Hello,

    Just discovered the vehicle and blows my mind that its not promoted as the most affordable car in the market.

    That said I am currently looking for a new car. My current car is an 01 Corolla w/ 128k miles but its burning and leaking oil every 60 miles. I put oil every day. The previous owner messed it up, I got it as my first car in college at $2.5K cash when it had 79k miles in 2016. My dad justified the car leaking oil as it was apparently a flaw by Toyota when it produced the corollas during that time period. Back then it wasn't an issue as I would only drive 1000 miles a year and I knew this was a car to be driven until it died.

    Which now brings me to the present. I now drive 60 miles a day round trip from work and home on my graveyard shift. My corolla had its third engine misfire this year and 3 spark plug changes this last 4 months. I 've been to two local mechanics, the second one did a diagnostic and found a hole in the cylinder. He recommended to look for a new car as although he could put an new engine. Its not a guarantee that my soon to be 20 year old car will really be fixed not to mention, I'm spending more on it than the price I bought it.


    I then looked all over the internet for cheap cars and I found this car along with this forum. Although I considered other used cars of the same brand and model. The price point is what hooked me to the mirage. I'm currently looking at a 2019 used Mirage G4 ES CVT in a local dealer in LA which is priced at $9800 with a carfax mileage of 5979. From the carfax, it looks like it was either a loaner or an unsold car as it was just sent from Lakewood Mitsubishi to the one in LA.

    I am interested in it and will schedule an appointment in a few days. That said

    1) For those who own the sedan or the mirage, how does this car perform in the high way ?

    2)How is the MPG when you drive 65-70 only ?

    3) Can this car handle driving up hill on a daily basis ?

    4) Is this a car I should consider for my daily commutes ?


    Thank you,

    hopefulmirageowner

    edit: ( I drive 68-75 miles an hour in the freeway daily due to my night time work hours in LA)
    Best thing to do is to give it a drive and feel for yourself. Keep in mind, the rear seats do not fold down in the sedan. So if you are hauling people, get the sedan. If you are hauling stuff, get the hatch.

    Performance is adequate for daily commutes. It has way less power than most other cars on the road, but, honestly, how much power do you need if you are just driving to work? Now, you will absolutely have to premeditate lane changes, but keeping up with traffic will not be an issue.

    Handling is BAD from factory and honestly a little scary if you actually drive like an American. Floats around a lot on the freeway as well. Search for 'daox swaybar' on the forum here and install that after you purchase the car. For $150, it makes a world of a difference in terms of both road feel and safety.

    And at 65-70mph, the CVT will get ~39mpg, I believe. Manuals end up doing about 10% better across the board.
    Last edited by PityOnU; 12-08-2020 at 08:56 AM.

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    If you are looking for a highly reliable and economical car, the Mirage is great! If you can drive a manual, get it in manual version. I drive a lot on the German autobahn and it is perfect for long haul, fast driving on a shoe-string budget.
    If you want to race it, abuse it,drive like a maniac, neglect servicing intervals, get into accidents and tear up the seats, look elsewhere.

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    Quote Originally Posted by PityOnU View Post
    Best thing to do is to give it a drive and feel for yourself. Keep in mind, the rear seats do not fold down in the sedan. So if you are hauling people, get the sedan. If you are hauling stuff, get the hatch.

    Performance is adequate for daily commutes. It has way less power than most other cars on the road, but, honestly, how much power do you need if you are just driving to work? Now, you will absolutely have to premeditate lane changes, but keeping up with traffic will not be an issue.

    Handling is BAD from factory and honestly a little scary if you actually drive like an American. Floats around a lot on the freeway as well. Search for 'daox swaybar' on the forum here and install that after you purchase the car. For $150, it makes a world of a difference in terms of both road feel and safety.

    And at 65-70mph, the CVT will get ~39mpg, I believe. Manuals end up doing about 10% better across the board.
    Thank you for the response and I only mention the speeds as when I take the 14 freeway to the 405, especially at night. A majority of cars go 80-90 from Teslas, Mustangs, and F150. I just moved by the SCV/Palmdale area, the speed limit is 45-55 in the city and everyone just floors it on the freeway to work. I drive my degrading Corolla 65-70 in the middle or right lanes so I trained myself to just watch out or clear the path lol

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    Quote Originally Posted by foama View Post
    If you are looking for a highly reliable and economical car, the Mirage is great! If you can drive a manual, get it in manual version. I drive a lot on the German autobahn and it is perfect for long haul, fast driving on a shoe-string budget.
    If you want to race it, abuse it,drive like a maniac, neglect servicing intervals, get into accidents and tear up the seats, look elsewhere.
    Thank for the response, I'm a simple man frugal man just looking for a dependable car.

