New 2018 SE Owner!

[SkaBoss]

Hi All,

Happy to find this forum and lurk for a bit as I made a decision on a new (used) car. I had a 2009 Nissan Versa with 192K miles on it and the repairs she needed this year to pass inspection no longer made sense. I knew that I wanted another sub compact car as I only use this to drop my kids off at school and commute to/from work. I mainly commute to the local train station and back (20miles round trip) a few days a week, with the occasional longer drive into the office (70 miles round trip to the office, and I work from home at least 2-3 days per week). I found a 2018 SE locally and after taking 3 test drives, using this forum, and other research I decided to pull the trigger and I am picking her up on Tuesday.

The dealer was great and I was able to have a mechanic of my choosing do a pre-purchase inspection. Some cosmetic issues that I will work on (mostly paint) but the mechanic had no concerns mechanically and said she looked great for a low mileage car (only 36K miles). At the mechanics suggestion, the dealer is putting on new front breaks and installing new headlights/fog lamps. They put on brand new 165/65r14 tires before listing it for

The dealership we are at is a local "mom & pop" type store - and they don't do wheel alignments so I am going to do that first thing. After reading on this site, I also am going to going to have the CVT fluid changed as all of the documentation on the car doesn't specify whether that has been done yet (it has had regular oil changes though - although the next oil change I am going to make sure they use 0W-20 as I believe the last oil change was 5W-30).

So, hello I welcome any suggestions/tips on other things to consider once I take control!

[Cobrajet]

Welcome aboard! Post up some pics when you take delivery!

[fidget071577]

I have a 2018 G4 ES with the CVT. The reason you don't find anything about changing the CVT fluid is probably because it is only done every 60,000 miles. I have 187,000 on my stock CVT and I got here by changing the CVT fluid and the external filter every 60k. Congrats on the purchase, you are stepping into a very reliable car. This is my second Mirage, my first Mirage was a 91 S' Coupe and I drove it for 550k before the engine blew. I had to weld the drivers door back on twice. The engine far out lasted the body

[Mark]

I have a 2018 G4 ES with the CVT. The reason you don't find anything about changing the CVT fluid is probably because it is only done every 60,000 miles. I have 187,000 on my stock CVT and I got here by changing the CVT fluid and the external filter every 60k. Congrats on the purchase, you are stepping into a very reliable car. This is my second Mirage, my first Mirage was a 91 S' Coupe and I drove it for 550k before the engine blew. I had to weld the drivers door back on twice. The engine far out lasted the body

I see no reference to changing CVT fluid @ 60,000 miles on schedule 1 or 2 of the maintenance schedules.

Schedule 1 states "Change automatic transaxle/transmission fluid" every 30,000 miles.

Schedule 2 states "Change transfer oil" every 60,000 miles, but that would not apply to a Mirage/G4. Transfer oil would be part of a 4WD or AWD vehicle like the Outlander Sport, & it is separate from the transmission fluid.

I am looking at my 2017 Mirage Maintenance Schedules, & I highly doubt the G4 is any different.

[Mark]

The dealership we are at is a local "mom & pop" type store - and they don't do wheel alignments so I am going to do that first thing. After reading on this site, I also am going to going to have the CVT fluid changed as all of the documentation on the car doesn't specify whether that has been done yet (it has had regular oil changes though - although the next oil change I am going to make sure they use 0W-20 as I believe the last oil change was 5W-30).

One forum member received free oil changes every 5,000 miles with his Mirage purchase. 5W-30 conventional oil was used each time. After approximately 60 free oil changes (300,000+ miles), his Mirage engine was still doing fine.

Other markets (outside of North America) don't limit the oil choice to 0W-20 only for the Mirage. I wouldn't be overly concerned about 5W-30 oil being used.

[fidget071577]

I see no reference to changing CVT fluid @ 60,000 miles on schedule 1 or 2 of the maintenance schedules.

Schedule 1 states "Change automatic transaxle/transmission fluid" every 30,000 miles.

