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Mitsubish Mirage; Not as well built as a Metro
Topic Started: Dec 14 2015, 09:46 PM (5,521 Views)
mt999999
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Self-Declared "Genious"

There are way too many Mirage fanatics butting in here, so I'll throw out my two cents. I haven't gotten a close look at a new Mirage, or gotten to drive one, but I'm not crazy about them. I'm not saying that they are bad cars, but they are ugly, and WAY too modern for my taste. The features many consider convenient, like power windows, bluetooth, rear view cameras (not sure if they have them), touch screen radios, heated seats, power mirrors and dimable lights, etc. really annoy me.

I love dead-basic things like my metro, wind up alarm clock, old computers, and aforementioned Nokia 3395. I will be devastated when T-mobile takes down the 2g networks.

Perhaps the Mirage is an OK car, but no one can argue that the Metro is still the king. So much easier to work on too! I'd really like to see what a Mirage looks like in 20 years. Will they be as easy to grab as Metros on craigslist? Will they hold up as well? Will they have as large of a fan base? Will they still get the same gas mileage? Will the parts be as easy to find? I bet the answer to all of these is a big, fat, NO.
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Freeman
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The Family Man

The late 80's CRXs had similar fuel economy to the VX if I recall correctly. They were carbureted motors though, iirc.

Side note, the VTEC-E motor is one of the CHEAPEST motors to find. You can swap the motor into a Honda chassis if you are willing to add a bit of additional wiring. I think finding an appropriate ECU is tough though. I just know many people gut the VX and swap in 'big' motors to make them go fast, often times junking the D15 OE engine.

I was eyeing a Mirage when I bought my Fit. I wanted a 4 door hatch that got over 30 MPG. There are probably 30-40 different models that fit in that criteria. Anyway, I went with 'what I know' and stuck with Honda. The Mirage used market is slim at the moment.
Edited by Freeman, Dec 16 2015, 06:44 AM.
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starscream5000
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Got 70 MPG?

cwatkin
Dec 15 2015, 06:00 PM
5. I know there is the Dodge Dart and I see a ton of them around here. This might be the best car ever made but I can't get over the fact it is a Chrysler. It looks like from this: http://www.carcomplaints.com/Dodge/Dart/ that is might be a pretty decent car. You have to respect that the issues in the first model year appear to have been corrected on the newer units.

You see more complaints about a car than you do praise. That goes for any make across the board. The first year owner's (myself included) in the Dodge Dart Community are largely trouble free. We've already got people with 130K+ miles on theirs without any issues aside from needing to do routine maintenance and such. I have almost 40K on mine and no issues. Most issues with the first year model were from the DDCT owners, which FCA has already released updates to the TCM to cure those issues a long time ago.
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cwatkin


We also have a Nissan dealer here that I forgot about. I will definitely add the Versa to my comparison when/if the time comes. I see tons of them driving around.

I personally also hate the touch screen radios and such that are becoming common on cars these days. Could the one in the Mirage be swapped with an aftermarket or is it pretty integrated into the car like some are these days?

Conor
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cwatkin


I think the DDCT is a neat idea. One of my friends has a Ford Focus and I guess this model has really had some growing pains with that transmission. His has been in the shop like 3 times for that problem alone. He says the one in the Dart is made by the same company but isn't the same model as the one in his Focus.

Conor
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Car Nut
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I rented a Versa Note, with CVT, for the weekend this past summer. Nice car, but with driving very conservatively, the best I could manage was 38 mpg. Not impressive enough for me to buy one. I had a 2001 Civic EX, automatic that got 41-42 mpg without trying hard.
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Freeman
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The Family Man

I hate most radios that are anything other than a small display, a knob, and a couple buttons. Touch screen displays are definitely some of my least favorite. I will say that I despise heavily integrated radios. My radio bezel (in my Fit) had the climate controls attached to it as one piece and required them to be removed to change the radio. It was a pain in the butt, but the stock radio was a STANDARD double DIN radio. So I was able to replace it easily.
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cwatkin


Some cars have the climate control as part of the radio so you really can't change this out. It is an "all in one" system with climate control, navigation, etc.

Conor
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aaronvincent
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Mr Mojo Risin'

You even think about buying a Nissan Versa and I'm going to reach through this computer and beat you about the head :lol Those things are the modern equivalent of 1980's Hyundai cars (junk).

To be honest I'm not a huge fan of modern cars but the Mirage is quite the little machine if equipped with a 5 speed manual. The CVT auto is a slug at best and a drain at worst, go for the manual and you will know where your money went. They are decently put together and can be had rather cheap, better than any chevrolet spark that's for sure. They are a little cramped but to a metro owner, you'd never know the difference :D I despise Chrysler with all of my being and will never again own any product manufactured by their ham-fisted engineers (from what I hear the Dart is a VERY good car but from experience I refuse to by American cars ever again). Not saying they are bad cars, just a personal vendetta against them. The Honda Civic is a decent car as well but because this is a metro forum, and you're all mostly cheap bastards/bastardettes I can see why the mirage would appeal to you all. They are decent vehicles at a decent price in a modern time.

Remember, you get what you pay for. That being said when it is time for the retirement of my daily driver (not anytime soon) I will be heading down to the local Toyota dealer and ordering a white Corolla LE. Again, personal preference.
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cwatkin


I guess I will have to test drive the Nissan Versa just to see how bad it is. It looks like they have a problem with transmissions failing but only the CVT. http://www.carcomplaints.com/Nissan/Versa/2012/transmission/ The Mirage and Dart certainly look better in terms of problems.

