The times they are a changin'

[AtomicPunk]

After many years of mockery, now with gas prices on the rise with no end in sight, Jalopnick is actually suggesting folks go out and buy a new Mirage while its still under 20k.

https://jalopnik.com/so-much-for-the...1847973879/amp

[Mark]

After many years of mockery, now with gas prices on the rise with no end in sight, Jalopnick is actually suggesting folks go out and buy a new Mirage while its still under 20k.

https://jalopnik.com/so-much-for-the...1847973879/amp

I became interested in the Mirage when they were selling for under $10,000, & I was wondering why it wasn't common knowledge at the time? I almost overlooked the Mirage myself a few years back!

A lot of small cars have disappeared from the market since that time.

[skyblue]

Not really, people buy with their heart not their head, oh and safety/driving aids which I'd rather go without, the thing that sold me on the Mirage was the CVT trans, being able to be in the most efficient ratio no matter my speed is excellence and while the engine is not the smallest displacement I could buy it's only .2 higher than the lowest I can buy in country. At the time the used Micras and Altos were all conventional automatics.

Plus I got free cruise control, which is not something I don't think I could have got on the Nissan Micra or Suzuki Alto without significantly more expense.

If/when my Mirage dies, I will buy something that's like the Mirage but electric or maybe even convert the Mirage if the cost of that comes down in price.

[7milesout]

For years before buying my Mirage, I use to do internet studies on the North America's lowest TCO vehicle. The Mirage may or may not have won that prize (I think it did get that honor a time or two from various car researchers), but the Mirage was always in the top 5. I kept researching those top (lowest TCO vehicles) and the Mirage was one of the more interesting vehicles. No way was I getting a CVT.

Then the nerd guy (forget his name) came out with his idiot video about the Mirage being the worst vehicle one can buy. And as I watched it I disagreed with nearly everything out of his mouth. And I was sold. I hunted down my Mirage after that. Glad I did. The combination of the Mirage being one of, if not the lowest cost vehicle of the top 5, combined with the vehicle with the highest mpg of all non-hybrids. And believe it or not, I think the low hp still had an effect of some of the researchers ranking of the Mirage. Shouldn't have, but I believe it did.

I look at the Mirage as a tool to keep my running tax contributions at a minimum. Meaning fuel tax is low by using less fuel, and sales taxes was as low as it gets these days. The last thing I want to do is give money to the idiots in Washington (all of them).

[UnderBridgeDweller]

Then the nerd guy (forget his name) came out with his idiot video about the Mirage being the worst vehicle one can buy. And as I watched it I disagreed with nearly everything out of his mouth.

I remember his name. Because he was such an idiot.
I think he moved from cars to real-estate, showing the "quirks and features" of
houses on the market. He really had so little knowledge of cars that moving on
to houses was not at all a surprise to me. Doug Demuro. The idiot.
I hope this helps.

[Wil B]

I remember when I was on the fence in buying my first Mirage. Mediocre reviews, etc. Doug DeA**wipe's review made me immediately buy the Mirage. It was everything I wanted in an economy car!

[Cobrajet]

I remember when I was on the fence in buying my first Mirage. Mediocre reviews, etc. Doug DeA**wipe's review made me immediately buy the Mirage. It was everything I wanted in an economy car!

That was the funny thing about DeAsswipe's video when it was first posted. A lot of people in the comments section were like, "Oh, I kinda want one of these now."

Many of the other comments were people from other countries saying, "Hey, I live in ______ and the Mirage is considered a pretty nice car here. Fcuk you!"

[Cobrajet]

Interesting article, but the comments section is about what I expected: "Don't be idiot and buy a new econobox, be a genius like me and buy a CPO Civ-rolla!"

[2of9]

The comment section is hilarious.

Anyways, I don't really care what kind of car people buy. They just have to understand what they are driving. But, recently I've been asked how much MPGs I get out of the Mirage. I've been asked 3 times at the Costco pump, all from Truck owners. Just a few weeks ago, I was pumping gas and a guy right next to me asked me how many gallons it takes, when I told him, he said "dang, might need one" haha. "I'm only at halfway at 10 gallons", and around gas prices around here, I'm assuming it's going to be close to $70 for a full tank of gas. It's interesting experiencing those people ask me. It looks like people are now looking for those "small, gas saving cars" now.

The times of buying a brand new Mirage for under $10k are not here anymore. I remember seeing White Bear Mitsubishi having a huge sign that stated they have 'brand new/used cars under $10K!" i wish i took a picture of it, this was back in 2015/2016.

[Top_Fuel]

This was from White Bear's website 10 months ago...