Mirage is (most likely) the Car for Me

[dspace9]

Thank you everyone for the responses. It looks like I've got some more math to do. So I did look at the detailed pricing for new. $17,586.19!! I'm not sure who said that the dealerships tack on some extra costs but you are correct. Just the tax of $2023.19 makes me scream a bit. Hmm.

What I am thinking about now is buying used with a chunk of money or financing new. New I am looking at $277.36 per month of payments for 60 months at 0.99% interest. That is combined with an estimated insurance cost of $220 per month - I got a quote from TD for this number. I really am excited for when I turn 25 and the payments drop. So looking at ~$500 per month with payments and insurance all together. The good thing about this is that I don't have to dip into my chunk of money that is currently earning me ~$1155 per year with zero risk. I can easily earn enough to pay these bills even at minimum wage.

Check Sonnet, I was with TD from '14-'20...and Sonnet was MUCH cheaper. Been with them since for home & auto. House insurance more than halved. I pay $68-70 a month for my Mirage

[Mark]

Thank you everyone for the responses. It looks like I've got some more math to do. So I did look at the detailed pricing for new. $17,586.19!! I'm not sure who said that the dealerships tack on some extra costs but you are correct. Just the tax of $2023.19 makes me scream a bit. Hmm.

What I am thinking about now is buying used with a chunk of money or financing new. New I am looking at $277.36 per month of payments for 60 months at 0.99% interest. That is combined with an estimated insurance cost of $220 per month - I got a quote from TD for this number. I really am excited for when I turn 25 and the payments drop. So looking at ~$500 per month with payments and insurance all together. The good thing about this is that I don't have to dip into my chunk of money that is currently earning me ~$1155 per year with zero risk. I can easily earn enough to pay these bills even at minimum wage.

The downside is that I end up paying the 17.5k for a car over the long haul, plus more insurance. When I got a quote for a 2015 mirage (no other factors were changed) I got $126.75 per month which is only 57% of what I'd pay for the new one.

But now you've got me thinking about a used but not very used car. Such as a 2018 or 2019 with very low kilometers. I could finance one of those but then the interest rates jump to 6.99%. No thank you!

SO the ultimate choice is between the financing of new and purchasing used with cash. So for example here is a 2019 for $11,750 which is ~$13277.50 with taxes. So that's a savings of $4308.69 in exchange for two years and 36,000km driven. However I am assuming there few additional fees when compared to the new one.

https://www.kijijiautos.ca/cars/mits.../#vip=20036410

Here is another for $9000. A 2018 with 49,000km. With taxes that would come out to $10,170 or more than $7000 in savings. Hmmm so it is looking like I could get a real good deal on a used one.

https://www.kijijiautos.ca/cars/mits.../#vip=19349910

This is coming from someone who likes manuals. If you are open to learning how to drive one, you may be much happier. Manuals are a hoot to drive, & this is coming from an old geezer like myself. Maintenance on a manual transmission is so simple. Drain the transmission on oil & refill to the fill hole. No filters or need to drop the pan to really change all the oil out. I really don't think manual transmission fluid needs to be changed all that often either.

If I were buying a Mirage in Canada, these are the ones that draw my attention from your listing -

https://www.kijijiautos.ca/cars/#vip=21339457

2017-2020 are basically the same car. This 2017 has only 10,542 km (6,550 miles) on it. That's one oil change for some. $7880 ($6269 USD) - you can't find a car like that in the States for that price! Why pay $10,000 more for a new car when something like this exists??? Seriously, I wouldn't even give a new car a thought if I had this option. You could buy two of these for the price of one new one.


I would also strongly consider an older cheaper one that isn't high mileage. This one is a good example -

https://www.kijijiautos.ca/cars/mits.../#vip=21275366

This 2015 for $3995 ($3178 USD) has 80,372 km (49,940 miles). That's less mileage than what I have on 2017 now. If it has clear title (not a salvage) & is in good shape (have a mechanic look it over), this is a car that has a lot of life left in it. Someone else has paid all the depreciation on this car. A car like this you can pay off in a year or two. Insurance is cheaper. Instead of paying interest/high insurance for years, you can start saving for your next vehicle. You won't lose much money on a car like this.

I really like my Mirage, but that's because I didn't pay a lot for one. If a manual option didn't exist, I wouldn't own one. That's me, however.

