Beginning of the end of the Mirage?

[7milesout]

Toyota will not be going under. Buy a Camry, you will not be disappointed.

[AtomicPunk]

Toyota will not be going under. Buy a Camry, you will not be disappointed.

LOL. Whenever you publish your memoir comparing your time at Hyundai vs. Toyota, let me know. I'll buy a copy. Signed, of course. I know you've posted stuff on here, but would love an in-depth comparison.

[7milesout]

There's a scene on the original Jurassic Park movie. I've linked it below. It's as if an auto critic is talking to Hyundai ... you know what I mean. Malcolm, who was a scientist specializing in something like chaos, says to the old man Jurassic Park owner, "your scientists were so occupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to consider whether or not if they should." You could apply that to H-K by changing it to, "your engineers were so occupied with whether or not they could copy Toyota, they didn't stop to consider whether or not they should copy Toyota."

Other things said that apply:

It didn't require any discipline to attain - "W-H-Y did Toyota do it this way? I dunno just copy it."

You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves.

The way Hyundai makes decisions on car design direction, starts with, "How did Toyota do this?" And, you know, if you're a console designer, you go tear down the Toyota competitor vehicle console and the engineer just does it how Toyota does it. They don't know why Toyota did it that way. The end result is Hyundai has problems and they don't know why nor how to best address it because they didn't put the work in to design whatever it may be that works best for them and/or the end customer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oNgyUAEv0Q

In my time at Toyota, it was beat into me every single day, that to figure out how to design something that best satisfies customers long term. Things like cost, lead time, robustness, customer satisfaction, etc were discussed when looking at either original design directions or post production engineering improvement. And in most every case I was exposed to, customer satisfaction took precedent over cost. At H-K, cost was king. If adding a piece of shoddy to some part (backside) would eliminate a fit or squeak problem PERMANENTLY, but that shoddy cost was even 1 friggin penny per part, they took issue with that. Because 1 penny over 300,000 Sonatas (for example) was a $3,000 cost per year. And, if they did decide to spend that money, which was very unlikely, if a vendor had some level of expense to implement said shoddy, H-K would do their damndest to screw that vendor over and not pay them. Toyota WANTED their vendors paid and happy, so that for every problem that came along, that vendor would do backflips to help Toyota, because they knew they would be paid for their efforts. The result: Toyota vendors bust their asses for Toyota.

My best friend started at H-K a day or 2 after I did and he came from the Chrysler Technical Center (CTC). I had just come from the Toyota Technical Center (TTC). He and I would be in these H-K meetings. The Korean engineers and leadership would make "leadership" direction decisions, or just say things in these meetings, and my best friend and I would sort of lean back in our chairs and look at each other with astonishment ... just like these 2 cats in the video below at 38 seconds into this clip. I remember that clip so distinctly because the very first instant I saw that movie (watching with my young sons), seeing the look of astonishment on those 2 cats when they lean back and look at each other, I just BUSTED OUT laughing as it was EXACTLY how my friend and I did frequently in H-K meetings. I had to watch that scene like 5 times, and laughed every time, because it was so much like my friend at I working at H-K.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keB_Jf_EggU

My best friend and I took those meetings about as serious as the 2 cats do in that clip, because the discussion and plans were about as logical as what the dog is saying. Hehehehe, ohhhhh, fun times.

[AtomicPunk]

O.k., then. E-book it is! Thanks for sharing, it's really insightful for those of us who haven't been behind the scenes.

[davidricardo86]

Welp, its official. The US 2023 Mirage webpage page is up and the manual transmission is gone. It's no longer a selectable option. It's the beginning of the end for the Mirage.

https://www.mitsubishicars.com/cars-and-suvs/mirage

[Mark]

Welp, its official. The US 2023 Mirage webpage page is up and the manual transmission is gone. It's no longer a selectable option. It's the beginning of the end for the Mirage.

https://www.mitsubishicars.com/cars-and-suvs/mirage

As far as I am concerned, the end has happened. I would never buy a small car without a manual transmission.

I also wouldn't pay more than $10,000 for a Mirage. So new ones in today's market, wouldn't interest me anyways.

[Fummins]

They still show a 5speed 2023 Mirage on the Canucky mitsu website. Msrp is $10,373(usd). But for some weird reason you can only buy it in white and they charge an extra $450(cad) for that "option".
I'm slightly tempted to just go get one but there's nothing wrong with the one I have other than the rust that's growing below the gas door.

[MetroMPG]

Gas door rust??!

I haven't seen that yet. I have to fix the bottom insides of a couple of doors before salt season starts again - the sealant bead between the inner & outer sheet metal is about to fall off.

[Fummins]

Gas door rust??!

I haven't seen that yet. I have to fix the bottom insides of a couple of doors before salt season starts again - the sealant bead between the inner & outer sheet metal is about to fall off.

Right at the top of the wheel basically. Trying to fill the tank right to the cap and having it pour down the side of the car multiple times may be a contributing factor.

It was starting to bubble last winter so I decided to let I'll let nature take its course rather than be that guy who drives around with primer spots all over their vehicle and never actually paints it.
I'm kinda liking the IDGAF look.

[7milesout]

I'd buy one even if it over $10k if it were a manual ... and I needed one. Because, all the other choices are worse values.