First Week with Mirage- Pluses and Minuses

[Top_Fuel]

...I was going to get an OBD II reader
...Then I realized it can mess things up.

I don't think there's any concern with proven, wired OBDII devices like the ScanGauge. I've had one in my Mirage for 5 years/100K miles with no problems.

The devices that can be problematic in a Mirage are the super-cheap ones or wireless Bluetooth devices that plug into the OBDII port. I would avoid those unless it's one that someone on this forum has been using and can verify that it's OK. There are some bad ones out there, but not all of them are junk.

[7milesout]

My input to you on the hvac. Not so much input as criticism I guess. I pretty much leave mine on 62, and my left 2 windows down. If I bump it down to 61, it automagically turns on the compressor on and puts it in recirc mode. So I bump it back up to 62 and leave it there. There was some kind of custom setting (I don't remember the detail because it was mostly worthless). But I think the custom setting (before I changed it) would leave the A/C on, and maybe leave the thing in recirc when I bump back up to 62. Both of which I'd have to turn off manually when bumping up to 62. At least now after changing the setting, when I bump it up to 62, it reverses what it did when I bumped down to 61. Either way, it's so stupid (to me) to automagically turn on the A/C and go to recirc just because I put it in the lowest temp setting. Annoying, but I'll live.

So there's that. But also, I strongly dislike all automagic climate controls because if it were truly functioning the way it is intended, I should be able to put it on 72° (or whatever temp I find most comfortable), and never futz with it again. And at my set point of 72°, at some ambient above 72° it should turn on the A/C and bring it down to 72° inside. And at 72° and lower, it should turn off the A/C and or add in some heat if the ambient drops (some predefined level) below 72° in order to hold 72°. But no system I've ever been exposed to works like that. Including my Lexus LS 460L. If you put an automagic hvac in auto, it doesn't matter the temp you set it for, it slams on the A/C full time. And, let's say you get in a scalding ass hot car and it is 120° inside. When you crank the car and if you had left it on 72° Auto, the system should blow you into the backseat with hi fan and max cold until it starts nearing your set point. Then it can begin to back off a bit as it approaches your set point.

However, it doesn't do that. Here's what I notice. With a hot as hell cabin (in GA summers), and my automatic hvac is set at 72° and AUTO, the fan blows at probably 50% fan speed, and the air coming is just sort of cool. Yet if I manually change the temp down to the lowest setting number, then the fan speed kicks up to full blast and blows snow out the vents. That sort of ---- pisses me off to the extreme. If it is truly automagic, why is it not smart enough to realize that if I'm sweating my balls off at 120°, I want a snow hurricane in the cabin ... not just some fairly cool air drizzling in, even if I have it set at 72° versus what 61° or 60° or whatever is the coolest setting, I want a snow hurricane to quickly eliminate the hot tub inside.

And in my LS 460L, it has a separate A/C system for the rear seat (not just vents, a whole nother system). And with the front and rear system both cranking out max cool, it will cool off a 120° cabin quickly. Yet if I have it at my prefered 72°, I have to remain sweaty much longer. It's just plain dumb. That and the fact that whatever temperature number I have it set at, the average temp in the cabin is probably not so accurate to the number. Which begs the question, why segment it into so many friggin numbers? This is where a manual hvac is superior. There's usually a blue zone and a red zone (temp control) and some overlap in the middle. When you get in and it's hot, you can quickly slam to full cold and max fan, until you begin to get comfortable. But with the Mirage (and Lexus) auto climate control, I have to push the temp down button, beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep friggin beep until it gets to either max low or max high. That annoying versus slamming a slide or dial (quicker / easier) right to one extreme or the other.

Someone in another post said the 2019 ES was the ultimate because it could be had with a manual hvac. I think they were right.

[Danny]

In the past week or so I've put quite a few more miles on it. I'm already up to about 2300, and haven't had it 3 weeks. More thoughts/observations:

I took it up north at 68MPH and got 49.6MPG. I didn't quite hit the 50. Going the last few miles to the station, the gauge moved from 50 to 49.9, back and forth. I was hoping by time I stopped it would be the 50, but no such luck. About 500 feet before the station, it went down to 49.8. Ah well. To get 49.6 of actual MPG when the gauge said 49.8 is pretty close IMO.

On the way back I figured I'm done shooting for 50. I went 72-73 or so. I still got some great MPG. I don't have the receipt in front of me, but if I recall it right it was 47 something. Basically when figuring time vs MPG, the time is more important.

Except when I turned on the AC yesterday, I'm pretty much done monitoring the MPG gauge. I now leave it at where it shows total miles driven, with maybe an occasional check on the MPG gauge right before I fill up. So far it's been pretty close, usually within 1.5 miles between what the gauge says and what I actually get.

I'm up to $150 in fuel savings vs my old car. That part is nice.

The radio reception is decent, but not quite as good as my other vehicles. When I'm in certain areas, I might get 9 of my 12 presets. I prefer one main station (small local station), but I generally don't get that when I'm 25 miles away. In my other cars I sometimes got it in, and other times not. With the Mirage it's pretty much never once I'm about 20 miles away.

One thing I noticed is that crash light has blinked a couple of times when to my knowledge I was nowhere near a crash. This was at night. Maybe it saw a deer or something on the road that I missed. I was just driving down the highway normally though. At first I didn't know what it was. I thought it was the check engine light. Uggh. Then after I stopped and looked closer I saw it was that crash light. So not sure why that blinked.

