The Mitsubishi Mirage is the best-selling micro car on the market in Australia.
The Mirage is also one of the cheapest models available from a brand that’s a household name.
So if you’re in the market for a first car, a cheap second car for the family or maybe something to get you to bowls and back, should you take a look at a Mirage?
I doubt many people are going to buy the Mirage for the way it looks. But at least it’s fairly inoffensive, and it’s got a cute smile on its face.
Trainspotters will note that this is the top-spec LS, which gets fog lights, 15-inch alloys and a rear spoiler.
Not sure about the Pop Green paint though, and even less keen on the $550 it costs to option it on. I think I’ll stick with the standard white, thanks.
What’s more important than all that however, is its size. It’s only a smidge over 3.7 metres long, which makes it ideal for squeezing into tiny spaces in busy suburbs.
You’d think squeezing would be a neat segue to talking about the interior space, but it’s actually okay in here.
Even set to my driving position, I’ve got enough legroom and decent headroom. Unlike two of its biggest rivals, the Fiat 500 and the Suzuki Celerio, the Mirage also has five seats rather than just four.
And, there are six airbags in here, including curtains that stretch to the second row. They form part of the Mirage’s five-star ANCAP safety rating.
And there’s a nice deep boot behind me too, which is big enough to swallow a couple of weekend bags or a week’s worth of shopping.
Sliding into the front you’ll notice that there’s no big screen here, that means no sat-nav and no reversing camera – although that’s not such an issue in the Mirage thanks to its good visibility and square bum which make it easy to know where its corners are.
The dash layout is very basic, and there’s nothing even close to a soft-touch surface in here. But it’s refreshingly easy to use, and you get handy buttons on the steering wheel for audio, phone and cruise control.
The Mirage has the most convoluted voice-controlled Bluetooth pairing system I’ve ever used, but it knows your phone it cleverly finds you nice and quickly every time you get behind the wheel.
Speaking of, let’s go for a bit of a spin…
While the Mirage might be the best selling car in its class, our pick of the tiny tikes is the Suzuki Celerio, which is newer, more polished, more comfortable and more fun to drive.
But the Celerio can’t match the Mirage’s five-year/100,000km warranty, and five years of roadside assistance if you get your car serviced at Mitsubishi, which could work in your favour, because four years of capped-price servicing will cost you just $1000.
Mitsubishi also regularly offers good driveaway discounts on Mirages, so if you’re keen, we recommend haggling hard and pushing for a deal.
There may be better options, but if purchase price, running costs and safety are your priorities in a micro car, the Mitsubishi Mirage is well worth a look.
