I've owned my Mirage for 85 months - 1 owner's time

[dspace9]

As some people on the Mirage Forum know already, I have my Mirage all paid off as of last week.

My thoughts overall: engine works great. I feel like the engine has a lot of life left. Now sitting at 148,000 km's. My car steers perfect, and responds the same as day 1, alignment is good, and the 5 speed manual has kinda gotten worked in better over the years. Like a baseball glove.

I toss and turn about wanting a bigger car, but with my hatchback I can get a lot of stuff in it over the years. Free lumber, Dancy freezer, luggage, groceries.. 18' fold up weber ladder. Fits in with the hatch closed.

I have come close to breaking glass with packing in so much stuff. Tight squeeze makes it more interesting. Has its limits though.

You have to make more than one trip with your Mirage sometimes.

Negatives: tires seem to be less common for sure, and I feel like I need new tires every 2 years. We will see how things span out with my new winters doing half the yearly driving now. I'm easy on my braking and I don't go more than 90 km's an hour most of the time.

[Mark]

As some people on the Mirage Forum know already, I have my Mirage all paid off as of last week.

Negatives: tires seem to be less common for sure, and I feel like I need new tires every 2 years. We will see how things span out with my new winters doing half the yearly driving now. I'm easy on my braking and I don't go more than 90 km's an hour most of the time.

I don't feel tires are a Mirage issue any more.

I've been very impressed with how well my Nokian Nordman 7 snow tires have held up the past 4 winters. If you are planning to use your new snow tires year round, you're just shortening their life. They will wear out extremely fast!

In the States, new more affordable 165/65r14 tire options (Federal, Nexen, Vredestein, & Kumho) have appeared in recent years. A person can also choose to use 175/65r14 tires (numerous options available), & some of those come with 60,000-80,000 mile warranties.

The best vehicle is one that's paid for & still going strong!

[Wolf]

Thats great i am sure you will get many more miles out of it.These are unbreakable little cars.

[dspace9]

To Mark: I took my winter tires off last Thursday. I keep my winter tires on my original steelies. Then in the summer I have my used 2016 SE alloys on my car, with my used set of dunlops. 2 sets of tires and rims for my car.

I cleaned my alloys with a big sponge yesterday.

To Wolf: My Mirage is a tough little car for sure. I have driven into a few giant potholes accidently, and some other adventures, my car has held the test of time.

Some of the piano black stuff on the dash and the handbrake have faded from the sun. Not much any car can do about that.

[MirageRally]

Happy to hear your review and l also concur that the mirage is a tough vehicle.

[Mark]

To Mark: I took my winter tires off last Thursday. I keep my winter tires on my original steelies. Then in the summer I have my used 2016 SE alloys on my car, with my used set of dunlops. 2 sets of tires and rims for my car.

I cleaned my alloys with a big sponge yesterday.

Sounds like a good plan. I like using up old tires during the summer months, too! Plus, they are probably a little more LRR when worn down.

I still need to pull the snow tires off my Forester, but I don't want to jinx things & make it snow!

[Eggman]

As some people on the Mirage Forum know already, I have my Mirage all paid off as of last week.

Congratulations dspace9 on reaching this milestone. Just imagine how your savings account will grow. You can now save your money to buy your next vehicle outright without borrowing money and paying the interest on the loan. That’s winning twice. That money is yours, and you work hard for it. With focus and discipline you can really grow your savings. And that’s what the Mirage is so good at (too bad more drivers don’t look at it this way.) Having goals makes it easier to save up. Tires and other consumables are minor concerns by comparison.

Here’s to many more years for you and your Mirage. Drive safe.

[7milesout]

Congratulations dspace9 on reaching this milestone. Just imagine how your savings account will grow. You can now save your money to buy your next vehicle outright without borrowing money and paying the interest on the loan. That’s winning twice.

Dspace9 - Much respect to you. I actually think your car (our Mirage's in general) looks somewhat tough, with the steel wheels uncovered. I don't know what it is. They look like a junkyard dog, rough and tough. But whatever. Glad to hear your car seems to be in great shape after 85 months. That is impressive, especially in your neck of the snow. I sometimes consider selling my truck and just making the Mirage to fully be my little truckster. Pulling my little 5'X10' trailer, I could haul as much as I think I would ever need to. I believe it could get the job done. But I've got a 20+ year love affair going on with my truck and it's been paid for, for 18 years ... why sell it?

Eggman - Tis a matter of perspective. Taking $12k and dumping it on a car could be considered an unwise move (it's what I just did). When I could have let my $12k remain invested. I generally make 12% or greater per year on it. And what are car loans these days? 5%? I haven't had a car loan since ... 2009 or 2010. I'd rather pay 5% and earn 12%.

[dspace9]

Thanks!!

The less I have to spend getting to and from work, is more money in my pocket. And more money in my savings.

I'm actually doing a bunch of house stuff this month (new furnace is literally being installed right now, this morning.. & no AC unit; matching my Mirage).

7milesout I was paying 2.99% on my 84 month loan. Return on my investments is much better.. bull market with housing and the stock market right now.

[Mark]

Thanks!!

The less I have to spend getting to and from work, is more money in my pocket. And more money in my savings.

I'm actually doing a bunch of house stuff this month (new furnace is literally being installed right now, this morning.. & no AC unit; matching my Mirage).

7milesout I was paying 2.99% on my 84 month loan. Return on my investments is much better.. bull market with housing and the stock market right now.

Not saying your 84 month loan was a bad deal for you, but I just heard someone really slamming Nissan this past week for pushing their dealerships to steer customers to 84+ month loans. Dealers will receive a $450 incentive from the company when pushing their customers into long term loans.

https://jalopnik.com/nissan-is-going...ers-1846636646

This is being seen as taking advantage of customers.

I like the one comment to the above article -

"Just bought a car yesterday and the finance person made some huge assumptions before meeting with us. She had the paperwork drawn up with zero down and 72 and 84 month options with helpful breakdowns of monthly payments including all of the extended warranty and add ons they offer.
I told her we were doing 10k down and wanted to see what 36-48 mo. rates were, also no add ons. I’m assuming I won’t be her favorite customer this month.
If we would have went with everything she was selling, the $42,000 car would have cost us $54,500 over 7 years."

Other articles on the topic -

https://www.thedrive.com/news/40108/...r-loans-report

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/n...uto-loan-term/

Imagine buying a Nissan & having to live with long after the warranty expires. Meanwhile, your loan is greater than what your car is worth, & the CVT craps out on you. Talk about a nightmare!

Someone else said it best - "At this rate, Nissan will soon be pushing perpetual car loans!"

I'm sure most brands do things similar to this, & it may seem like Nissan is being picked on here?