Mirage seems like an appropriate name for Mitsubishi’s smallest car, particularly given the manufacturer is now only operating in a servicing and aftersales capacity in the UK; it pulled out of selling brand new cars in 2021. Is that a bustling new car dealership you’re seeing, or just a Mirage?...
The Mirage was never a class-leading supermini when new but it was always a frugal and relatively inexpensive one, and served a niche alongside cars like the Dacia Sandero for customers who wanted the warranty and creature comforts of a new car over the risk of a used one. As a used car itself though it’s not that risky, and it’s affordable too.
As well as dedicated budget models like the Dacia Sandero, anyone looking at a Mirage should also consider fellow Japanese options like the Nissan Micra, Honda Jazz, Suzuki Swift and Toyota Yaris, all of which make sturdy used buys and drive better than the Mirage too.
The case for buying a Mitsubishi Mirage was a difficult one to make when the car was new. It was always affordable but lagged behind most of the competition for style, performance, ride and handling, and interior appointments, and while Mitsubishi improved it over the years, the competition took bigger leaps still.
If you’re looking for a cheap used runabout though then the Mirage may be worth a look, because while it’s still not stylish or great to drive, qualities like its roomy cabin (both front and rear), low fuel consumption, and fairly robust cabin materials - plus the chance that its generally older original owners have been quite gentle on the car - count in its favour.
Economy is one of the main benefits, with 50mpg easy to achieve, and running costs should generally be low too - though do shop around for insurance quotes, as the Mirage sits in higher insurance groups than many similarly-sized cars. Later models offer better equipment levels too, and most will come with the larger 1.2-litre engine, which feels more comfortable on faster roads than the early 1-litre.
The Mirage is decent enough on the motorway and handy around town, but feels out of its depth on country roads, where a Ford Fiesta or even a Dacia Sandero feels more planted and capable. Relatively low sales volumes mean the Mirage doesn’t often appear in reliability and customer satisfaction surveys, but as a fairly simple car it shouldn’t cause too many problems.
The Sandero is the main budget alternative, while as far as sensible Japanese superminis go, take your pick; the Honda Jazz, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Micra, Mazda 2 and Suzuki Swift are all good options, the Mazda and Suzuki being best to drive of the group and the hybrid Yaris the most frugal. Smaller but more stylish city cars like the Volkswagen Up are also worth considering for any potential Mirage buyer.
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Depending on the age of the Mirage you’re looking at, we’d suggest focusing on the Design and First Edition models of the later, facelifted cars, and the well-specified Juro if you’re looking at slightly older models. Unless you’ve got a penchant for austerity then you’ll probably appreciate the extra kit in later, higher-spec models - the Design gets a touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for instance, which is more on par with much more modern superminis. The older Juro didn’t offer this option but remains well equipped for its age.
Mitsubishi did offer a 1-litre engine at one point but the 1.2 petrol was offered throughout the car’s run, and it’s the one to have - the extra power is welcome and in some cases it’s actually more economical. Choose the CVT only if you can’t use a manual; it’s not as frugal and saps the Mirage’s relatively limited performance too.
Mitsubishi Mirage 1.2: The Mirage’s 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine was available with either a five-speed manual or a CVT automatic gearbox. Both developed 79PS, with the manual getting from 0-62mph in 12.6 seconds and the CVT in 13.5. WLTP economy was up to 56.5mpg for the manual, and 50.4mpg for the CVT.
Since the Mirage debuted in 2013 there have been several trim levels over the years, but below we’ve concentrated on the three that saw out the model in its final iteration since sales stopped in 2021, plus the Juro which was the primary trim level offered prior to the car’s last facelift and makes up a good number of used examples.
The Mitsubishi Mirage Verve had 14-inch steel wheels with wheel trims, a four-speaker radio/CD audio system with Bluetooth and USB, fabric seats with driver seat height adjustment, air conditioning, a leather steering wheel, and halogen headlights.
The Mitsubishi Mirage Design traded up to 15-inch alloys, keyless go with start/stop, a 6.5-inch touchscreen display with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and navigation, mixed fabric and artificial leather seat trim, privacy glass, and a leather gearknob.
The Mitsubishi Mirage First Edition added climate control, LED headlights, rear parking sensors, cruise control, heated front seats, and a forward collision mitigation system.
The Mitsubishi Mirage Juro came with 15-inch alloy wheels, bi-xenon headlights, privacy glass, electric front and rear windows, climate control, rear parking sensors, rain sensing wipers, cruise control, a leather steering wheel and gearknob, and heated front seats. The audio system had CD/Aux/USB and Bluetooth connectivity.
The Mitsubishi Mirage’s dimensions are:
Length: 3845mm
Width: 1665mm (without mirrors)
Height: 1505mm
Ground clearance: 150mm
The Mitsubishi Mirage’s boot size is:
175 litres
540 litres with the rear seats folded
Examples of the Mitsubishi Mirage registered after April 2017 attract a flat rate of road tax, which will currently see you paying £180 per year to the Treasury, which is the rate for petrol and diesel cars. Prior to April 2017, VED or ‘road tax’ was CO2-based, which makes these older models much cheaper to tax - both manual and CVT versions are tax free, thanks to emissions figures of 100g/km and 99g/km respectively.
For the Juro mentioned in the trim level sections above, the Mirage sat in insurance group 19, while the Verve, Design, and First Edition were groups 17, 18, and then 15 for manual variants. The Design with the CVT drops to group 16, and the First Edition CVT is lowest of all at group 14. All these figures though are pretty high for a relatively basic and simple car - a Dacia Sandero starts in only group 3, and goes no higher than group 14. A relative lack of modern car safety and assistance features in the Mirage is probably the reason for these higher groups.
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13500