What's the current version of the Lada?
What's the current version of the Lada?
The Versa ranks pretty high
Juke?
Ugly and French.
While the Spark is cheaper, I think the Mirage would likely get my vote for crappiest.
Chevy spark and sonic and some of the new jeeps are pretty bad from what I've seen from rentals.
Not new currently but had a coworker who bought a brand new I think 2016 Dodge dart... Somehow missed there as no AC...at all...it was an option.
Mirage would be my vote. It seems very Third World.
The Versa and the lowest Korean models often had stripper models that didn't come with AC standard.
The Mirage is under 2100lb, I refuse to consider them crap (even though they are) and still have evil thoughts
Another vote for the Mirage. Third-world build quality, underpowered for the US market and super cheap.
I'd still like to flog a manual transmission one though.
stanger_mussle said:Another vote for the Mirage. Third-world build quality, underpowered for the US market and super cheap.
I'd still like to flog a manual transmission one though.
Versa's came with the CVT a lot though so that makes it worse than the Mirage.
I can't stress how bad the driving experience was in aVersa. I've driven slower cars(a Fairmont with a 4cyl was slower than most bicycles) but man......the Versa sucked.
Worse was the fact that the person renting it thought it was cool because it didn't shift gears and wished it was slower
I had a Versa as a rental in California about two months ago because it was the only thing they had and the comments here are spot on.
For the first five minutes putting around the airport I thought Nissan might've really stepped up their game. Nope, the dreadful CVT means that if you're trying to merge into 70+ MPH traffic on the freeway, and you stand on the gas pedal, the engine makes a lot of noise as if the CVT is "kicking down" like a real auto, but the car accelerates as if someone is blowing on it really hard and you will nearly E36 M3 yourself as the car just sits there while other traffic barrels down on you. I was legitimately terrified, I've never before had a car do the routine as if it was going to accelerate and then just...not in such a crucial moment.
Aside from that, the car gave me an incredible charlie horse in my right leg whenever I drove it for more than 2 hours. I was hobbling around San Francisco like a retiree! I'm 32 and I've never had another car give me such a weird pain.
I'll grant that the stereo is good for such a cheap car, the back seat is huge, and it has blind spot monitoring, CarPlay and a backup camera, which are the kind of things that people shopping for a Versa probably care about more than anything else. But it was scarier to drive than my old Renault Encore with the 64HP 1.4, which you could at least trust to accelerate in a linear fashion when you downshifted.
Hyundai accent is certainly cheap, but I'm betting it doesn't totally suck....
Lada is tough, basic transportation.
I kind of like the Mirage, with the CVT as that is the only way I have ever seen them. No, it can't do a burnout at 60mph, or 20mph, or January. But that's okay, you didn't buy it for that.
A couple years ago I got one in for "check loud exhaust under acceleration". Exhaust was okay, noted the engine was extremely low on oil. Performed oil change. Customer followup call a week or two later informed us that the "loud exhaust" was fixed since the oil change. You do the math. They still have that car.
Nearly everything you can buy today is crap. I mean, maybe a Venza is a good car, I don't think I've ever ridden in one, and if I have, there's no way I'd remember it. I don't even know if that's a real car or a name I made up because it sounds like a car they make today.
Cactus said:Nearly everything you can buy today is crap.
My soul brother.
Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:Worse was the fact that the person renting it thought it was cool because it didn't shift gears and wished it was slower
What on earth was that person used to driving, one of these?
I rented a Versa because it was all they had and it was so bad I turned it in at the next airport and got a Nissan altima.
captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:The Mirage is under 2100lb, I refuse to consider them crap (even though they are) and still have evil thoughts
I just looked and wish i hadnt. Like a modern day Mini.
1700lbs(ES), 78hp, 3 cylinder with an available 5 speed.
Im sure it really is total doo-doo but id bet for the price used it would be a total riot.
In reply to kevinatfms :
I wonder if MaxPeeDingRods makes coilovers for the Mirage?
Curious about the rest of the U.S. The local Mitsubishi dealer is run by a formerly "we tote the note" and "if you make $400/week, you can get a $25k car" (on an 84 month loan....) dealership. I heard one of their ads on the radio and the rapid fire legal speak at the end turned out they were selling the Mirage for that $25k. They currently have one in stock for $23k and the sticker shows a price of $18.8k......
