Chevy Spark discontinued. 2022 is its last model year.

[Mark]

This also assumes Mitsubishi isn't planning to discontinue the Mirage as well!

It would SEEM to be foolish on their part not to milk the old platform for at least another few years with GM abandoning the cheap seats.

Yaris gone, Fit gone, Prius c gone, Mazda 2 gone, all Ford small cars gone, all GM small cars gone, who cares what Chrysler makes - equals a good reason to keep the Mirage in their line up.

I honestly feel a more basic Mirage that sold for thousands less than the current base model may even draw some attention now. I don't see that happening, however.

Average new vehicle cost was $47,100 in 2021 for the States.

[Dirk Diggler]

I posted elsewhere on here about the Chevy Spark we owned briefly. Summing up, it was at the time the cheapest new car available. I thought it would be decent and it was decent until the head developed a leak at the gasket with oily, damp streak along most of the visible head-block joint. We dumped it back on the dealer when service said it was not leaking. Personally, I do not blame the techs for refusing to do a head gasket since the "flat rate" plus the commission incentive guarantees the tech will make no money on the deal.

My wife *****ed, complained and criticized miserably about that car since she claims she was not involved in the decision to get it. Then, late last year as horrible gas prices rising, she decides to get a Mitsu Mirage. It took a little while to realize the Mirage was VERY similar to the Spark! Except we got a loaded Mirage. Cruise really good. Spark had none but it was good practice!

I'm one to keep them (cars, anything) until the wheels fall off (or stops working properly) and then repair/restore as necessary.

There is another thing besides demand raising prices that your arrogant economics professor did not tell you: inflation. The fact of inflation robs you of value daily and the give-away schemes of today are propelling inflation rates promising to duplicate Germany between WWI % WWII.

I don't know man. If we can bail out the airlines, automotive, restaurant, hotel industries we can certainly bail out the American people. What would of been the alternative if the government didn't do anything? I'm thinking millions homeless with possibly every city looking like skid row in Los Angeles. It was the right call to help out with the stimulus payments especially considering almost 50% of American families can't even afford a $1k emergency. If half your population is living below or near the poverty level that's a recipe for societal destruction in my opinion.

Now I'm not discounting what you said about inflation at all. Everyone knew it was the price to pay to bail out American families during a crises of not their own doing. Wage stagnation is a critical problem for the US. One could argue America needs almost half its workforce to have low paying jobs and terrible quality of life in order for the other half to continue having cheap access to goods and services.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/29/econo...obs/index.html

[Dirk Diggler]

https://www.nationofchange.org/2021/...-near-poverty/

[MetroMPG]

No politics!

Future posts will be nuked.

(Too lazy to delete previous ones.)

[MetroMPG]

Yaris gone, Fit gone, Prius c gone, Mazda 2 gone, all Ford small cars gone, all GM small cars gone, who cares what Chrysler makes - equals a good reason to keep the Mirage in their line up.

Agreed, but I doubt that US Mirage sales will have much if any impact on the company's decision about what the future holds for our favourite little @&*$box.

Drop in the bucket.

[davidricardo86]

I posted elsewhere on here about the Chevy Spark we owned briefly. Summing up, it was at the time the cheapest new car available. I thought it would be decent and it was decent until the head developed a leak at the gasket with oily, damp streak along most of the visible head-block joint. We dumped it back on the dealer when service said it was not leaking. Personally, I do not blame the techs for refusing to do a head gasket since the "flat rate" plus the commission incentive guarantees the tech will make no money on the deal.

My wife *****ed, complained and criticized miserably about that car since she claims she was not involved in the decision to get it. Then, late last year as horrible gas prices rising, she decides to get a Mitsu Mirage. It took a little while to realize the Mirage was VERY similar to the Spark! Except we got a loaded Mirage. Cruise really good. Spark had none but it was good practice!

I'm one to keep them (cars, anything) until the wheels fall off (or stops working properly) and then repair/restore as necessary.

There is another thing besides demand raising prices that your arrogant economics professor did not tell you: inflation. The fact of inflation robs you of value daily and the give-away schemes of today are propelling inflation rates promising to duplicate Germany between WWI % WWII.

I'm assuming your Spark was not under warranty? So, you refused to pay for the head gasket replacement out of pocket and instead sold it? Sold it to the dealer? I'm confused.

Wouldn't it have been cheaper to just replace the head gasket vs replacing the entire car? Any competent tech can do it for the right price. Also, the Spark's small 4 cylinder engine shouldn't be too difficult to work on. Even by a hobby mechanic.

The last time I did a head gasket change was on my 1992 240SX with the CA18DET, many years ago. The metal head gasket started leaking even when i thought i torqued down all the head bolts right according to the factory manual. What a pain in the ass that was, I can't say it was fun. I switched over to the OEM head gasket and the leak went away. I may consider paying someone to do it for me now if I'm feeling super lazy or didn't have the time and could afford to delegate it.

