New Car & Driver review of '21 Mirages from yesterday

[dspace9]

Hi All,

I came across this new review of the refreshed 2021 Mirage earlier. Cool to see a Mirage review smack-dab on the front page of MSN.ca Autos section. Mirage getting press time..

Enjoy the new review! I love the new rims.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/autos/news...?ocid=msedgntp

[dragon2knight]

Nothing negative in it, so that's a good thing Any coverage is good coverage IMHO!

[Mark]

Hi All,

I came across this new review of the refreshed 2021 Mirage earlier. Cool to see a Mirage review smack-dab on the front page of MSN.ca Autos section. Mirage getting press time..

Enjoy the new review! I love the new rims.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/autos/news...?ocid=msedgntp

I sort of laugh at this from the article - "On both the Mirage and the Mirage G4, the middle-level LE trim sees only a $25 price increase over 2020."

Here's a good fact - a 2020 LE has 15" alloy wheels and heated seats. The 2021 LE has neither of those features. Sure the price only went up $25, but it really should have gone down a couple hundred bucks instead. A 2021 LE is not all that different than a 2021 ES now (14" alloy wheels and that's about it).

[Dodge Aries K]

Yeah, seems the LE model really only gets the 17-20 SE wheels at this point. Seems like a stupid trim package to just literally get some alloy wheels instead of just offering it as a option on the ES (which if I was buying one new I'd take because I don't like plastic wheel covers).

Edit in: Going from a ES CVT to the LE CVT is a price difference of $625 here in the USA. Seems like it really would have made a hell of a lot more sense just putting it as an option for the ES. Also, going from the ES CVT to the SE CVT (the new top model) is a difference of $1850. If you want an automatic one, it would be silly to not get the SE model at that point. On a typical 72 month new car loan that's an additional ~$30 a month going from base to everything.

[Cobrajet]

Not sure I would call this a 'review'. More of a perfunctory announcement, really.

"The 2021 Mirage exists. The bumpers are different. The trim levels are different. Here is how much it costs."

[Mark]

Yeah, seems the LE model really only gets the 17-20 SE wheels at this point. Seems like a stupid trim package to just literally get some alloy wheels instead of just offering it as a option on the ES (which if I was buying one new I'd take because I don't like plastic wheel covers).

Edit in: Going from a ES CVT to the LE CVT is a price difference of $625 here in the USA. Seems like it really would have made a hell of a lot more sense just putting it as an option for the ES. Also, going from the ES CVT to the SE CVT (the new top model) is a difference of $1850. If you want an automatic one, it would be silly to not get the SE model at that point. On a typical 72 month new car loan that's an additional ~$30 a month going from base to everything.

Today's Mirage is not very basic at any trim level, & the ES, LE, Carbonite Edition are basically the exact same car, with the exception of alloy wheels & a few minor things.

You couldn't add any feature to a Mirage that would make me pay $1850 more for one, & the CVT bottom to top trim level has been a $2000 difference for the past 5 years. 6 years ($30 for 72 months) is long time to pay for a few extra features on a car. The Mirage is fairly well equipped. The SE doesn't offer one single thing extra that I would be interested in.

I wish a more basic, affordable Mirage was offered instead of clumping the trim levels all together.

[dspace9]

I wonder if there's a no-A/C Mirage still available? I don't think so.

I also wonder what the "Carbonite Edition" is all about.

The problem with economy cars is partly that they're always trying to look like they have lots of accessories. Yet lots of economy car owners actually want a bare-bones economy car. Not a dressed up one.

[dragon2knight]

I wonder if there's a no-A/C Mirage still available? I don't think so.

I also wonder what the "Carbonite Edition" is all about.

The problem with economy cars is partly that they're always trying to look like they have lots of accessories. Yet lots of economy car owners actually want a bare-bones economy car. Not a dressed up one.

I'd buy up any one that offered a truly bare bones version....you can learn a lot from the 80's after all. A/C is all I really need, the rest is fluff and unnecessary weight and complication.

[Dodge Aries K]

Well, the nicer model has the FAST key, the cool new pattern heated seats, led headlights, and fog lights. Those are things I'd pay extra for. I just wish I could get all that stuff with a manual transmission... That would be sweet and I'd go buy one today if I could.

[dragon2knight]

Well, the nicer model has the FAST key, the cool new pattern heated seats, led headlights, and fog lights. Those are things I'd pay extra for. I just wish I could get all that stuff with a manual transmission... That would be sweet and I'd go buy one today if I could.

As nice as that is, it makes the price jump to beyond economy car class....and that's the whole point of these little cars after all. I guess the manufacturers feel that it's necessary to add this stuff to make the car more palatable to the public, but that's still the wrong way to do it. Start stripped and allow the customer to option it out, not these all but indistinct trim levels that offer next to nothing in exchange for one item between them.