Is this the end of the Mirage?

[Dirk Diggler]

Mark, in 2017,I could have bought 2 bags of Doritos for $4. Now, that same $4 only gets me ONE BAG.
OMG, call the waaaaaahmbulance!!!!!!!!
Get over it, and MOVE ON!

Mark has helped alot of folks on here with his "rants". You're ranting about corn chips. F#ck off, your upsetting the zen balance around here.

[Mark]

Mark has helped alot of folks on here with his "rants". You're ranting about corn chips. F#ck off, your upsetting the zen balance around here.

88coltturbo's points were well taken, & I understand where he is coming from. I don't want any hard feelings, & I sincerely mean that!

I am guilty of treating each thread as a new conversation. Thus, I do overly repeat various things to those who follow most of the threads.

Regardless of how I may present things, I am a big advocate of the Mirage. The car wasn't even on my radar until 2017. I had written it off like most clueless people at first. I had thought about getting a daily driver for years, and my search sorts were hatchback, manual transmission, for under $10,000. I wanted to extend the life of my 2011 Forester, & I have always liked hatchbacks/wagons in the past. I missed owning one!

Thus, for a long time I was looking at used cars such as the Yaris, Fit, Scion models, and the Mazda2. At some point, these brand new Mirage hatchbacks started showing up within my 250 mile radius search on cars.com. So I started investigating them, & it's how I ended up here today. Fummin's fleet experience, KBB's customer reviews, and European reviews of the Mirage erased any doubts I had about the car.

It was a fun journey to get here, and for a long time the Mirage remained very affordable. I would say somewhat good deals existed from 2017 to early 2021. Things changed drastically around April/May of 2021.

I understand the meaning of inflation, but there's a big difference between being able to buy two cars for the price of one today. Things have changed that drastically! I'm sure Doritos may have doubled in price, too. Simple items like eggs are 4-5 times more expensive. Buying eggs, however, is not the same as buying a new car.

I still think a highly discounted Mirage was a great alternative to buying a used car. The lack of discounts recently has made it lose some of its shine in my eyes, but it still may be the best option for others. We all know that the other models I mentioned above are no longer sold in North America, & even the Chevy Spark has fallen recently.

I do think pricing of an economy car does make a difference. I would base some of that theory on last year's Mirage sales. Despite all the major competition fading away in recent years, 2022 was the worst Mirage sales (including 2014-2022). I realize other factors may come into play. Availability may have been lacking, but that may be related to low demand, too???

The bottom line - small cars are not popular in the States today. Chevy dropped pretty much all cars (except the Malibu) prior to the Spark, & the Spark still had a terrible final year (worst year since the introduction year of 2012). It did worse than the Mirage in 2022, but they were also phasing out the model. Neither car did great this past year, & I would have thought a tough economy would have pushed people to more affordable vehicles.

I like simple economy cars that offer an affordable base trim level, but I am not the norm. I know that, too! I don't like the trend of what's happening with the small cars in the States, & I should probably just leave at that.

I don't want any hard feelings between 88coltturbo or anyone else for that matter. I'd rather eat popcorn & drink beer with Fummins & my buddy Dirk!

[7milesout]

I'd rather eat popcorn & drink beer with Fummins & my buddy Dirk!

What about me? Aren't we pals?

I forget, were you able to find your Mirage at a reasonable price?

[Mark]

What about me? Aren't we pals?

I forget, were you able to find your Mirage at a reasonable price?

Yes, you are welcome to join us for popcorn/beer & so is 88coltturbo & the rest of the gang, too! Life is too short to lose sleep over one's view about cars!