Cars , Cars and more Cars for the car guys

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Breedlove

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We plan on moving out of Houston next spring and to travel back and forth to Houston when needed we are looking at a good mileage car . We also wanted a small car to beat on the back roads . We looked at the Fiat 500 , cute car but even owners complain about problems . Talking to my brother the miser , he suggested Mitsubishi . He has a 1999 Eclipse with 264,000 miles . Of course he says everything still works great .
We went to Mitsubishi to waist time and took a Mirage out , rated the highest mileage gasoline car. The top level Mirage is only 13500.00 and I believe the best warranty in the car industry . 10 year / 100,000Mi powertrain. 5year 60 k bumper to bumper.
Now has anyone owned a Mitsubishi and had great success . We have a pickup and DW has an Optima we want this to take the place of our motorcycles. 13K does not buy much any more
 
I vote for an auto with a very good safety rating. It will be worth it if some else decides to hit you.
 
I can buy a new Mirage 5 star safety rating for 13500.00 with a 10 year drivetrain warranty and 5 year 60 k bumper to bumper . Why buy used ?
 
Breedlove said:
I can buy a new Mirage 5 star safety rating for 13500.00 with a 10 year drivetrain warranty and 5 year 60 k bumper to bumper . Why buy used ?
Click to expand...

Don't want to get into copyright infringement issues, so I won't quote more than these two sentences from what Consumer Reports has to say about the 2018 Mitsubishi Mirage:

The Mitsubishi Mirage lives up to its name. While its low $16,000 sticker price and good fuel economy of 37 mpg overall may conjure up an inviting image of a good, economical runabout, that illusion quickly dissipates into the haze when you drive this tiny, regrettable car.
Click to expand...

They go on to say more about poor handling, excessive noise, and a very low owner satisfaction rating. But they did stop short of a famous review from the past when they closed with something along the lines of, "When all is said, it was a pleasure to slam the door and walk away."

I'd recommend you look elsewhere.
 
I have read these reviews from rating agencies . Supposedly soft suspension , noisey , underpowered . NOW there is a website where owners comment and it seems to be nothing but good .

When I took the Mirage out it was underpowered but made interstate speeds fine. Ran up a ramp in Houston to 85 mph , it was sprung soft . It gave a different feeling when you hit different pavement . I also took a Honda Fit out the Fit was noisier then the Mirage . I like to talk to owners and get owners experiences because sometimes auto manufacturers buy ratings . To me the mileage and warranty are hard to pass up for a run around car.
When I see Mirages on Craigslist ( used ) lots of them have 150K plus .
 
You might check the 5 year cost of ownership, and compare with other cars you like. Actually, the Chevy Spark and Honda Fit come out ahead in this class. The biggest cost tends to be depreciation, not fuel.

I have friends with BMW's, that have very nice warranties. But they still have the hassle of getting things fixed at the dealer, that would not have broken if they had bought a Honda or Toyota :LOL:
 
I stopped paying any attention to what Consumer Reports has to say about cars years ago after I read a report on my 1990 Astro van which I thought was wonderful and served me well for 19 years and almost 300,000 miles when I finally traded it in. During that time there were never any costly repairs and still original engine, transmission and all other major components working just fine at trade in time. CR rated it basically as junk.

On the other hand, My wife had a 2009 Toyota Corolla which CR rated as one of the golden ones blessed by the Gods with the utmost reliability and so on. The damn thing left her stranded 3 times ( only car that has ever done that to one of us) and was the most uncomfortable and noisy car I have ever been in. NO CR car opinions for moi. I recommend driving the car one is considering, talking to real owners and then arriving at one's own conclusions.
 
I hear nothing but bad about Smart Cars ( I don't want one too small ) but I have a neighbor with 300,000 on one he brags no problems . Such a tiny car to drive so far
 
Let us know how the Mirage works out for you.
 
Will do , I am playing chicken with the dealer right now . Closer to Christmas prices go down ..... Wanting to see 13K out the door . Mitsubishi is Japanese , built in Thailand . Mitsubishi just got a new CEO so he just might tell the dealers to get these out the door .
LOL
 
Please compare the resale values to Toyota and Honda at three and five years. You can't give a Mitsubishi away here. Unreliable junk.