I did run AC yesterday. Though I haven't filled up, my MPG gauge was in the 41 range. Usually when I get home it's like 42.4 or something. I'm not a big AC guy, but it's nice to know for the times I need it that it won't drastically reduce the MPG.

The no arm rest solution for me was a simple one. I just used a pillow. I keep one in the car anyway in case I need a quick nap. In lieu of getting the arm rest, I just stuck a pillow there. Works perfectly for me.

I know I beefed about the HVAC when I first posted. As I think back though, I'm not even sure what I was complaining about. I just subconsciously adjust it as needed. I can't specifically state what my process is, but whatever I now do, it's pretty natural. I generally like the fan at 2, and the temp I adjust as needed.

As an aside: I'm not sure what the rules are on posting links are here. I won't post any until I find out. I'm not making a cent off of anything I post. Just think I've come across some things that people may be interested in. There's a battery powered car jack on Amazon that looks kind of neat. It plugs into your lighter. It includes battery powered jack, lugnut remover, and air compressor. Ya may have to use the crowbar to loosen the lugs, but after that this unscrews them in a second or 2. Pretty nifty to have in case of a flat. I already have the air compressor. That's come in handy a few times over the years. I wasn't aware of the other 2 options until the last week or so.

Note: Make sure your car is running if you use it. It will drain your battery. I found that out the hard way the first time I used one of these things.

[Fummins]

I don't think there's any concern with proven, wired OBDII devices like the ScanGauge. I've had one in my Mirage for 5 years/100K miles with no problems.

The devices that can be problematic in a Mirage are the super-cheap ones or wireless Bluetooth devices that plug into the OBDII port. I would avoid those unless it's one that someone on this forum has been using and can verify that it's OK. There are some bad ones out there, but not all of them are junk.

I just had a problem with an obdII gps that has been plugged into a 13' Sonic for the last 5 years. It wouldn't track properly and the car was throwing random communication codes, lost power steering(electric), and the cluster went blank. Had it towed and it seemed fine when it got here except the tracker still wasn't reading properly. The driver mentioned the transmission wasn't shifting right previously so I changed the fluid and all seemed fine then too...

I called the gps tech line and had them reset the device and all seems fine now. I mentioned we had problems with the Mitsubishi's throwing codes but this is the first Gm. The guy said Subaru's don't like certain devices either and can go wonky like the Mirage's. The sonic has been running fine since the gps was rebooted.

I read on some sonic/cruze forums that scangauges were suspected to have caused problems on those cars.

[Dirk Diggler]

The AC in our Mirages are champs IMO. I just put it on 70° and 2 bars for my fan speed and I got a cool cabin, even in Hotlanta's constant heat waves. It does tax your engine though. Off the line power, going up a hill is a joke. I just know the guy behind me hates my guts lol. I never use the auto feature as I feel it blows the fan way too hard.

[Top_Fuel]

I didn't quite hit the 50.

You are right there. Give your car some time to break in. I noticed my mileage creep up slightly after I got a few thousand miles on the clock. I'm thinking that some northern locations may still be selling the last of their winter blended fuel. Once you are using summer blended fuel and the weather is consistently warm, I think you'll be surprised.

AC definitely puts a hurting on your MPG. Well...pretty much anything that puts a load on these things will tank your fuel mileage.

One thing I noticed is that crash light has blinked a couple of times when to my knowledge I was nowhere near a crash.

Hmmm...not even sure I know what you're talking about. Must be a feature on the new models.

I'm not sure what the rules are on posting links are here.

If it's something that will help out a Mirage owner and you aren't mass-marketing products for sale yourself, it's a free-for-all. Post away!

[Mark]

Hmmm...not even sure I know what you're talking about. Must be a feature on the new models.

Mitsubishi calls it "forward collision mitigation". Standard on all Mirages in 2021.

[Danny]

The jack I'm referring to is something like this. There's other similar items on these. So take a look around. This is just what came up first for me when I typed in "Battery powered car jack." The one I was interested in also had an air compressor with it, in addition to the jack and impact wrench. Hopefully you'll never need it, but if ya do it could be real handy to have.

https://smile.amazon.com/ROGTZ-Elect...1672971&sr=8-8

[skyblue]

I'm pretty sure you can turn off that seatbelt chime. At least on the 2017's you should be able to. I had my scan tool hooked up to one just now and looked through the menu's and found the seatbelt reminder settings in the "meter"(speedo cluster) section. I think the beeper is inside the cluster so that makes sense. There are 2 different settings for the seatbelt reminder and one that just shows --- which I assume means off. If that's the case anyone with a relatively up to date autel scan tool can do this for you same with a dealer if they have someone competent enough that doesn't need to call Japan.

Not long after I got mine, I couldn't work out why it was beeping at me, I finally worked it out, reached under the seat and unplugged the cable that wasn't the airbag cable (which I think is pale yellow from memory) and it stopped, I did the passengers side as well because I put heavy things on the seat and it thinks someone needs to be belted. I have never in my life needed to be reminded to put my seatbelt on I don't understand why so many car makers include this annoying feature.

[Space Wolf]

I have never in my life needed to be reminded to put my seatbelt on

Are you sure? Then how do you even know that the feature is there?