    Awesome to hear this car goes on the autobahn, I keep reading that this car is underpowered but sounds like its being put in a box.

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    Hello, welcome, here is my answer to your question

    1) For those who own the sedan or the mirage, how does this car perform in the high way ?
    My answer => For a tiny car I was surprised about how it handle on the highway. It's easy to insert in the speed acceleration way. Wind don't affect to much the car.
    2)How is the MPG when you drive 65-70 only ?
    5 liter to 100 kilometer I guess, it's difficult to tell it

    3) Can this car handle driving up hill on a daily basis ?
    Yes of course, I got the 1.2 80, and the car weight light, so you can climb easy. Just be at 2000 Rpm and it won't stall.

    4) Is this a car I should consider for my daily commutes ?
    I think so, for myself I love it.

  7. #7
    I've owned my 2014 Mirage for about a year now. It felt pretty twitchy at first, especially compared to everything else I've owned before but you get used to it. It can get blown around a bit in fast crosswinds but it's narrow enough it's not hard to keep in your lane lol.
    Otherwise they're pretty bullet proof cars for the most part. Everything is easy to work on.

        __________________________________________

        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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    Quote Originally Posted by hopefulmirageowner View Post

    I am interested in it and will schedule an appointment in a few days. That said

    1) For those who own the sedan or the mirage, how does this car perform in the high way ?

    2)How is the MPG when you drive 65-70 only ?

    3) Can this car handle driving up hill on a daily basis ?

    4) Is this a car I should consider for my daily commutes ?


    Thank you,

    hopefulmirageowner

    edit: ( I drive 68-75 miles an hour in the freeway daily due to my night time work hours in LA)
    1) I take my 2015 Mirage on road trips every year. It's perfectly fine on the highway. If you're passing someone on the slow lane, just plan ahead (which you should be doing anyways since you are driving ) since the car doesn't have that much power but it's rarely an inconvenience.

    2) MPG really varies on factors at that speed. If you're traveling through uphills and inclines, MPG may vary. I live in Minnesota where it's mostly 'flat'. 65-70 is my average commute speed and I'm averaging around 42-45mpg at that speed. Again, lots of factors.

    3) Yes!

    4) Yes. I use to commute 60-65 miles a day. It was perfectly fine. Especially compared to an 01 Corolla.

    Overall, I've owned my Mirage for a little over 4 years now and it's 80,000 miles on it. I've changed the oil every 5,000 miles since I've owned it. It's been running perfectly fine. Haven't had any major issues with it...yet. It's an awesome A-to-B daily commuter.

        __________________________________________

        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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    1) The sedan might be a skosh better for interstate drives due to the slightly longer wheelbase. But both are quite competent for the interstate. I just did two 250 mile trips on the interstate cruising at ~78 mph (4,000 rpm) with 2 sons along for the ride, and averaged ~39 mpg. If you haul people frequently, the G4 might be a skosh better. But if you're alone the vast majority of the time the hatch is probably more universal as with the seats laid down it can haul a good amount of large items.

    2) Either Mirage or G4, either transmission should be in the mid-40's at 65-70 mpg. I do not recommend the CVT however.

    3) Driving uphill is a non-issue. The car is not under-powered. Us Americans are spoiled with way over-powered cars, 78 hp is adequate.

    4) This car may be the perfect car with which to blast miles on (daily commuting) as it is either the least expensive, or close to the least expensive car to own and operate.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2020 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 42.4 mpg (US) ... 18.0 km/L ... 5.6 L/100 km ... 50.9 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member Clessy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hopefulmirageowner View Post

    1) For those who own the sedan or the mirage, how does this car perform in the high way ?
    It's ok on the highway and can get up to speed fine enough. I do find the road noise is pretty bad for a long highway drive. I'd highly recommend pumping that stereo and getting 2 improved front speakers :P

    2)How is the MPG when you drive 65-70 only ?
    On our first 2014 I was getting 45 to 50 mpg on a manual trans on the highway and around 41 in city. For some reason on the 2017 we just picked up im still getting 41 mpg in the city but im getting garbage on the highway around 30 to 35. I guess i'm not use to driving slow as balls anymore. I normally do 100mph constant on the highway so going 65 to 70 again is soooo hard.

    3) Can this car handle driving up hill on a daily basis ?
    If you're going to be doing mostly hill driving i'd get a CVT for sure unless you wanna be shift master over here. You'll be going into second a lot and defeating most of your gas mileage.

    4) Is this a car I should consider for my daily commutes ?
    I'd say this doesn't sound like the car based on what you're trying to do. Its 2 biggest weakness highways and hills seems like what you'll mostly be using it for. Might want to look into something with a little more umph for what you need.



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