I had my Toyota serviced yesterday at the dealer. Wasted a fair amount of time looking at the new inventory. The C-HR, Toyota's answer to Honda's HR-V, is manufactured in Turkey. The automobile manufacturing business is now truly globalized.
 
If you want to drive in Houston (aggressive drivers in large cars) I would shy away from sub-compact. A civic SI is a blast to drive and should easily yield 30mpg (premium) and can be had for 25k OTD. A 4 cyl larger car like Altima or accord has decent power and good economy.

If you want to stay super cheap I’d say plenty of people like Honda Fits. Honda is more fun to drive compared to Toyota.
 
2017 VW Jetta TSI, turbocharged, 150 HP, six speed auto trans.

Bought at VW of Thw Woodlands in July for $14,800 ($16,004 with TT&L)

Last trip was Houston to Connecticut and back, 4,100 miles. Drove it like I stole it and had the cruise set at 75 most of the time.

Averaged 41.1 MPG.

Good luck with the Mirage...
 
tfudtuckerpucker said:
I have friends with BMW's, that have very nice warranties. But they still have the hassle of getting things fixed at the dealer, that would not have broken if they had bought a Honda or Toyota :LOL:
Click to expand...

I had a honda civic (lots of issues), plot (no issues until 170,000 than it went to hell) and have a Lexus ES350, replaced a Lexus RX350 and a BMW 328. Never an issue with the BMW or Lexus (just oil changes and regular maintenance, the honda civic had several issues as stated.
 
Breedlove said:
I can buy a new Mirage 5 star safety rating for 13500.00 with a 10 year drivetrain warranty and 5 year 60 k bumper to bumper . Why buy used ?
Click to expand...

Not sure but I believe a 5 star rating on a small car vs a large car may be different. I feel that the large car will win out in a head on. I still believe safety would be priority 1, followed by reliability and cost.
 
As others have said, it is a Mitsubishi.....

I think they MIGHT be a bit better than a Chrysler, but if so not by much...

Not many sales.... also heard they might go under, so that 10 year warranty might not be worth it....

Check out sales....

Auto Sales
 
Texas Proud said:
As others have said, it is a Mitsubishi.....

I think they MIGHT be a bit better than a Chrysler, but if so not by much...

Not many sales.... also heard they might go under, so that 10 year warranty might not be worth it....

Check out sales....

Auto Sales
Click to expand...

Whoa...check out the Bentley & Maserati sales! They will never keep the doors open :LOL:

My Volvo 26th place of 36

I have had enough of cheap cars and expensive repairs. Now I just go right to the expensive repairs
 
Last edited:
capjak said:
Not sure but I believe a 5 star rating on a small car vs a large car may be different. I feel that the large car will win out in a head on. I still believe safety would be priority 1, followed by reliability and cost.
Click to expand...

I'm with capjak - preventing injury or death is a higher priority for me than saving money. :cool:
 
I would rather prefer a year old used car with a good history of reliability. You jnow, a car that is more substantially mechanically.

We are in the process of swapping cars getting rid of a Civic SI and a IS250 and we ordered a 2018 Camry Hybrid. The new car gets 52 mpg in city driving a d 48.5 mpg at 75-80 mph. And it is surprisingly quick. We paid $26k vs. $29k MSRP.
 
OP - how about renting the car for a day or two and driving it all over, or go on a trip. Simply taking it for a spin from the dealer won't tell you much.

When I did a test drive of a Sonata, I fell for one of the dealer tricks... They had about 2 gallons of gas in it. After I bought it, I realized the car was a lot heavier with a full tank of gas and this affected the acceleration of the 4 cyl engine (it was about 2002).
I really wished I had the 6 cyl then entire 12 years I owned it.
 
Don't believe everything you hear about the Fiat 500. Mine is a first year model and is an amazing little car. I have over 100,000 miles without a single issue. Used ones can be found for 6-7 grand.
 
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