[Cam123]

Wowza I should really be looking in Quebec. Not sure why there are better deals over there but I am happy about it nonetheless. That 2017 with 10,500km is basically a steal. Thanks for pointing me in this direction, not sure why I didn't see these listings earlier.

And dspace I will check out Sonnet. I'm a loser no matter what right now because I'm a young guy, but I'll obviously try to minimise the losses until I reach 25. Two of my friends have insurance with a company that tracks your driving for a set period of time, then adjusts your rate based on that. Basically how quickly you accelerate, whether you slam on the brakes etc. It's all through GPS and that is an option as well if I could remember the name.

I'm very glad these forums are here, I'm definitely gonna make the best purchase possible with all this input.


*Edit that 10K km one was senior driven and only for groceries and errands!! Wow I think I might send off a message right now.

[Mark]

Wowza I should really be looking in Quebec. Not sure why there are better deals over there but I am happy about it nonetheless. That 2017 with 10,500km is basically a steal. Thanks for pointing me in this direction, not sure why I didn't see these listings earlier.

I'm very glad these forums are here, I'm definitely gonna make the best purchase possible with all this input.


*Edit that 10K km one was senior driven and only for groceries and errands!! Wow I think I might send off a message right now.

I thought it looked like a slightly used private party sale. If the story is still legit, that type of car is a real find!

Mechanically, there is no difference between a 2017-2021 Mirage. Even the most recent updated 2021 has the same mechanicals (engine/transmission) with a different front/rear bumper slapped on.

The 2017+ has a slight bump in horsepower & slightly better suspension/handling than the 2014-15. I can't say I have driven a 2014-15 to compare, however.

Even if this extremely low mileage Mirage was a distance away, I would consider a one-way plane ticket & drive it home. If you can finance the car through your local bank/credit union, a dealership may just cloud up the transaction anyways. I would prefer a private party sale on a car like this. It's hardly been used, and a dealer would mark up the price on a car like this.

If you find the selling person to be nice, I would request the deal comes with an hour or two of manual driving lessons. They may be able to get you on your way? The alternative is having a friend/relative who knows how to drive a manual go with you.

Good luck! Keep us posted! If I was in need of a car, the low mileage 2017 for that price would be at the top of my list, too!!!!

[Cam123]

I'll definitely tell my dad about it, he's been helping me on my search. I think if we go get this we can drive or fly, and he'll drive back. I can pay the expenses to get there and we can make it a little road trip. For a deal this good it's all worth it.

We will chat about it when he gets home later today.

[Mark]

I'll definitely tell my dad about it, he's been helping me on my search. I think if we go get this we can drive or fly, and he'll drive back. I can pay the expenses to get there and we can make it a little road trip. For a deal this good it's all worth it.

We will chat about it when he gets home later today.

Sidenote: A 2017 ES manual in Canada is not going to have A/C or cruise control. I am not sure how important A/C would be where you live? Cruise control is a feature that can be more easily added to a Mirage. If you're ok without these features, this would be a very appealing car.

A car like this would become Darin's "forever Mirage"! Inside joke meant only for him!

[Eggman]

Air conditioning can be very helpful with defogging in cool humid weather.

[Cam123]

Cruise I can do without. A/C though...hmm. I know I personally can go without it totally fine. I lived on a homestead this summer with no A/C when temps reached 40C and above. Fans are the next best alternative and they actually work super well if you keep your activity down.
In terms of our family cars, I rarely use it. I just open the windows and that works for me. But Eggman you are right about defrosting on cool humid days though. Hmm this is a tough one. I think honestly if I keep a towel in the car I can do the defrosting myself, and if I am driving someone around who is used to A/C I will give them a spray bottle with some water to spritz themselves with while the windows are open. I said that to myself as a joke at first but I think it might actually be a good idea lol.

Thanks for pointing this out. I saw it in the ad description but I thought it was maybe because it was broken or something.

[Mark]

Cruise I can do without. A/C though...hmm. I know I personally can go without it totally fine. I lived on a homestead this summer with no A/C when temps reached 40C and above. Fans are the next best alternative and they actually work super well if you keep your activity down.
In terms of our family cars, I rarely use it. I just open the windows and that works for me. But Eggman you are right about defrosting on cool humid days though. Hmm this is a tough one. I think honestly if I keep a towel in the car I can do the defrosting myself, and if I am driving someone around who is used to A/C I will give them a spray bottle with some water to spritz themselves with while the windows are open. I said that to myself as a joke at first but I think it might actually be a good idea lol.

