Look around here, read some threads. There aren't many things that go wrong with these cars. Most complaints are 1st world problems.
I maintain a fleet of them. I've had to change rear shocks on a few cars around 250,xxxkms and found a leaky strut on one car with over 300,000 hard back road kms. I haven't had to replace a single ball joint or control arm bushing. The highest mileage mirage in our fleet had 478,000ish kms on it when it was crashed the other day. Had to replace the cvt around 300,000kms and maybe 1 starter, otherwise just needed brakes and regular maintenance(spark plugs at 160,000km, belt ever other year, air filter, oil changes). There's no timing belt to replace so that was a major selling feature.
I bought a 2014 with low miles a year and a half ago and just sold it. Now I have a 2014 with almost 300,000km that doesn't drive any different than the previous car. Cvt is a weak point with higher miles(like with any make) but you already don't like them so you'll only have to worry about a notchy shifting 5 speed transmission or breaking a clutch cable instead.
I went with a hatchback because that's what was available. Though if a sedan was available for the same price I'd probably still go with the hatchback because it's more versatile and slightly less fugly imo.
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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)