Conventional knowledge says that the Nissan Versa is the cheapest new car in America. Starting at $18,330, it’s a tough price to beat. But that’s under normal circumstances. Under abnormal circumstances that are in play right now, you can buy a dirt-cheap hydrogen car or spend as little as $14,000 and get yourself a brand new Mitsubishi.
Those abnormal circumstances involve the dying gasps of the Mitsubishi Mirage. The 2024 model year was the last for both the hatchback and the Mirage G4 sedan. After a decade on sale, the cheap subcompact will no longer be exported to the US, though it remains in production for other markets.
Despite the Mirage’s American demise, there is still a sizable amount of stock available across the country. There are around 3,000 of these cars on sale right now. Some of them are now devastatingly cheap as dealers look to run out the last remaining examples.
For whatever reason, the cheapest examples of the Mirage G4 sedan are all found down in Florida. Performance Mitsubishi gets awfully low, with a 2024 Mirage for just $13,997, and that’s ignoring the military discount that won’t apply to most customers. Meanwhile, there’s another over at Bomnin Mitsubishi for $14,200. Miami Lakes Automall still has a 2023 model on the lot, and it’s going for just $14,769 if you prefer a slightly older one for some reason. Either way, all of these cars have a few thousand bucks in cash on the hood to try and get these cars moving off the lot.
You can get the hatchback cheap, too. Palm Beach Mitsubishi has a 2024 Mirage ES for just $12,621, a full $5,699 discount on the sticker price of $18,320. They’ve got a 1.3 star rating on Cars.com, though, so one suspects that price might be a little too good to be true. If you’d rather go somewhere else, North Miami Mitsubishi has a hatch in yellow for $13,910, while RC Hill has a white one for $14,895.
Outside of Florida, pricing is less aggressive, but there are still deals to be had. Down in Georgia, Mitsubishi of Augusta has a Mirage G4 ES for $16,495, a touch cheaper than the $19,115 MSRP. Leskovar Mitsubishi has a similar deal up in Washington, as does J&S Mitsubishi in New Jersey.
For your money, you’re getting a car with a 1.2-liter, 3-cylinder engine, good for 78 horsepower and 74 pound-feet of torque. It’s not much, but for a car that weighs 2,084 pounds, it’ll get you moving down the road. On the plus side, it’ll do 35 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the highway, which should keep your fuel bills low like your repayments.
It’s true that the Mirage is a cheap car, hardly overburdened with comforts and equipment. Still, you’re not getting an entirely ancient vehicle. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay have been standard across the range since the 2021 model year. You’re also getting power mirrors, power windows, keyless entry, and a parking camera. The former are mostly because it’s become cheaper to go that way due to economies of scale; the latter because it was mandated by federal authorities. Regardless, it’s all in there.
Despite its age, the Mirage’s last official model year was surprisingly successful. While sales had slowed to just 13,219 units in 2023, Mitsubishi sold a full 29,766 units in 2024. Right now, though, Car Edge notes that there are 3,418 examples on sale, with just 705 sold in the last 45 days. That equals around 218 days of supply, meaning you’ll be seeing Mirages on dealer lots well into the summer unless something drastically changes.
It’s funny to think, though, that the Mirage was actually up for sale for just $14,295 as recently as 2021. That was before inflation came in and kicked over all our toys, of course. It’s nice to see that, despite the base-price increase a few years back, you can still score a new one for cheap.
If you didn’t want a Mirage last year, you probably still don’t want one now. They’re cheaper than most new cars and come with a 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty, but they’re unfashionable and offer little in the way of thrills or charm. [Ed Note: I disagree about the charm. I think these cheap little econoboxes are charming as hell, and I’m not alone! -DT]. They’re still a better buy than the Toyota Mirai, which retails for around $17,000, but that’s mostly because you can drive one across the country.
Image credits: Mitsubishi, Cars.com via screenshot
I never drove a Mirage, and if a single one were available with a manual transmission in LA (45 CVTs and zero manuals according to Car Gurus) I’d go test drive it just to see what a new, theoretically $14K car is like.
