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Thread: New 2021 owner

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    New 2021 owner

    Hi everyone!

    Here's the window sticker of my brand new car: https://www.mitsubishicars.com/rs/fi...2AUHJ9MH002382

    It came with the chrome package and fog lights installed at the factory and a $395 added fee due to the color. The tonneau cover and carpet mats are mandatory and every 2021 Mirage comes shipped from the factory with those included. The "portfolio" that comes with the carpet mats includes a cheap tire pressure gauge and first aid kit. The bandaids already came in handy the second day I had the car.

    I also had dealer-installed door sill plates and center console armrest. Plus I got the Mitsubishi OEM all-weather rubber floor mats. I still need a rear cargo carpet mat or rubber cargo tray, I haven't decided yet. Total price out the door after all taxes, dealer fees, DMV registration and title, etc., all inclusive was $18,031.94. Local sales tax in my zip code is 8.375%. This translates to an effective vehicle price of $16,454 including all accessories, plus regular sales tax and approximately $200 for new DMV plates. Officially on paper, it looks a little different, with a lower vehicle sale price, mandatory tacked-on dealer fees, and what looks like some very expensive accessories with labor for installation, but I negotiated the whole deal based on out-the-door total price. However the dealer wants to do their accounting to reach the final bottom line number is their business. I wanted to get the car with all the accessories on my wishlist for $18,000 and I only missed by about $32, plus the cost of the cargo mat/tray I haven't bought yet.

    I'm very tall by most people's standards (somewhere between 6' 2" and 6' 3") and although the driver seat itself doesn't provide as much lumbar support as it could, the design and layout of the two front seats of the Mirage are as efficient and comfortable and make the best possible use of space of any car I've ever owned. My left knee doesn't constantly bang into the door handle like it did on my 2013 Nissan Rogue and my right knee can naturally rest wherever it's most comfortable, not at all like when I've driven the 2019 Honda CR-V or 2020 Chevy Spark. The Honda and Chevy have extra material in the dash that takes up space where I want to put my knee, making them rather unpleasant to drive.

    The Mitsubishi is a simple vehicle that's a throwback to what cars looked like 20-25 years ago, and that's what I like about it. I didn't want a computer with wheels and a bunch of automatic "safety" features designed to protect idiots from themselves. I wanted a plain car, and that's what I got. I know the TPMS unit can only be reset at a dealer and it has the forward collision avoidance automatic braking which I could do without, but other than those two features, this is basically a car with no technology that has been developed in the last two decades, which makes it nearly perfect! When I turn off traction control, it automatically turns off the collision avoidance braking as well, making the only active safety feature ABS.

    Easy to drive, easy to park, cheap to insure, cheap to refuel, cheap to maintain... this is going to be fun!

    Quick questions about the fluid capacities: For a simple oil change, am I reading the owner's manual correctly where it says only 2.9 quarts of oil will be needed for the refill after draining the old oil and changing the filter? Also what's the total capacity of the CVT and how much new replacement fluid will be needed for a typical drain/refill of the transmission?

    I know it's possible to flood the charcoal cannister from topping off the gas tank, but I'm curious how much can be pumped after the first click without overflowing. With other vehicles, I've never had a problem with topping off the tank as long as I burn off the excess immediately. For this reason, I like to buy gas about 40 miles from home, which is more convenient than it sounds, because I like driving away from congested areas and just riding around with no specific destination in mind. I like to roam around a bit, and this allows me to find the cheapest gas prices as well. So is the Mirage tank really only 9 gallons, or can we squeeze in a bit more?



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    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    Welcome aboard, CrazyMind2017. I'm about 6'1 myself and I have driven my Mirage 7 years now (last car payment is in 5 days).

    I do complain sometimes on here about wanting an upgrade after so many years behind the wheel of my Mirage. However.. pretty good little car for sure, fun to drive. I agree with what you have to say about the sorta throwback nature of Mirages.

