Hello everyone. My name is Lalo and I am a future Mirage owner.

Currently, I have a 2009 Mazda 3, but I am hoping to get rid of it soon. It is at 190,000 and I bought it off a guy who refused to maintain it for over 4 years so it's had a lot of problems. Between replacing the transmission, poor gas mileage (15-18 MPG on a good day), and just overall uncomfortable, I am done with it.

So now begins the search for a new car. Inevitably, I stumbled upon the Mitsubishi Mirage. Initially I was put off by some of the negative reviews and I thought it was something to avoid. But then I began reading more into it and seeing all the happy owners rave about the car that I decided to give it a chance. I'm glad I did because I test drove one at a dealership and I could not be happier. It feels like a normal car. Yes it's simple, it's not the fastest, and it's not the most popular. But it does what I want perfectly: surprisingly comfortable, cheap to own, maintain, and insure, small, reliable, and fuel efficient. That's all I wanted in a car and that's what I found.

Unfortunately, a new Mirage is out of my price range here in California. Even at $12k offer I got, the total was going to be $13.5K. I could finance, but frankly I don't want to have another car payment. I'm trying to save for the down payment of a home in a few years, so I'm trying to avoid having to spend much on a car. That being said, I am more than happy to shop for a used car. And a Mirage used runs between $4K-$7K which is much more in line with my budget.

However, this is going to be the 2nd used car I buy so now I am being more cautious rather than jumping on the first one I see. So that being said, are there any tips for someone shopping for a used Mirage? Besides the general inspection of any car, are there certain things I should check to make sure that I am getting a good Mirage? What is a good mileage for a used one? And does it matter what model year I buy? I am looking towards buying one by July, so any help would be really appreciated.

Thank you for your time and have a great day.