Schedule 2 states "Change transfer oil" every 60,000 miles, but that would not apply to a Mirage/G4. Transfer oil would be part of a 4WD or AWD vehicle like the Outlander Sport, & it is separate from the transmission fluid.

I am looking at my 2017 Mirage Maintenance Schedules, & I highly doubt the G4 is any different.

Unfortunately the maintenance schedule is done the way it is because it fails to instruct you to change the external filter. I'm at 187k miles and have changed the CVT fluid and filter every 60k. The dealership will tell you that the filter is un serviceable but you can get the filter from cobra transmission in Florida and change it yourself. There are several videos available on YouTube showing how it is done.

[Fummins]

Unfortunately the maintenance schedule is done the way it is because it fails to instruct you to change the external filter. I'm at 187k miles and have changed the CVT fluid and filter every 60k. The dealership will tell you that the filter is un serviceable but you can get the filter from cobra transmission in Florida and change it yourself. There are several videos available on YouTube showing how it is done.

You can also buy the filterS from the Mitsu dealer if you have the patience. Or buy from Nissan or gm dealers or rockauto or a raybestos distributor. There's lots of post on this forum that predate the lubetubes.

[Mark]

Unfortunately the maintenance schedule is done the way it is because it fails to instruct you to change the external filter. I'm at 187k miles and have changed the CVT fluid and filter every 60k. The dealership will tell you that the filter is un serviceable but you can get the filter from cobra transmission in Florida and change it yourself. There are several videos available on YouTube showing how it is done.

Maintenance Schedule #2 doesn't even indicate the need to change automatic transmission fluid. Only Schedule #1 indicates changing it @ 30,000 mile intervals. Changing fluid without changing the filter is like putting dirty underwear back on after a shower.

Their maintenance schedules are quite vague and apply to various Mitsubishi vehicles. As long as you get past the 5-year/60,000 mile bumper-to-bumper & the 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty, the dealership/company doesn't really care.

Since one schedule indicates changing automatic transmission fluid every 30,000 miles & the other schedule makes no mention of it, a person needs to decide what is best for their own vehicle. I see no reference to a 60,000 miles fluid change for a CVT, but it's good to know that interval is working for your vehicle.

On a personal level, I have a manual (no filters). I changed the fluid at the recommended 30,000 mile interval of schedule #1. Since it looked so clean & good @ 30,000 miles, I am going to 50,000 mile intervals from now on. Those are things you can notice when you do these things yourself. 50,000 mile interval may not even be necessary for a manual, but replacing fluid is cheap compared to the alternative.

[Dirk Diggler]

You got a 192k miles out of a Versa? Congrats to you my friend. Was it a manual or CVT? And if it was a CVT, did you ever have to replace it?

[fidget071577]

Maintenance Schedule #2 doesn't even indicate the need to change automatic transmission fluid. Only Schedule #1 indicates changing it @ 30,000 mile intervals. Changing fluid without changing the filter is like putting dirty underwear back on after a shower.

Their maintenance schedules are quite vague and apply to various Mitsubishi vehicles. As long as you get past the 5-year/60,000 mile bumper-to-bumper & the 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty, the dealership/company doesn't really care.

Since one schedule indicates changing automatic transmission fluid every 30,000 miles & the other schedule makes no mention of it, a person needs to decide what is best for their own vehicle. I see no reference to a 60,000 miles fluid change for a CVT, but it's good to know that interval is working for your vehicle.

On a personal level, I have a manual (no filters). I changed the fluid at the recommended 30,000 mile interval of schedule #1. Since it looked so clean & good @ 30,000 miles, I am going to 50,000 mile intervals from now on. Those are things you can notice when you do these things yourself. 50,000 mile interval may not even be necessary for a manual, but replacing fluid is cheap compared to the alternative.

Definitely cheaper than the alternative. My 18 g4 still gets down the road like when I bought her in 2018. I'm the original owner and have done all maintenance myself from day one. I use the car for rideshare and keep it running at its best as much as possible. The first 52 miles of the 187k were from test driving prior to purchase. Definitely been great money maker