Faults:

This vehicle has been used by roughly 35 people every week who commute five miles, five days a week to the Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia.

Let me just start by saying that we all live near the airport here in Atlanta. There are 35 people in our community who use this vehicle. All of which do work at Hartsfield, mostly for Delta Airlines.

This vehicle is used to shuttle platoons of 5 people every 3 hours from the airport and back. When one group of five arrive, there are another five that will be leaving the airport with this carpool vehicle a little less than three hours later. Everyone has their own set of keys which are dirt cheap to make since they are all metal (no chips, transponders or fobs).

There are a lot of benefits for doing it this way. First off, the car has averaged 80 miles a day in driving. Over five days, this is 400 miles a week and sometimes it is used during the weekend as well if there is overtime. Overtime happens quite a lot which is why the Mirage now has just over 487,000 miles.

Due to the constant use this Mitsubishi Mirage has very few cool down cycles. The heat on the tires also gets dissipated quite easily since we're never driving it constantly at a high rate of speed. If you have ever been in Atlanta, you would know that we have an absolute ton of traffic, and the worst of it is in and around the airport.

Michelins are used every 80,000 to 90,000 miles.

Belts are replaced every 60,000 miles with parts from Rockauto. We have also stocked up on clearance items over the years and replaced the water pump four times.

Oil is changed every two months. Roughly every 3750 miles. We always get Supertech oil and whatever free oil can be had through the Bob Is The Oil Guy Rebates & Promotions site.

Hinges are lubricated and battery terminals are cleaned every other oil change.

Transmission drain and fill every fourth oil change.

Air filter and windshield wipers are also changed every 15,000 miles (every fourth oil change).

Fuel filter is changed every 30,000 miles.

Coolant is replaced along with the radiator every 100,000 miles due to mostly city driving. We switched from green to Toyota red about 10 years ago.

Gas cap is also changed every 100,000 miles due to emissions here in metro-Atlanta.

Starter and alternator are usually replaced at 60,000 miles when we do the belts due to the constant use. A few of our community members are heavily involved in fleet maintenance, and with a simple spreadsheet all of these maintenance regimens are pretty easy to manage.

The battery is replaced roughly every three years even if it doesn't need it. Walmart batteries are perfectly fine. A simple voltmeter and a good ear helps us anticipate when that time is drawing near.

The car gets washed once a month and waxed every three months. Although we will often skip a December wax due to the cool weather.

Five people will get together and stay carpool buddies. Although during the recession we had fewer carpool members and COVID has also reduced the number of participants. In the beginning seats were switched every ride so that everyone had equal time. But we decided early on to just let it be first come first serve, with those in the front automatically going to the back the next go round, and the one left in the back twice having the option to ride in the front the next two times if they so desire. Yes, we have a lot of engineers among us!

We added Bluetooth about six years ago. Works fine, but it was awful tough to get a radio that worked in the small space. We also use a Wifi hotspot that is available at the local library for free. We've been doing that since 2018.

General Comments:

We bought this car in February of 2002 for $6,000. It was an off-lease vehicle that had been sitting at the nearby Mitsubishi dealer for nearly a year. Since it was a basic DE version of a discontinued model, the dealer frankly just wanted it off their lot.

We roughly estimate that this car has cost each member of our planned community only $50 a year. Roughly $1 a week in commuting cost. This has enabled our families to invest in the stock market and also a variety of small businesses that we manage in our community.

Parts for this vehicle are very cheap and if you stick to the OEM components they are also high quality. We probably over-maintain the vehicle, but if you work in the aeronautics or fleet maintenance world this level of upkeep is pretty second nature.

We are looking at replacing this vehicle with a 2021 Mitsubishi Mirage G4 ES. However the current price for vehicles is high. We are on the lookout for low mileage units. But finding them in good working order hasn't been easy due to the lack of training and care many owners have for their vehicles these days.

If we retire this vehicle from daily duty during the spring of 2022, we will more than likely keep it for infrequent local shopping errands. Teenagers will also be able to learn basic driving skills. This vehicle has excellent visibility and with the reflective tape we use it is easy to spot on the road. No accidents or fender benders in nearly 20 years, but it has a lot of parking dings.

Faults:

Rear outer lower control arm bush fell apart and needed to be changed badly.

T.P.S. (throttle position sensor) needed to be adjusted as it bogged down slightly when I floored it.

The rear wiper motor has stopped working.

It needed a good service, and drop links and ARB bushes needed to be changed, but that's all just expected wear and tear.

Aftermarket Powerflow catback exhaust broke just over the axle, so I had it repaired, but I will be changing it for a factory standard exhaust system, as I don't particularly like loud exhausts.

General Comments:

I absolutely love the look of these cars, and the driving position is good with great support from the factory Recaro interior, and I love the feel of the Momo steering wheel.

These cars are very well spec'd with A/C, electric windows, central locking, electric mirrors, digital climate control, Recaro seats and Momo steering as standard.

The handling is pretty good in standard form, but with some uprated shocks and lowering springs, and the addition of front and rear strut braces, it's a whole different ball game.

Brakes are decent, but I think I will invest in some better pads soon.

Performance wise they are pretty nippy, especially over 5200 RPM once Mivec engages, but even low down I find it very torquey, probably due to the Powerflow exhaust, as I can happily cruise along at 40km/h in 5th with no judder or jumping.

MPG is decent, but I was expecting a bit more to be honest. I can manage high 30s on long drives, and low 30s around town, with an average of about 35 with mixed driving.

My previous car was a Toyota Starlet Turbo with a few subtle mods like exhaust, air filter and intercooler, and the boost raised slightly, and performance wise the Mivec wouldn't come close, and I could manage the same MPG with the Starlet, but with lower road tax and the same insurance.

All in all, I like the car, especially the interior and exterior, but performance wise it's OK; I'd prefer my Starlet any day.