    Mine doesn't even have a backup camera. One thing though I would recommend being from New York I would get my car Krown rust controlled. People laugh that I'm a free spokesperson for the company, but oiling the car insides and out is the key, and one drawback with these little import cars is the rust issue. At least in southern Ontario salt on the roads. Cheers eh!!

        __________________________________________

        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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    Quote Originally Posted by CrazyMind2017 View Post
    ...I'm curious how much can be pumped after the first click without overflowing.
    What's the most gas you've ever filled in your Mirage

    It might take you a while to get adjusted to the Mirage's fuel gauge. Its behavior gets a little funky when it gets down to the last 2 gallons or so.


    For a simple oil change, am I reading the owner's manual correctly where it says only 2.9 quarts of oil will be needed for the refill after draining the old oil and changing the filter?
    It's more like 3.2 quarts when the filter is changed.
    Last edited by Top_Fuel; 04-11-2021 at 07:11 PM.

        __________________________________________

        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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    Welcome aboard. So they charged you $400 for white paint color? Does yours have the red line on the front grill? I own 2 Mirages, underrated econoboxes for sure. I hope you'll enjoy. Did you not qualify for any discounts or rebates at your dealership?

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    The deal all happened the last two days of March, when I was not eligible for the $500 loyalty discount, $500 military discount, or $500 law enforcement discount. There was a $1000 manufacturer incentive that everyone was eligible for, but that went away for anyone who took the 48-month 0.0% financing, so I paid in full. Some of those offers were extended from March 31 to May 3.

    All the dealers around here that advertise on cars.com and their own websites list their prices with all incentives included. When I called those dealers, if they didn't immediately ask if I would be eligible for the incentives, I knew they were just trying to get me to show up in person so they could try to swindle me. Any dealer unwilling to tell me the final, total OTD price after I specify the exact VIN and my zip code (for sales tax purposes) over the phone or e-mail is not a dealer I want to visit.

    For all the insane regulations in New York, the one thing we don't deal with is a ton of dealer fees on new cars. We negotiate the price of the car, add sales tax, then pay exact DMV fees, including registration, new tire sold fee of $2.50 per tire, and safety inspection for $10. The cost for a new registration is based on vehicle class and weight, so for this 2095 pound monster, I expect it to be less than $200. As for dealer fees, when price shopping with CT and NJ dealers, I just ask for the OTD price and compare that way. Turns out the best deal was from a NJ dealer about 100 miles away, so I took a one-way rental to go pick it up last week.

    There could be dealers in the middle of the country giving deep loyalty discounts combined with manufacturer incentives for which I wasn't eligible, but with all the 2020 leftovers still on dealer lots, a widely appreciated front grill refresh for 2021, and a low probability of any additional cosmetic changes on the Mirage from 2021 to 2022, the dealers around here aren't desperate enough to discount the 2021s more than about $2000-2500 off sticker price.

    Including the $1000 manufacturer incentive, the dealer price of the car I ultimately bought was $3987 off MSRP, then they added $1,262 back in "mandatory" dealer fees, putting me at $2,725 off sticker price and saving me an additional $100 in sales tax (since sales tax is only paid on the vehicle price, not the additional dealer fees). I didn't get the best possible deal on the accessories (they charged me 3 hours labor for the sill plates and center console) and I added the cost of the one-way rental into my total cost, so that's why it looks a bit pricey. Even with those factors working against me, it was still at least $400-500 cheaper than buying from northern NJ, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, or Long Island. I didn't mind the 200-mile round trip that I completed in a single day, but I didn't want to deal with having a new car shipped on a truck just to save an additional few hundred dollars.

    The $395 paint fee is from the factory and appears on the window sticker. It's a metallic frosted white that looks a bit like a very bright silver under cloudy skies. It seems like they wanted it to have the appearance of tiny ice crystals on the surfaces, a gimmick started years ago by Ford and copied by a handful of other unoriginal car brands. I would have preferred that super extreme solid white available on other types of cars, but this was the best Mitsubishi could do I guess. There are no red stripes on the front grill. Those only come standard on the carbonite edition and SE.