If that's the case for other locations, sounds like Mitsubishi is circling the drain and going after buyers with challenged credit history. Kinda sad.
-Rob
MadScientistMatt said:Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:Worse was the fact that the person renting it thought it was cool because it didn't shift gears and wished it was slower
What on earth was that person used to driving, one of these?
She rode a bicycle most the time and didn't own a car.
She actually wanted it to be a little slower than a bicycle somehow. It was actually pretty close. She loved the Versa so much that she went and bought a brand new one after this extended test drive.
I would buy that diesel escort everytime over a Versa
kevinatfms said:captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:The Mirage is under 2100lb, I refuse to consider them crap (even though they are) and still have evil thoughts
I just looked and wish i hadnt. Like a modern day Mini.
1700lbs(ES), 78hp, 3 cylinder with an available 5 speed.
Im sure it really is total doo-doo but id bet for the price used it would be a total riot.
Where are you going to find a used one? Do any of them ever get paid off? Has there ever been another car less likely to ever share the same physical space as its title? :)
In reply to kevinatfms :
now you feel my pain. and to follow up Pete's idea. Mirage spec ebay class enduro racing. manual Mirages that are stripped, caged and have safety equipment and after every race teams are alloted $250 worth of ebay cash to be spent on future mods, but said modifications must be purchased off of ebay. As a bonus for spec racing they do come in some fun colors as well.
If support was better for them as far as parts go, and I don't even mean go fast parts, I mean wear items and little things that start going out at 150,000 miles, I'd consider a Mirage hatch for stupid driving fun, that's actually rare to find these days. But a 10-20 year old civic wins out, because you can get parts for a 30 year old civic and try getting parts for a 10 year old Mitsubishi that isn't an Evo.
I still like the ebay spec Mirage class idea though, someone contact #Gridlife
rob_lewis said:Curious about the rest of the U.S. The local Mitsubishi dealer is run by a formerly "we tote the note" and "if you make $400/week, you can get a $25k car" (on an 84 month loan....) dealership. I heard one of their ads on the radio and the rapid fire legal speak at the end turned out they were selling the Mirage for that $25k. They currently have one in stock for $23k and the sticker shows a price of $18.8k......
If that's the case for other locations, sounds like Mitsubishi is circling the drain and going after buyers with challenged credit history. Kinda sad.
-Rob
Mitsu is a subprime automaker, yes. At least in the U.S.
captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to kevinatfms :
now you feel my pain. and to follow up Pete's idea. Mirage spec ebay class enduro racing. manual Mirages that are stripped, caged and have safety equipment and after every race teams are alloted $250 worth of ebay cash to be spent on future mods, but said modifications must be purchased off of ebay. As a bonus for spec racing they do come in some fun colors as well.
If support was better for them as far as parts go, and I don't even mean go fast parts, I mean wear items and little things that start going out at 150,000 miles, I'd consider a Mirage hatch for stupid driving fun, that's actually rare to find these days. But a 10-20 year old civic wins out, because you can get parts for a 30 year old civic and try getting parts for a 10 year old Mitsubishi that isn't an Evo.
I still like the ebay spec Mirage class idea though, someone contact #Gridlife
Some quick research on things shows that BC makes coilovers and some ATV/dune buggy guys have turbocharged the 1.2l 3 cylinder. And that rear sway bars also exist.
The biggest hurdle though may be That it sounds like fitting tires wider than 185s under the vehicle maybe difficult, even if rolling the fenders. Which is a shame because it's easier to find 4x100 wheels that can fit 205/50 15s on them.
Would be very intrigued to see how one would drive with coilovers, a rear sway bar, 205 50 15 rubber, rear seats removed, and a lifo battery relocated into the hatch. I don't think it would be very hard to get one of these things down to 1900 lb. At that point if you focus on handling power output only matters from when you have to start from a stop and you can attack things with the idea of making it so you never need to slow down to go around it.
Again a used Honda or Hyundai for the same price would be a much better vehicle. But it's a thought exercise You really can't find something made within the past two decades that you can make that light without manufacturing panels out of lightweight material. And we haven't even talked about replacing the rear door glass with lexan and the rear hatch glass looks pretty flat...
When they get nearly challenged priced, which hopefully should be within the next decade. I'll be tempted just to see if I can get one under 1700 lb.
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