As I continue my research of the pros and cons of different Mirage model years (see my transmission questions here), I'm thinking about the reliability of the auto climate control system.

Because 14-15 MY Mirages seem plentiful and cheap, I'm interested in them. However, they all came standard with auto climate control, which leads me to wonder how big a negative that is.

I know there is a pretty strong preference in general for the manual climate controls on this forum, but since there is no choice on the 14-15's, here are my questions:

Primary question(s): Is there any major difference in reliability between the auto and manual control systems? I.e., is there any difference such as (for example) the manual system uses actual cables (simple and reliable) to move blend doors, etc., while the auto system uses vacuum servos (complicated and less reliable) to actuate the different modes? Or do both systems use the same mechanism of operation, and just the "head unit" is different? If the head unit is the only difference between the two systems, is the auto head unit relatively reliable?

Secondary question: Regardless of the mechanism of action and how complicated/reliable it is, does the auto system work relatively well to achieve whatever temperature is desired? My wife drives a Honda Civic, and that's the first car I ever had with an auto climate control system. I was skeptical of it, but I'll have to say that it does a pretty good job of quickly getting the temperature to where I want it and then keeping it there. Have people had the same experience with the Mirage auto climate system?

Thanks again!

P.S. I am aware of the right-side heater core clogging issue on the 14-15's and I'm not too worried about it. It seems that people have determined that it is possible to slide the core out of the driver's side with a little creative cutting of the hose extensions. So, I think I can handle that.