    One dealer in northern NJ has a couple ES and LE units with a special "exterior package" that's factory installed for $995, which is actually more than the $775 difference in MSRP between the LE and carbonite edition. This $995 package is described on the Mitsubishi website as, "front, side, and rear airdams with carbon pattern front under grill with red stripe," which makes it extremely similar, but not quite exactly the same, as the carbonite edition package. The exterior package has one red stripe on the front airdam under the grill, but no red stripes on the grill itself.

    I guess if you like a 5-speed and/or steel wheels and want the airdams, it makes sense to get the $995 package on an ES. But it's just dumb to put the $995 package on an LE when you can buy a carbonite edition. Literally the only difference between the ES-CVT and the LE for 2021 are the alloy wheels and LE badge in the back.

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    Quote Originally Posted by CrazyMind2017 View Post

    I guess if you like a 5-speed and/or steel wheels and want the airdams, it makes sense to get the $995 package on an ES. But it's just dumb to put the $995 package on an LE when you can buy a carbonite edition. Literally the only difference between the ES-CVT and the LE for 2021 are the alloy wheels and LE badge in the back.
    Yeah, the LE package changed in 2021. The 2020 LE had 15" alloy wheels & heated front seats, too.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Top_Fuel View Post
    What's the most gas you've ever filled in your Mirage

    It might take you a while to get adjusted to the Mirage's fuel gauge. Its behavior gets a little funky when it gets down to the last 2 gallons or so.


    It's more like 3.2 quarts when the filter is changed.
    I'm looking forward to the end of the break-in period so I can top off the tank, set the cruise control to 55mph on the New York State Thruway, and try to get 500 miles from a single fill-up, all while thumbing my nose at Cuomo voters who are giving me the finger for driving so slow!

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    Quote Originally Posted by CrazyMind2017 View Post
    I'm looking forward to the end of the break-in period so I can top off the tank, set the cruise control to 55mph on the New York State Thruway, and try to get 500 miles from a single fill-up, all while thumbing my nose at Cuomo voters who are giving me the finger for driving so slow!
    When you go for that 500 miles on one tank of gas, I suggest bringing a full can of gas with you. Otherwise, you will be stranded somewhere.

    Personally, I don't think running cars really low on gas is great for the fuel pumps submerged in the gas tank, but some members on the forum feel otherwise about that.

    Regardless, you will want to have a gas can, because you will need it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by CrazyMind2017 View Post
    I'm looking forward to the end of the break-in period so I can top off the tank, set the cruise control to 55mph on the New York State Thruway, and try to get 500 miles from a single fill-up,
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark View Post
    When you go for that 500 miles on one tank of gas, I suggest bringing a full can of gas with you. Otherwise, you will be stranded somewhere.
    It can be done. When conditions are not unfavorable, my car runs a bit above 25km/L at 100km/h. At 55mph (89km/h) that will be 26~27km/L. So a full tank of 35L should bring me 910-945km, 565-589 miles. But that is a manual. A CVT is less economical.

    @CrazyMind2017: make sure you have enough air in your tires. And indeed, a can of gas is not a bad idea. What if there is just no gas station after 500 miles? And bring some coffee. You'll be driving for almost 10 hours.

        __________________________________________

        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)


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    There will be plenty of gas stations in rest stops on the Thruway and more just off the exits. It's not like driving to the moon! It's just about trying to stretch out a tank of gas, LOL. I'll wait until the weather is clear and the temperature is consistently in the 60s (to comfortably ride with only the fan blowing fresh cool air, A/C compressor off, windows rolled up), then fill my tires to cold 44 PSI and top off the fuel, then attempt a trip from White Plains to Syracuse and back. If I don't make it, I'll just refuel sooner. I don't anticipate needing a gas can, although if I were attempting this in the middle of the Utah or Nevada desert, I'm sure that would be necessary. Actually the weather might be perfect later this week, but I don't want to use cruise control for the first 1000 miles driven, so I may have to wait until September to try this.



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