I'm glad the Mirage isn't known for head gasket issues. I've got 120k miles on my 3a92 and push it hard on a daily with my deliveries. I would attempt a head gasket replacement on my Mirage even if it took a few days for me to get it all back together.

I've always liked the Spark but I like the Mirage more. The 3a92 is a great little 3 cylinder engine, super reliable. The next Mirage might be a Micra EV rebadge, my assumption.

[Fummins]

We had a 14' spark at work. It was quickly sold after the cvt was replaced for the second time(under warranty). It was a turd. Even though the car was free(literally won the thing) they still didn't want it!

[MetroMPG]

There are 4 latest generation Sparks in my neighbourhood. One house has two of them!

[7milesout]

I personally think that maybe a significant reason for the less than stellar sales of the Mirage is due to its styling. I think it is fairly decent looking. But it has taken a bit of time for the styling to really warm up to me. Yes I like it. However, I think the following is true.

It looks a bit too girly to me. And even though it is low in the h.p. department, a car doesn't have to LOOK like it is low in the h.p. department. I saw a VW similar HB drive by the other day. I believe it is bigger than the Mirage so not exactly apples to apples. But that thing *looked sporty. It "looks" like something that would be seen racing on a road course. And it has a more manly type of look to it. I think the Mirage looks kind of sissy. I still like it, but I'm not afraid to face reality (at least with the Mirage). That's part of why I call my car The Blueberry. It's a sissy kind of name for a sissy looking car.

Back when I was in automotive, there was a study done (I forget by who, but I don't think it was internal). People were requested to look at un-named vehicles (course anyone who knows cars knew every one in the pictures), and they were asked which cars they thought were more attractive. It was 100% clear, the cars that had a mean / mad / aggressive look to their front end (like the faces on the movie Cars) were always preferred over the cars that had a happy face. I forget which car had the happiest face, but it was completely crushed in this survey. It might have been an automotive magazine that did this study, I don't exactly remember. But, styling sells cars. Ladies want a car they feel give them a certain image, it doesn't matter if it has a V12 or if there is a gerbil running on a wheel under the hood. (Note: Not ALL women, but the vast majority don't care about the engine). And dudes prefer a car that at least has a sporty look to them.

I personally prefer a car that causes all the women to want to get in the car with me, and kiss me on the jaw. But I look like Shrek and smell twice as bad so that is going to have to be one helluva car. And I'm sure I couldn't afford it if it existed.

[Dirk Diggler]

I personally think that maybe a significant reason for the less than stellar sales of the Mirage is due to its styling. I think it is fairly decent looking. But it has taken a bit of time for the styling to really warm up to me. Yes I like it. However, I think the following is true.

It looks a bit too girly to me. And even though it is low in the h.p. department, a car doesn't have to LOOK like it is low in the h.p. department. I saw a VW similar HB drive by the other day. I believe it is bigger than the Mirage so not exactly apples to apples. But that thing *looked sporty. It "looks" like something that would be seen racing on a road course. And it has a more manly type of look to it. I think the Mirage looks kind of sissy. I still like it, but I'm not afraid to face reality (at least with the Mirage). That's part of why I call my car The Blueberry. It's a sissy kind of name for a sissy looking car.

Back when I was in automotive, there was a study done (I forget by who, but I don't think it was internal). People were requested to look at un-named vehicles (course anyone who knows cars knew every one in the pictures), and they were asked which cars they thought were more attractive. It was 100% clear, the cars that had a mean / mad / aggressive look to their front end (like the faces on the movie Cars) were always preferred over the cars that had a happy face. I forget which car had the happiest face, but it was completely crushed in this survey. It might have been an automotive magazine that did this study, I don't exactly remember. But, styling sells cars. Ladies want a car they feel give them a certain image, it doesn't matter if it has a V12 or if there is a gerbil running on a wheel under the hood. (Note: Not ALL women, but the vast majority don't care about the engine). And dudes prefer a car that at least has a sporty look to them.

I personally prefer a car that causes all the women to want to get in the car with me, and kiss me on the jaw. But I look like Shrek and smell twice as bad so that is going to have to be one helluva car. And I'm sure I couldn't afford it if it existed.

7miles, many ladies in Atlanta will be impressed you drive a car with multiple eco-awards attached to it. Our cars carbon footprint is smaller than a Prius IIRC? Anywho, take a shower, splash on some high end after shave, get some hip new glasses with weight on them, black or dark color, cool black tshirt, grey sport coat with the sleeves pushed up, Sonny Crockett Miami Vice style, and you'll be fighting cougars off with a 2x4! Get a new Mirage after a few years, all the 2021 and up look like angry baby Lancers in the front lol.