Yes, I would buy any of these small cars with the manual and forget about the CVT.

Yes, Chrysler has put out some real junk and I would be hard pressed to buy one. I know one guy who bought like 4 in a row and they all died a horrible untimely death. A couple were 2.7s which were just bad engines. I kept telling him don't buy another Chrysler so he gets a Jeep and starts having problems with it. He didn't think they were the same thing. After the transmission went out he got a Nissan and never looked back.

Conor
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starscream5000
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Got 70 MPG?

cwatkin
Dec 16 2015, 01:19 PM
I think the DDCT is a neat idea. One of my friends has a Ford Focus and I guess this model has really had some growing pains with that transmission. His has been in the shop like 3 times for that problem alone. He says the one in the Dart is made by the same company but isn't the same model as the one in his Focus.

Conor
I think your buddy may be a little confused. The DDCT in the Dart is Manufactured by Fiat and was used previously in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
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WiscoMetro
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Seeking the Science of MPG

cwatkin
 
I personally also hate the touch screen radios and such that are becoming common on cars these days.

I don't like touchscreen radios either. If I were to get a new car(college student here, not going to happen) My 4 disqualifications would be a touchscreen radio, passenger side gas cap, low profile tires, and if it was EPA rated less than 40 hwy. Also it would need to be manual, I make exception though for electric cars since they are single speeds, neither auto or manual. Also electric cars will always take too long to charge no matter how much R&D goes into them so I feel gas cars will continue at least for long distances.

But hey we can use as many 40+ MPG cars out there as we can to displace SUV's that never go offroad and Pickups that never see a stack of firewood. I have nothing against the mirage but I like the Metro and will keep it as my long distance car after I go electric. To quote the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery:"A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away", so compared to other cars Metro's are perfection. ;)
Edited by WiscoMetro, Dec 16 2015, 08:13 PM.
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aaronvincent
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Mr Mojo Risin'

It's like EVERY freakin car has a stupid touchscreen setup of some kind now, only the really low level cars (like the mirage and versa) don't have it. It's really really annoying and a huge turnoff for me buying a new car. Not to mention I can't imagine the cost when they all start failing in 15 years :shake A nightmare. Good luck finding one of those at the junkyard

As for the Chrysler thing, that's just me. I'm sure their cars have gotten leaps better since my Plymouth Breeze experience of the late 90s I just genuinely love my Toyotas too much (somewhat unhealthily). GM is in this same category for me after my 2010 Cobalt LT experience :die
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cwatkin


I would only buy a touch screen radio type car IF that part could be interchanged with an aftermarket unit like a Kenwood. I wouldn't want something all integrated into the car. Yes, this could become a nightmare if you keep the car for long.

As for the Versa, what is your main complaint? My parents had one as a rental car while they were on vacation. This was over the past couple years so a relatively new model. I can't see a rental one being a "high end" model either. They didn't seem to think it was a bad car. They said it was a hatchback and convenient for their luggage. Keep in mind they own a Mercedes-Benz and an Acura, both purchased new. They don't just buy cheap old beaters like I do! Hearing the Versa isn't a bad car from them means something to me. I have never been in one but obviously the one their were in can't have been that big of a turd. Is it more of an issue with long term reliability? With a rental car this isn't a concern unless the problem occurs while you are driving it.

Now my parents had some car in the past as a rental car that was bad. They still talk about it to this day and call it the "Yabba Dabba Do! car". It was some cheap Hyundai or Kia product of 10-15 years ago. I think it might have been a Hyundai Excel. It was an automatic transmission and no matter how hard you pressed the gas, it just wouldn't go. They said that it would have gone faster if you had gotten out and pushed or done it Fred Flintstone style. Getting on the highway was dangerous and passing was out of the question. They also mentioned that is was a bright ugly color. I guess bright colors are for either really cheap cars or really expensive ones as the one review stated.

My parents travel a lot and have had newer model Kia and Hyundai cars as rentals. They say they are nothing like the one they had in the past.

Anyway, the fuel mileage of the Mirage are appealing and I will definitely consider one. At least my blue 1992 Geo is back together and driving as of today.

Conor
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aaronvincent
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Mr Mojo Risin'

I drove a silver 2015 Nissan Versa sedan with the automatic from El Paso TX to Grand Canyon State Park Arizona (an 8 hour ride each way) in March of this year and it was an absolutely terrible rental car. The speed limit is 75mph through the outskirts of el paso and once I got up to that speed the car was buzzing tremendously from the front, it was shaking the dashboard through the steering column and I felt it in the gas pedal. The interior gauges were some kind of odd orange/amber color that was super hard to read and everything felt incredibly cheap inside, like a hard cheap laptop with some surface texture. The seats were of a really cheap stretched cloth variety that picked up even light stains. Lots of interior noise at highway speeds, my 93 corolla is quieter. There was even some panel gap in the trunk area which I was surprised to see on a modern car. The AC really couldn't keep up on the highway either and the tires felt too skinny (caused a lot of unsafe leaning on those twisty mountain roads near Alpine). Overall it was a very poor experience, the car felt sort of "slapped together". I definitely wouldn't own one, I'd rather drive my 25 year old beater mobile everywhere. The mileage was decent at least, around 35 mpg.

Reminds me of a Cavalier I rented when those things still skulked around, except I think the Versa felt cheaper (compared to a 15 year old GM economy sedan) :shake

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