Good morning! We’re kicking off another week of questionable used cars with two absolute rocketships. Or, at least, two cars I’ve seen recently being driven like bats out of Hell down the Interstate.
On Friday, I gave you a rare “Both” option, and I expected most of you to take it. But apparently the automatic in the FX was enough of a turn-off that the little Nissan truck pulled off a win as a solo act. I think that’s the way to go, too. The FX is cool, especially with those graphics, but it would be so much better with a five-speed. As it stands, the graphics are the best part. I suppose you could add some graphics to the truck. Ooh – and a roll bar with lights on the top.
As was pointed out in the comments, it’s difficult to see Nissan D21 and D22 pickups as classics, because so many of them are still earning their keep. I think they’re actually the official truck of independent landscapers all up and down the entire West Coast. But finding one this clean, with only a 1 in the first odometer digit instead of a 2 or a 3, is special, and a good deal for that price.
Some cars just have a tendency to lead easier lives than others. If you see a Lexus ES, or a Mercedes R107, you can probably guess that it has been babied for most of its miles. They get used, of course, but not abused. No one has bounced them over a curb exiting a drive-thru, or delivered pizzas in them, or whipped them in and out of bumper-to-bumper traffic with inches to spare.
At the other end of the spectrum, you have your Nissan Altimas and your Dodge Calibers and other inexpensive, cheaply made but mysteriously tough cars that get flogged mercilessly. Based on what I saw on my recent cross-country drives, I will add two more cars to that list: the Mitsubishi Mirage and the Hyundai Elantra. I found one of each, still in reasonable condition. Let’s see which one you’d rather thrash.
2015 Mitsubishi Mirage – $4,700
Engine/drivetrain: 1.2-liter dual overhead cam inline 3, CVT automatic, FWD
Location: Austin, TX
Odometer reading: 133,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
Every automotive era seems to have one car everyone loves to pick on. In the 1970s, it was the Ford Pinto; in the ’80s, the Yugo. For the past ten years or so, the automotive world’s whipping boy has been the Mitsubishi Mirage. But while the Pinto and the Yugo gave us legitimate reasons to diss them – reckless decisions by management in one case and appalling build quality in the other – the Mirage’s biggest sin seems to be being cheap and simple. Really, it’s a lot closer to a modern-day 2CV or Beetle than a Pinto or Yugo: it’s humble, honest, unpretentious, and apparently tough as old boots.
The Mirage is powered by a tiny 1.2 liter three-cylinder engine, until recently available with a five-speed manual, but more commonly seen with a Jatco continuously-variable transmission. Regardless of transmission type, I saw more than one Mirage making the most of its seventy-four horsepower and absolutely hauling ass along the Interstates in the middle of the country, going 90 miles an hour or better at a guess. This one should be able to do that as well; the seller says it runs and drives great.
For a car seen as “cheap” and “disposable,” it does seem to have been taken care of reasonably well. It’s not beat up outside, or trashed inside. It even has all four hubcaps, which is rare for one of these. It does seem to suffer from a set of cheap seat covers, but those don’t always mean disaster lies beneath. The Nissan Versa floor mats are kind of funny.
I still don’t get the hatred for this car, and I couldn’t help grinning every time I saw one go blasting past me. In these days of massive horsepower and “trimflation,” we need more cars like the Mirage. And I’m delighted to see that they’re holding up well. Or at least, this one is.
2012 Hyundai Elantra GLS – $4,999
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, six-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Garden City, ID
Odometer reading: 130,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives, I assume
Out in the western third of the United States, where the speed limits are eighty miles an hour and the distance between exits is longer than “Telegraph Road,” high speeds aren’t uncommon. On my first cross-country drive a couple months ago, everyone was passing me. But on the final trip, in my dad’s old Chrysler 300, I was cruising along at 85-90 with the rest of traffic. There are always outliers, though, and while I wasn’t surprised to see giant pickup trucks and the occasional Mustang pass me at triple-digit speeds, one such speed demon actually worried me a little – a white fifth-generation Hyundai Elantra.
Hyundai has had its struggles with engine reliability in recent years, and this generation of Elantra seems to be a mixed bag, from what I’ve read. This one has 130,000 miles on it, and is for sale at a buy-here-pay-here lot, which means there is likely not much in the way of service history. I’m making the assumption that it runs and drives, but a good thorough inspection is in order.
It does look pretty good, but these guys seem to know how to photograph cars in the most flattering way. The only way to really assess its condition would be in person. Push every button, try out every gadget and gizmo – and since this is a GLS model, there are a lot of them.
I suppose, though, if you’re going to flagrantly flout the law and explore the upper limits of the speedometer, it’s advantageous to do it in something inconspicuous like this. But if you’re going to do it, don’t do it in the middle of Boise traffic. I tell ya, that dude was flying.