I dig that bright yellow in the top pic, but I assume that’s for some special, performance version. 😉
I love my 2015 mirage ES(manual). Drove it 150,000 miles no problem. 42-45 mpg winter 48-54 mpg summer. I got rear ended twice , bought her back from insurance, taped up the tail light, and drove her another 30,000 with no bumper. Fuel pump went at 180xxx. She also needs tires, alignment, bunch of front end work, clutch going out etc. so it sits after I put a fuel pump in, just in case I need her. I’m a delivery driver, I was hard on her and she’s been so good to me. Yes shes loud, sharp turns with twist, slow going up 7% grades, shakes as a big car rushes past, but dang is she the best car I ever owned. I planned on 300,000 miles but it wasn’t meant to be. After the insurance pay out $11,500-6250+750=$6000 ÷ 180,000 miles equals 3.3 pennies per mile. Now I was paying right around 5 cents a mile in gas lifetime in Fuelio (7.2 cents today,44mpg and $3.20gallon) , so 8.3-10.5 pennies a mile total if you sans tires, oil, insurance, taxes registration etc. hard to beat.
When I went looking for cars, a new mirage with like upgrades to a Chevy bolt premier came out to like $22,000 and I found a used 2020 bolt with 18,000 miles for 15,000. I love the bolt but drove my mom’s mirage tonight in the snow as I still have low rolling resistance tires that suck in the snow and we had a 20 car pileup 5 miles from my home. What I’m saying is mirages are great for people who love economy and something to get you where your going. I would not hesitate to buy one again if the price was right.
It might be cheap in US dollars terms but when this Mirage was available in Oz…it wasn’t anywhere near this expensive. From memory, it was in the AU$14,000 to $16,000 range. Granted the AUD/USD relationship at the time was a little less lopsided…but the equivalent of US$14k now in Oz will buy you a lot more car than an old Mirage.
I’ve tried to get those crazy deals for people in the past. Mitsubishi dealers are interesting is like Nissan dealer to the extreme. Very sketchy places.
The funniest one was “sorry that one isn’t available it was stolen last night ” to his credit he produced surveillance footage of few of their cars including the little car they had advertised for $10k being driven though a chain link fense.
That was the second best Mitsubishi dealer I’ve dealt with in years. So that says something. Most just want to run credit and refuse to give you a cash price. Hopefully they can deliver them for something close to that price. I can’t see them being worth more then $14k.
That yellow hatchback has a mandatory “pre-delivery service fee” of $1295 and a dealer doc fee of $695.
So the real price is not $13,910, it’s actually $15,900 plus tax and title. It’s not a horrible price, but it’s horrible dealership practices in FL.
Florida man runs Florida dealerships.
What’s really funny about the Mirage hatchback is how very bad the OEM tires are.
A neighbor’s son owns one fitted with wider, low profile tires and I have to admit, it’s pretty fun to drive. It’s no Abarth or JCW, but it’s definitely a lot better than the rental I had.
These discounted prices feel more like what the MSRP should have been in the first place
The Mirage was a relative hit by Mitsubishi standards, but it just always felt like it was a few grand overpriced
That was my impression as a pre-covid buyer. At the start of the 2020 model year and for many years before, you could get a Honda Fit for a grand or so more.
We got a 23 Ralliart a year and half ago for 20 even out the door here in Florida. It’s been honestly awesome. All the snobby online reviews are wrong. It’s a great little car. It has no problem at all merging into traffic and it does 80-85 on the highway easily for hours on end. We did FL to ME with 2 adults and 2 kids and it had plently of room. Best MPG has been 48. Only one problem, the alignment was off when new, dealer fixed it under warranty and it’s been fine since. My oldest daughter may buy one of actual cars mentioned here above as her first car.
There is something endearing to me about a well-executed simple car.
I’m not going to go trade my 2017 Accord in on one of these, but if I liked it after a test drive, I wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen in one.
A/C and power windows? That’s really all I feel like I need.
This user drives.
My first car was the last year of a dead model that I picked up for dirt cheap with a full warranty, so this speaks to me. If I were still in college looking for transportation to get me from my free room and board with Grandma to my internship this would be high on the list.