I saw one of these POS the other day and thought about when I would be able to get one of these for next to nothing, cage it, add good rubber, and proceed to beat the E36 M3 out of it on the street at 35 mph, slow car fast style. I am guessing 4 years. Anyone else think sounds entertaining or am I alone.
Have you driven one? 
It's bad when Consumer Reports calls it the worst car they've ever driven.
You talking about a newer one?
The day Mitsu drops it or pulls out of North America.
...So pretty much any day now.
Driven5 wrote: ...So pretty much any day now.
Lolzers
Why wait and why spend so much?
There are plenty of Suzuki, Saab and Saturns that you could go with today and likely cheaper.
I recommend Saturn Ion with plastic panels removed.
Local Dodge dealer was giving them away free with a new Ram. I think I'd pass. The new Micra looks nice though.
http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/4814425812.html
Sure....Mirage for a grand. I bet this one drives better than that pile of crap they are selling new.
In reply to bmw88rider:
While I have no experience with the current model, I was interested in this generation when I was looking for a replacement for my Aspire in the early '00s. The Mirrage did not feel like an upgrade from the Aspire in any way.
I took a 2014 for a long test drive. While I didn't feel it was as awful as some people make it out to be, it wasn't much better either. I drove the "loaded" ES model, with auto climate control, push button start, etc... It still had a very cheap look and feel too it. The engine was quite rough. They offered it to me for a bit over $11k, but I'd prefer a 2 or 3 year old Civic, Corolla, Fiesta over the Mirage.
Wow... 11k for a new car? Man thats bad.
I haven't driven one but I think that bracing the E36 M3 out of it might help a bit.
I already have a Saab, I really want a few different Zuks, and a saturn (like a 97 wagon) is totally on my want list. This would be a "for beater status only" car. IE, go down town and park between two jack holes in trucks that are in the space. Exit through the hatch. I know they are E36 M3 but enjoy that fact. Think of the number of people on here that have owned/would own a Yugo. Same car.
I am a little bit of a sadist though...
I actually think they look really good. I wonder what's so bad and how easily it could be fixed. If you bring your 3 month old Mirage in for some airbag recall and it always has a Ecotec swap, will they still work on it?
Haha. The current Mirage probably doesn't either.
The right swaybars, seam welding, and some good springs really woke the car up though. I mean it's the same basic chassis as the all conquering Evo IV
It wasn't really that things were so bad with the car as much as it was a good example of "you get what you pay for". It felt exactly like what I'd expect for a new car costing only $11k. It really wasn't terrible, it just was cheap. Interior pieces where cheap and old-school looking. A fair amount of NVH, not very sharp responses from steering/suspension. The 5spd was surprisingly nice, but not Miata nice. If you didn't care about what you drove, just needed transportation which you planned to keep until it returned to the earth (depreciation will dictate you keep it or lose your shirt), and had to have that new car warranty (as long as Mitsu is still here), the Mirage could be OK. But I'd still go with a CPO Yaris, Versa, Fit for the same money.
A Mirage is something you think you see, but is not really there. It is the perfect name for this car. My wife had the last gen. It looked like a sporty little coupe, but that evaporated as soon as you got close or drove it. Biggest POS I ever had the misfortune to keep running.
I would wish syphilis on you before a Mirage.
Ouch Pinch. That is wrong.
Klay has the same idea with the seem welding. I am sure a lot of the flimsy-ness can be taken out by stiffening the thing up. Its a moot point as I am sure that these will all turn to dust in the midwest before they are cheap enough for me to destroy.
Seriously. Go drive one first, then tell us if you still want to do this. 
singleslammer wrote: ...cage it... and proceed to beat the E36 M3 out of it on the street
I don't like banging my noggin off of steel pipe very much, so that doesn't sound entertaining to me.
Doesn't the new Mirage come with Mitsubishi's 10 yr/100,000 mile warranty though? Not bad for cheap transportation.
It will not get that cheap for a significant amount of time.
Up here in Canuckland, Hyundai has offered (on and off) base stripper Accents for $9,999. Because a running, driving car in need of no work is worth so much money in this day and age due to absurd mechanic rates, even with close to 140k miles on them they still sell for $4k. By far they have some of the best depreciation characteristics of any new car purchase. I kick myself everytime for not having bought one when I was younger.
Seriously guys, a rear sway bar makes all the difference in the world. It's not fast, or great looking, but it gets better mileage than the (in my case) 1992 Ford Festiva it replaced and is better in every way. Bonus for needing nothing except oil changes for the foreseeable future, which means no time wasted on maintenance or worries about what am I going to drive to work.
Heck, as soon as someone drops the 4-cylinder out of the Lancer into one and does something fun with it it may even be a cool car. What else out there weighs under 2k# and is new?
I think the Yugo comparison is fitting. Those had a terrible reputation for reliability, drivability and desirability when new. At least where I was from. A had a brother in law that had one in the eighties, he caught so much crap for driving that. Yet here we are twenty something years later and some people (including myself) really like them and want to own one.
In reply to oldopelguy:
At first I thought, "no way, that weight figure must be a mistake..." but The Google doesn't lie and apparently neither do you. 1900 lbs or a bit less. Incredible, I bet someone could make it fun.
My office is right down the street from a Mitsubishi dealer. I think the same three brand new Mirages have been on the lot for over a year. It's easy to tell because they are all loud colors (bright green, bright blue and a pink one). There's also a brand new Eclipse Spyder that's been there for even longer. Idle Miev's too.
I periodically stop over there because Mitsubishi part# parts for DSM's are over 50% more from Chrysler dealers. The place is a ghost town. I don't think I've even ever seen anyone in the Mitsu office. I always have to pick up my parts at the parts counter for a Buick/GMC dealer they share space with.
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