Yeah, because it was pretty much a joint venture between Ford that help Mazda get their start in the SUV market.
In the 1970s the German magazine ADAC Motorwelt used to give out "Silberne Zitrone" ("Silver Lemon") awards for the most unreliable cars. Probably the most unreliable winner of the award was a 1975 Matra-Simca Bagheera, owned by Axel Bier. As soon as he bought the car, he noticed that the body was cracked and rainwater was flowing into his Matra. In the first week the doors became loose and a wing mirror fell off. Two months later, the driveshaft broke in half. In the meantime, the missing owner's manual arrived by mail, complete with Chrysler CEO Lynn Townsend congratulating Mr. Bier for buying one of their cars. The congratulations turned out to be ironic since the car kept having trouble with water leaks, loose screws and the headlamps not going up. Soon after, in an epic turn of events, the oil pan screw came loose and led to the oil leaking out of the engine, which caused the motor to seize; the Matra-Simca dealer could not find a new one, so the car was fitted with an used engine. That wasn't all. Shortly thereafter the gearbox experienced a failure of the 1st and 2nd gear. But the final nail in the coffin was the steering system seizing on the highway, which made Mr. Bier quit driving his car just 10 months after having bought it and complain about the flaws of his car to ADAC. After the car trouble stopped, the business trouble began. In an infamous lawsuit, the importer sued Axel Bier for 500k DM for damaging the company's reputation, profitability and credit rating. Not unsurprisingly, the jalopy's owner won the lawsuit. As a result, the Bagheera's sales in West Germany and West Berlin dropped down to exactly zero. Here's Axel Bier, his car, and the 1.55-metre scroll with a list of his car's issues.
A Mirage? Dude, I know you mean "it's a car", but seriously anyone should think twice before getting a Mirage. I once drove one and it is an awful car. The stick shifter feels horrible, the shift feeling is so vague and extremely inaccurate (Probably because of the terrible Flexible Cable Linkages Mitsubishi uses), acceleration is slow as hell and the handling is just awful. The body lean is hilarious for such a small car, and the car feels reluctant to turn in corners. Plus, crash test results are poor (oh wait does Shotgun Chuck care about that?) It does have a nice long warranty and rocksolid reliability tho, but that's about the only good thing about it.
İ would never buy a new mitsubishi,they've lost their charm. Oems like toyota, hyundai,kia,nissan produce mych better cars than that of mitsu.
Why doubt? They are pretty good for their price. Then,again, i'm more of a Hyundai/Kia guy,so can't say much
It does car things, but I never said it did them well. The shifter is probably fine in my book. I had a Saab 92-X (Subaru Impreza) that had the common shifter linkage problems, so I see almost anything that you can sort of find gears with adequate. A Mirage is better than walking or riding a bus, probably handles better and accelerates faster than a bus too. It is a great option if you simply need transportation that you can't afford to worry about.
toyota have forgotten how to make a good sports car. the supra is a shitty bmw rehash, the suvs lood like they've been stepped onand unfolded and most other offerings are commuter focused econoboxes, all of which look rather ugly and mitsubishi have absolutely gone to shit
Apart from the standard RRR SUPER ANGRY GIANT BLACK PLASTIC GRILLE AND SWOOPY HEADLIGHTS LIKE A EAGLE RIGHT front end... ...I personally think the new Corolla looks just fine, as does the Camry as long as you don't get a version with the stupid fake plastic vents on the rear bumper. Plus, I really like the new Corolla hybrid—it's basically a Prius you don't have to worry about being seen in (with the tradeoff being a little less cargo space).
What I'm saying is that in my opinion, spending the same money as a stick shift Mirage on a better used car is a better deal. And yes, the Mirage gets you from A to B, but I'm not sure a guy that actually cares about driving experience like Shotgun Chuck is the A-B economy box transportation type of person.
*Intense breathing* I really think most of Hyundai's products are... mostly mediocre or average as a overall product. But man, it may just be me but I cannot stand 99% of their designs. Asides from the (pre-facelift) current i30 and maybe the exception of the Veloster, the rest of its current line-up give me pity. Toyota's a alright brand though, has a few stinkers but they're of decent quality atleast. But for Nissan today, they're pretty crappy now unfortunately, mostly because they offer that damned CVT on a good chunk of their line-ups, even as the only trans for a few cases. Kia's a mixed bag, but has a lot more tolerable designs than Hyundai does in my opinion.
Hyundais are So. Fucking. Ugly. Apart from that, they are overpriced, poorly equipped and has meh build quality.
I agree. I am not necessarily recommending it, I am just trying to put an option out there. $9,000 for a car that basically has guaranteed reliability and no questionable previous owners is a steal in my book, even if you hate the car. My car is broken right now and I have no real way of getting around except for my bike. Thats fine, but that means I am at mercy of the weather. Here in Florida, it has been almost 90°F with a feels like temp in the triple digits consistently for the past 3 weeks unless there is a storm. I was going to apply for a job once I got my car running again, but that is not possible with the Coronavirus. So for someone who doesn't have a lot of money that needs a car to get or keep their job, a Mirage is a great choice.
Ugly? That's subjective. Overpriced? Now you're wrong here. I don't know where you live, but similarly specced Sonata is much cheaper than similarly specced camry or accord. And they have stepped their game up as well. Talking from my experience as i have one.
