2015 Mitsubishi Mirage ES

About this Mirage

Let's be straight about what this is: a cheap, reliable way to get to work. The Mirage isn't trying to be exciting. It's trying to cost you almost nothing to own, and at that job it's very good. If you need a first car for a teenager, a commuter so you can stop putting miles on your truck, or something to drive for a delivery app without watching your profit go into the tank, this is the kind of car that makes sense.

The 1.2-liter three-cylinder returns right around 40 mpg in normal driving - some owners do better on the highway. The automatic is a CVT, so there's no shifting to feel and nothing to wear out the way a traditional transmission does. Insurance is cheap, tires are cheap, and parts are cheap. It's a hatchback, so the back seats fold down and it swallows far more than a car this size looks like it should.

Inside it's basic and it doesn't pretend otherwise: cloth seats, air conditioning, power windows, a radio with Bluetooth, and a back seat that fits two adults for a normal drive across town. Everything works. The Kiwi Green paint is genuinely fun and makes it impossible to lose in a parking lot.

The running costs are where it really wins. Insurance on a Mirage is about as cheap as insurance gets, tires are inexpensive, and the three-cylinder is simple enough that routine service costs almost nothing. Add in air conditioning, power windows and locks, a Bluetooth radio for hands-free calls and music off your phone, and rear seats that fold 60/40 for cargo, and it does everything most people actually need a car to do.

Features & equipment