New Mitsubishi Mirage?

[NibbanaBanana]

I'm about to pull the trigger on a new Mitsubishi Mirage. The last subcompact economy car and last year for it supposedly.

From what I see on YouTube this is a great car. Cheap, simple and bulletproof. It is what it is and sounds perfect for trips to WalMart and carrying my dogs around.

Any BITOG'ers have experience with these?

 

[Rogueman2016s]

all in all I hear they're decent cars there's a ton of them around the roads where I am. The biggest complaint I read about was the rather anemic and lethargic power train. mountainous regions or lots of highway merging this vehicle would probably suffer the most.

 

[skyactiv]

I'd rather have a base Nissan Versa with the 5 speed manual. 122 HP with a stick vs 78. The only one that has to like the car is you.

 

[Passport1]

Not with that particular model but my experience with Mitsubishi is they are reliable and well built. Not too flashy and over the top with tech but they just get the job done.

 

[macarose]

They are so much cheaper at the wholesale dealer auctions it's beyond belief.

Plenty of 2023 and 2024s to choose from. Even Mitsubishi dealers can't move these things right now.

My car buying service hasn't seen a customer of these for over a year and my largest customers are in the rideshare space. That's because these vehicles just aren't a good fit for what you would think would be a perfect fit.

It's not a bad car. In fact, it has actually been the top ranked subcompact new car when it comes to reliability according to my study, the Long-Term Quality Index. But I definitely wouldn't buy a Mirage new. The demand is just not there for the price that they're asking.

 

[JavierH19]

I'd buy the mirage over the versa or rio, better mpg and weaker engine means less tax on the cvt. Only thing I'd do is change the cvt fluid every 20-30k miles with hpl cvt. I'd run nothing but 30-40 euro oil in the engine. But look for a used one as macarose said.

 

[fantastic]

Just read some wikipedia & sounds like Nissan has the major stake since 2016. Don't know anything about that Mirage but I did have a trip I took out west, 23 yrs ago, in a Gallant & it was a neat car at the time.

 

[Vercingetorix]

Tape the seams and hypermile.

 

[GMBoy]

Nice basic car. I got one cheap to flip and the person who bought it still has it (2yrs) and it has been great. I really got kick out of the cost cutting so apparent all thru the car. The door panels were a single blow molded piece, the rear seat had no design like the fronts -just a flat seat lol. The battery looked bigger than the motor under hood lol

 

[JTK]

Have a chat with @Fleetmech81

He knows the Mirage inside and out.

You just don't see many Mitsubishis in general in my area anymore. Any time a dealer pops up, they don't last long and close up shop. I wouldn't buy a brand new one just based on lack of dealer network. A good deal on a used one, absolutely if it's the vehicle I wanted.

 

[Rogueman2016s]

I'd run nothing but 30-40 euro oil in the engine.

Why?

 

[macarose]

I'm about to pull the trigger on a new Mitsubishi Mirage. The last subcompact economy car and last year for it supposedly.

From what I see on YouTube this is a great car. Cheap, simple and bulletproof. It is what it is and sounds perfect for trips to WalMart and carrying my dogs around.

Any BITOG'ers have experience with these?

Had a nice lunch break and decided to check one of the larger wholesale auction databases.

Over 50 Mirages, 2023 and 2024 with fewer than 30,000 miles were available. That is before the weekly surge of units that begins Monday evening and ends on late Thursday afternoon.

These are scattered all over the country. About a half-dozen were in the New England area that had less than 5,000 miles on them. Later this week there will be a few more.

Feel free to PM me if you want any more details.

 

[supton]

I tested both the Versa and Mirage back in ‘14. I liked the Versa more, it was more basic and true to form, I thought, for what a bare bones car ought to be. But I still like the Mirage, hatch is more useful. But I’d rather do stick, even though I am growing fond of my current cvt’s.

 

[odie]

all in all I hear they're decent cars there's a ton of them around the roads where I am. The biggest complaint I read about was the rather anemic and lethargic power train. mountainous regions or lots of highway merging this vehicle would probably suffer the most.

Have seen Mirage hatch and G4s' fly past us on the interstate going 80+.

 

[odie]

Has high regards for their MIRAGEs' and many how tos' for them .

 

[Rogueman2016s]

Have seen Mirage hatch and G4s' fly past us on the interstate going 80+.

oh no doubt the mirage cant do 80 mph, the wife had a 2014 Chevy spark that was capable of those speeds and handled quite well and wasn't much more powerful maybe around 84 hp.

 

[JavierH19]

Why?

One could've surmised that 3 cylinders running at a higher rpm to make up for the decreased power would have them getting hot and someone tore down a high mileage mirage engine that looked very clean on the top end but the rings were disgusting and it was well maintained with synthetic oil. Those pistons get very hot and it's no surprise. Driving at a slow 65 mph on the highway gets the mirage to about 3200-3400 rpm and with 3 cylinders each one is firing way faster than a 4 cyl that runs at a slower speed at around 2200 rpm. My v8 truck at 65 is under 1500 rpm and there is both more time between firings so the piston can lose heat and for the oil jets to spray the underside of the piston to cool them down some more.

 

[Rogueman2016s]

One could've surmised that 3 cylinders running at a higher rpm to make up for the decreased power would have them getting hot and someone tore down a high mileage mirage engine that looked very clean on the top end but the rings were disgusting and it was well maintained with synthetic oil. Those pistons get very hot and it's no surprise. Driving at a slow 65 mph on the highway gets the mirage to about 3200-3400 rpm and with 3 cylinders each one is firing way faster than a 4 cyl that runs at a slower speed at around 2200 rpm. My v8 truck at 65 is under 1500 rpm and there is both more time between firings so the piston can lose heat and for the oil jets to spray the underside of the piston to cool them down some more.

I understand what you’re saying but it doesn’t necessarily work that way. Amsoil has an interesting article on the “possible adverse effect” of running a thicker oil.

 

[JavierH19]

I understand what you’re saying but it doesn’t necessarily work that way. Amsoil has an interesting article on the “possible adverse effect” of running a thicker oil.

It's more so for the detergent and oxidation resistance that one would get a euro oil which is very commonly found in 30 and 40 grades and outside of the us market the mirage or "space star" runs 20, 30 and 40 grade in the owners manual and still allows for a grade above 40 which is 50 as that can be used as well and that's used a lot in the middle east. Mitsubishi on their non US website sell Mitsu brand a3/b4 euro 40 grade which says is appropriate for the mirage engine and claim that it cleans the best. There also exists HKS 0w-25 which can be used even if it's not officially in their list of recommendations.

 

[PandaBear]

From what I have heard they are no frill basic cars that does not have an impressive interior but very durable. Problem is likely very hard to find a dealership if you want warranty service or to buy parts.

How good of a deal are you getting would make or break the purchase.