These are nobody’s dream cars, I realize, and they’re probably not the most durable or reliable things on the road. But apparently, if you really want to haul ass down the Interstate, these are what you need. Choose your weapon, and step on it!
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
Mirage for me. Newer and doesn’t have the engine issues the Hyundai of that year has.
“Out in the western third of the United States, where the speed limits are eighty miles an hour and the distance between exits is longer than “Telegraph Road,” high speeds aren’t uncommon.”
You should check your map again. California, Oregon and Washington are very much part of that “western third of the United States” and have maximum speed limits of 70 mph:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_the_United_States
And those speed limits aren’t THAT common. California in particular has a highway speed limit of 65 mph unless otherwise posted which means 65 mph on most highways and even that drops to 55 mph if you’re towing or have 3+ axles.
(Alaska and Hawaii which are even further west and are also states in the union have even lower speed limits.)
This was actually a little difficult…I’ll take the Elantra since it has 1 more cylinder and a little better. I was actually gonna choose the Mitsu”bitch”i since I like that make better than the Hyundai brand and I like the color better
To me, this was a pretty close call. I’ve actually rented each of these models at one time or another. The Mirage just felt so cheap and bargain basement, even the top trim in a rental couldn’t hide it. The Elantra was just marginally better, but it felt like a real car, at least. I have a feeling the mechanicals might be a little more reliable in the Mirage, but I’m still going to vote Elantra.
I’ll take the Mirage, but I’d pick it even quicker if it was an actual color. There’s a few in my area, a green one, yellow one and a purple one that I regularly see flying down the highway. The one economy car I see speeding past the most though is a Tercel SR5 that somebody’s been keeping running.
I normally don’t vote on these things, but the Elantra has my vote. I currently have a brand new Mirage rental car and it is the worst new car I’ve ever driven. The power is pathetic, it has lifter tick when first starting every morning, and the AC is not sufficient in the AZ summer. I thought Subaru CVT’s were awful, and then I drove this car. I cannot wait to give this pile back to Enterprise when my car is finally repaired.
I’ll take the Mirage . Built in Thailand and designed to withstand those roads , the Mirage is a perfect no nonsense car. Dirt cheap, simple, and easy to service. No brainer for its intended purpose .
I see a ton of Elantras if this generation so they must have degree if reliability. But the Mirage it is
Elantras are “fine”. So gun to my head, that would be my choice here.
I see no reason what-so-ever that we need more unrepentant shitboxes like the Mirage. If you can’t afford a decent car new, buy a decent car used. Free is too much for a Mirage if I have to spend any time in it. Being tough and reliable just means spending more time in the miserable thing.
Pine tree on the rear view guarantees the car smells like cigarettes or kush. Gimme the Elantra.
Everyone knows the fastest car on the road is the rental car!
The Mirage might have had slightly better chances here if it were a manual, but I think considering what I might actually do with one of these, I would still take the larger Korean Car. though I would probably try to talk them down a bit on price.
It’s not a sin being cheap. It’s not a sin being small. It’s not a sin having a tiny motor (I won’t take the bait on CVTs). But that Mirage is sinfully ugly. Small cars should not have that many incongruent creases and lumps. Keep the surfaces simple and let them have their dignity.
The Elantra is only slightly better in that it has some coherence at least. The interior dashboard styling looks like it was made out of pulled taffy. Why? Why does someone think this is a good idea?
Hmmm, no neither option today?
Both are a little high for their mileages; Toyotas they aren’t. I’m going with the Mirage, but they’d have to come down a bit. Pretty good condition, but it’s still a 4-door Mirage with 133k miles.
I’m from Florida which means I make realistic, informed decisions on a variety of factors, including “how murdered out can I make it look?” and “How close to my favorite car, the Nissan Altima, does it look?”
For that reason and a few grams more in my pocket I pick the Mirage.
Nothing will be as legendary as the Big Altima Energy, but I have seen quite a few reckless Hyundais with Big Elantra Energy fly past on the highway.
Slap a few Red Bullshit stickers on it!
You’re not wrong about the speed escalation on western Interstates. For someone who grew up in the Double-Nickel Seventies, it’s pretty surreal to blow past a Wyoming State Trooper at 100 and he just waves at you.
Yep and to think back in the day when a V8 Mustang had 215 horsepower cops would stop people and be all “roaromg why are you in a hurry” and we would laugh like wut?
We knew they were fools and wrong. The regular public just needed to have seat time behind vehicles with that kind of power to realize how stupid they were for yelling at 215hp cars. Soon as their commuters went from 140hp to 250hp suddenly the very behavior they screamed at is perfectly fine now they are doing it.