Staying Cool without A/C

[Fummins]

Thanks for your input Fummins. This is making me rethink things. This 2014 Mirage
https://www.kijijiautos.ca/cars/mits.../#vip=20915213
is the SE version so it comes with A/C and heated seats and for less than the current 2017 one. It has 99k km which is much more than the 10,500 on the 2017, but if these cars last well into the 300,000km territory than that is totally fine with me. Hmm.

*Edit just found another 2017 with 35k km that has a/c for $7600. Well at least I think - the title says "+CLIM" and in the up close dash photo I see a button with a snowflake buttonAttachment 21846. Albeit it is a good distance away but again I can pay for the travel there.

That's a toss up. That 2017 would be an ES plus model having manual temp controls with ac. It'd also have bluetooth and keyless entry and rear power windows. But no heated seats, aluminum wheels or fancy chrome front inner door handles.

That 2014 SE is optioned like my 14' white car I had, loaded except has a base model steering wheel. The heated seats in these things work great, so good that it becomes uncomfortable to leave them on high for any length of time regardless of the temp outside.

One nice thing about the 17's is the rear drums are cheaper, easier to source after market(cheaper) and they don't seem to wear out as quickly like the 14-15's. Overall both the front and rear brakes are slightly larger on the 17 and newer Mirages, I don't notice any difference between the two though. Oh and the 17's got a few more extra horse powers.

Also in 17' they re-routed and re-pinned some of the wiring harness behind the drivers kick panel that was a trouble spot for some earlier 14 and 15' cars when the drivers would kick off salt and snow all over the floor which would then run down the back of the panel and corrode some pins/wires causing all sorts of random intermittent issues.

Either car would probably work fine but some people with some 14's had issues with teeth on the flywheels wearing out requiring a new flywheel, starter and some shim.

Don't be in a rush, but it's not a bad idea to go look at some. My current 2014 with almost 300,000km is in better overall shape than a 17' I looked at with under 100,000kms a few years ago.

[Fummins]

I also love central air. If you're working outside and it's really hot, it's nice to get a break from the heat. Plus, it's just better for your home/furniture to remove all that excess moisture.

Vehicles like a Mirage get labels like "entry level car", "economy cars", "city cars", or whatever. Those labels don't really mean much. It's cheap, affordable transportation (another label). It does what it is designed to do without being flashy.

When I see a vehicle like a Land Rover or a Jaguar, I instantly think expensive & unreliable. When you google these vehicles, you find -

"In their 2019 reliability survey, Land Rover landed at the bottom of the pile of manufacturers they reviewed. Both brand new (0-3 years) and older Land Rover models (3-8 years) earned a low reliability rating, having been awarded just 1-star out of 5."

"A balanced look at the luxury British manufacturer. Jaguar is synonymous with British luxury and style. ... But despite this, Jaguar has been plagued with the issue of dependability for some time now. Although they are known for their build quality and style, Jaguar has always been considered quite unreliable cars."

Someone pulled up to the high school the other day with a brand new Jaguar SUV. My student drivers were instantly impressed. They are the same way about Tesla cars, but the same kids will make fun of someone driving a Prius. I guess stupidity may sell some cars?

Some may be impressed with a Land Rover or a Jaguar, but I am not one of those people. I am impressed by a little car that affordable, reliable, & very economical to drive.

How is an expensive vehicle known to be extremely unreliable impressive? Even if you have excessive amounts of money, I am not impressed by anyone buying/driving these vehicles. I'm sorry, but Mirage owners impress me. Sadly, I don't know many in person. Thus, I have to hang here!

Yeah, I used to think bmw and mercedes drivers were well off. I have a cousin that used to drive around in new appearing Mercedes and BMW suv's. Figured they were doing good. Then I realized they were 8-10 year old turd pails and they didn't have a different one every time I saw them because they are loaded, but because the other one broke down and was too expensive to fix lol.

I'll keep my 16 year old semi reliable pickup truck and cheap beater Mirage. I'll take a $5000 Mirage over a $20,000 European money pit any day.

[mohammad]

I own a 2015 poverty edition,

I would say the biggest inconvenience is the lack of power door locks. I am lucky because the previous owner of my **** box installed aftermarket power door locks. I carry a backpack everywhere and its fairly inconvenient to open up the rear driver side door without power door locks as you have to reach in with your arm.

I normally drive around with the windows rolled down unless on the highway. When on the highway setting the climate control to outside air actually creates a decent breeze through the car with the fan turned up. So im not sure how helpful a tint would be for someone like me when my windows are down most of the time.

The worst part about not having AC like Fummins said is that the only way i can defog my windows is with the heat. Just a couple of hours ago I was driving around in 23 degree warmth. With both front windows down and I had to turn on the heat to defog my windshield. I also wish i had heated mirrors but i think thats only available on the top trim mirages here.

[7milesout]

I've never owned a non-A/C car before, but you could always put a cup of ice down your butt-crack just before you sit down in your hot car. That'll do the trick!

Ok, to be honest, when I was in my early 20's, my 1984 Celica GT (rear wheel drive 5 speed manual) the A/C went and got busted. That car had over 200,000 miles at that time. It ran great, but I wasn't about to spend big money repairing the A/C. Plus I was in college and I didn't have me no money.

I lived in the Chattanooga, TN area at the time. And it was WAAAAAY hot. I just opened the door, rolled that window down, sat down leaned over rolled the passenger window down, fired it up and drove. Yeah, it was hot. But I did this for at probably 5 summers. I never complained. That car was rolling fine until I T-Boned someone who pulled out in front of me. The car had 296,000 miles on it at that time. I could do it again. To this day, I rarely turn on the A/C. It has to be in the 90's before I will.

However, if The Beast is in the car with me, I'm required to run the A/C regardless of outside conditions ... she's like a princess and has to have perfectly conditioned air or my ass is grass (yes dear, yes dear, yes dear).

[javensbukan]

Everyone's situation is different. If you find yourself ever wanting to use ac then I'd just go buy a car with it rather than regret it down the road.

I'd consider looking for an ES plus trim Mirage(Canada only). I'm sure they came with a 5 speed in 2017. You get manual temp controls with ac, bluetooth, 4 power windows, and keyless entry. No cruise(but can be easily added later), no auto temp controls, no fog lights, steel wheels.

Ac does come in handy in these cars when it's humid too. I wouldn't buy a car without it. We get similar temps out here in Oilberta. Ac helps defrost the windows in the winter,rain and works well in the heat. You technically don't need ac, nobody "needs" it but it's sure nice to have. The two people on the forum who don't have ac in their Mirage are either "cheap" or want to get the maximum fuel economy imaginable out of their cars.

If you're stuck on a cheap base model no ac car then how about this one? 2014 welfare edition for $2100 with 130,000 kms if you hate it then you shouldn't have a hard time getting your money back out of that thing.

Can confirm, cheap student me back in 2015 thought AC was an unnecessary extravagance but oohhhh boy, I sure wish I would have gotten that and power locks, especially today when it’s 32 and 85% humidity.