For under $17K tho? No argument it’s a better car.

Sales numbers are still terrible. I have no idea how they make any money at those volumes and what must be tiny profits. Previous year sales for the Mirage is about the same as the GR86 and I’m sure there are quite a lot of people in Toyota’s financial group that would gladly kill that off. This is more indicative of…

A Corolla is a much, much better cockroach. With a less trash interior and not as bad NVH.

A Versa with a stick should be a cockroach. Nissan interiors are trash and NVH is high, but they run.

There is minimal difference between financing a 3-4yo Corolla and a new Mitsubishi. Unless you are a credit criminal and Mitsubishi or Nissan is the ONLY place you can get the financing. in which case you have bigger problems and probably should not be spending this much on a car to start with.

Except new cars are easier to finance and come with longer warrantees and newer technology, etc. Plenty of reasons why cheap new is better than used.

The first-gen Versa started in the US as hatch-only. At least the current one can still be had with the manual...for the moment...

Picked up a new 2024 Versa 5spd for $16,800 (plus TTL), and I can swallow my pride getting 46mpg highway, rowing my own gears, and tossing the fun 2,600lb chassis through the corners. It’s not quick (reminds me of a NA Miata in terms of pace), but it’s actually very fun, comfortable, and probably the best value in a…

Drove the auto version a couple years ago and it had absolutely the most uncomfortable seats I’ve ever had the displeasure of sitting in. I don’t have back problems. That rental almost gave me back problems in 3 days of driving it short distances.

Unfortunately Japan doesn’t use the same safety standards we do, and don’t generally operate their vehicles at nearly the same speeds we do, so the best you’re going to get is 25 year old Kai-vehicles

My two biggest problems with EV crossovers are that they pretend to be more versatile than a sedan or hatchback when they are really just a hatchback sitting on top of a skateboard chassis with the ground clearance of a sedan at best, and I hate bandwagons. 

We just moved to Hawaii (Oahu) and no longer see a need for a large fancy vehicle, we are now looking for point A to B vehicles; nothing special like used Mini Coopers, Civic, Fit.....

I’d consider a base model Versa with a stick shift if it were a hatchback. It’s kind of impressive in its own way.

I’ll make my usual comment. Why would you want one of these over a used Camry or Corolla for the same price that is simply a far better car in literally every way? The only way I can imagine wanting a Mirage is if nothing bigger will fit in your parking space.

Let me say I am a huge proponent of smaller cars. Two of my first were a pair of ‘87 Sundances, and I’m on my fourth Prius. I drove a Mirage for five days while my car was recovering from getting rear-ended, and I wouldn’t buy one of those things if it was $6000 brand new. Car had 50,000 miles on it, and I know that’s…

SMALLER: If Japan can sell a 660cc Cappuccino, i should be free to buy it! 660cc is a small engine but a lifetime supply of caffeine!

As soon as many automakers talked about moving upmarket and clearing out their sedan or base model offerings I knew someone was going to come in and clean up. They basically left the market wide open for a car like what built most of the large car companies (Fiat, VW, Ford, etc). A simple, cheap car that fits the…

The roads need a diet too. 

Going back to COVID, new cars were hard to get, and with the stimulus checks people got, the demand was highest for the higher trims as people had more money and rates were at an all time low. While OEMs struggled to get these cars due to chip shortages, the ones they did get also got big markups from dealers, and…

I’m enjoying my “small” EV crossover coming in at 165.6" long... gets me cheaper rates on the WA ferries and etc too for being less than 14' (168") long...