City ecodriving comparison: 2014 Mirage CVT vs. Mirage 5-speed vs. 1998 Metro 5-speed

[Frank Lee]

Finally saw a Mirage for real (what an odd sentence). Green like the one a few posts up. Looks like a worthy Metro successor. I like the styling.

[MetroMPG]

Ha - yes, funny. I'm not shy about saying I don't like the styling (to me it looks very dated for 2 years old... and it looked dated from day one). But I like the design/engineering.

I rarely see them myself, mainly because there's no Mitsu dealer in this little city. The closest is about an hour away. Also because they're only selling around 300-400 a month in Canada (about 4x that south of the border). Not exactly Ford F-150 numbers.

[awcook]

I have a Mitsu dealer about 7 minutes from my house and still hardly see any newer ones! In fact, I see more NEW high-end luxury cars than any year Mitsubishi. Kind of a shame that a car with the Mirage's gas mileage is so rare to find.

It could also be the area I live in (richer suburbs) that plays a role in it, but when I go to the inner city or to lower income areas, results are close to the same.

[Fat Charlie]

I stated to get excited when I was one last night, then remembered that I saw one this summer. This is manly SUV and pickup territory.

[PaleMelanesian]

There's a dealer across the street from my work, so I see them parked there every day. Only a few out on the roads, though. It's not a busy dealer.

At least they went out and made them with actual COLORS. There is the entire rainbow available over there - Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and even that pink/purple color. It's a refreshing change from the usual 50 shades of gray.

[MetroMPG]

There's a taxi company in Alabama using Mirages as cabs. Hard to beat them on overall cost/mile. Smart move, provided you can fit your fares inside!

[jcp123]

Heh, I saw my first Mirage as well the other day. It's been through a hard life already...it had been rear ended and I believe the front bumper showed accident evidence too.

[PaleMelanesian]

Originally Posted by jcp123

Heh, I saw my first Mirage as well the other day. It's been through a hard life already...it had been rear ended and I believe the front bumper showed accident evidence too.

Sadly, I expect this will be normal for these cars. They, and the Rio and Versa and others, will likely have a hard life. They're cheap, which means they're appealing to the kind of people who buy cheap cars and then treat them as cheap cars. Disposable transportation, in other words.

[MetroMPG]

I wonder if that applies to brand new cheap cars... they may not be pampered, but if you want to keep your warranty, you've got to at least follow the maintenance schedule.

[dirtydave]

They better take care of them!! I want a used one in a few years!!