Thanks for pointing this out. I saw it in the ad description but I thought it was maybe because it was broken or something.

If you look at the dash pic of the 2017 Mirage we have been discussing, it has two buttons near the manual climate controls. The right one is your rear defrosters. The left button is blank, and that would be the A/C button on cars with manual climate controls.

All 2014+ American Mirages have A/C, but that is not the case for Canadian Mirages. A/C has been added to the ES manual in recent years in Canadian, however. I don't remember if it was 2019 or 2020? When they added automatic climate controls to the all Mirages in North America, A/C became standard for all in Canada, too. Personally, I prefer manual climate controls, but A/C does help clear the windows on cool humid days. If it saved me a bunch of money, I could live without A/C.

I would find a dealer that has a brand new 2020 or 2021 ES manual in stock & find out what the OTD (out-the-door) price would be? That may help you make a wiser decision. OTD prices includes everything. If you were to drive the car home, what is it going to cost you to buy it from them. Given the current way cars are sold these days, I won't even visit a dealership without knowing their OTD price first. If they are unwilling to share it, that's a red flag to me. So just call or email someone who has one & ask, what will it cost me. You aren't trading a car, & that should make it easier for them to tell you. Don't let them overwhelm you by going there. Make them earn your visit there first!

Buying from a private party may save you a lot of money, but we wouldn't know until you find out all the costs of buying a new one. The original owner has paid for all the extra charges tacked on to new cars these days. The original owner would have paid a large amount of sales tax, too. I don't know how that works in Canada? In Wisconsin, I would still pay sales tax on a used car. It would be based on the price I paid for the car, however. Thus, it would be a lot less than buying a new one.

The advantage of buying new is the better warranty that comes with the car. The reputation of the car would ease my mind about buying a used one, however. Especially a used one with extremely low mileage that was driven by an older person. In all honesty, the 2017 owner may have broken in the car better than you would do with a new one.

I really don't know the OTD price of a 2021 ES manual in Canada? I would find out what that is, and it will help you make a wiser decision. I wouldn't rule out a car like the 2015 ES manual for $3995 either. You won't feel as bad abusing it when learning how to drive a manual. If you pay less for a car, you won't feel obligated to keep it as long either. If you decide to upgrade to something else or even a newer Mirage, you will never lose much money on the deal. No matter how long you keep it, it can't depreciate more than what you paid for it. Being a young man, you may appreciate lower insurance costs with the older car. I would investigate that with your insurance company, too! From reading other threads on the forum, I wouldn't overlook that.

I bought a brand new Mirage ES manual in 2017, but it was priced less than 66% window sticker. A ES manual in the States come with A/C, power windows, power locks, & remote entry. If those items weren't included, I would have still bought the car. I only miss not having cruise control at times, but I could spend a little money & add it. Since 2019+ cruise control is now standard here, too. Back in 2017, used 2014-15 weren't all that cheap. If I were buying a Mirage today, I would be shopping like you! If I can save a large chuck of money buying used, I would go that route. If the price difference is only a few thousands dollars, I would strongly consider buying a new one. If you take care of it, it will serve well for many, many years.

I am just thinking out loud with you! You have way more wisdom at age 23 than I did!

[Cam123]

So there is the detailed pricing. I mentioned it earlier Mark but you might have missed it. The $2023.19 in taxes still kills me.

So if this current deal works out I will save just under $10,000 which is pretty great.

About that deal though. So it is a middle aged guy selling the car that his mom used to drive. The reason they are selling is because she has some sort of medical reason that she can't drive anymore. So all is well with the car...however I have not received a response since yesterday at noon.Up until then we were getting back to one another every few hours or so, so I'm not sure what's up. We were going to get a hotel room and go down to Ottawa tomorrow but if I still have not received an answer by tomorrow morning I think we're going to call the trip off. He seemed like a nice enough guy so I think if the car sold he'd let me know, but right now I'm in the dark. Worst case is that he has sold the car and I move on and keep on searching. I've sent him an additional message just asking if the car is still available as we are planning the trip down if it is. Oh well I have done all I can do. I will see if there is a response when I wake up tomorrow morning.

To be continued...

*Edit Thanks for all the advice Mark I appreciate it! Forgot to mention that while I was chronicling the potential purchase of this 2017.