1998 Mitsubishi Mirage DE from North America - Comments

The windshield wiper motor went at 55,000 miles and 5 years of use; the dealer cost was high and an aftermarket

motor was difficult to find.

The air conditioning has always worked to cool the car, but it dumps significant amounts (8 - 12 ounces) amounts of water INSIDE the car, saturating the floor on both the driver and passenger side of the vehicle compartment. Your feet get wet and the car develops a musty, fungus like smell.

I bought a Mirage as a second car because I didn't have the cash to buy a Toyota or Honda of similar age. The 1.5 liter, 5 speed engine accelerates adequately (though acceleration lags with the AC on), and the car will

easily cruise at 70 mph on the highway.

Gas mileage is superb. The driving position is very comfortable and provides plenty of leg room, more than a Corolla. But the seats are low so oncoming SUVs & trucks blind you with

their ridiculous flood light like halogen bulbs (if someone need that much headlight power to see the road, they probably shouldn't be driving at night!). The rear seat in the 2 door coupe is ridiculously small, and the seat backs don't fold down for storage.

The car corners very well, but the suspension is weak and the car bounces hard over the slightest bump. All in all this car is a trade off -- nice looking, comfortable for a small car

and less expensive on the used car market than Civic, Corolla, Prizm or Sentra. But it is not as reliable as those cars either and suspension is weak. OK for short trips and commuting.

My son has a 1991 Mitsubishi Mirage. Within the last three months, he has had to replace the timing belts four times. The car squeals loudly every time it is started up, and then quiets down for awhile, only to start squealing again. We have had several mechanics fix this car and none of them know why the belt keeps breaking over and over. We did some research at other web sites and found that other people have had this problem with Mitsubishi, as well. This has happened to him several times and he is now nervous about driving the car at all, for fear of the belt breaking and causing engine damage... or him being stranded somewhere. His college starts up again next week and he needs to have a reliable car. Does anyone know how to solve this problem?

The dumped water you find inside the car is actually radiator coolant - hence the awful smell. Fix this immediately as it will only start to dump greater amounts of liquid, reducing amount of coolant in your radiator and finally cooking your engine.

I bought a used '98 DE coupe after being disappointed with a Honda Prelude. 95K on the odometer. It has been very reliable and somewhat fun to drive.

It is not as fast as my old Saleen Mustang, but then it consistently delivers 41.4 mpg in the summer and about 38 mpg in the winter.

It does an adequate job in the snow (important here in NW Montana).

It now has 125K on it but recently suffered a whitetail interface (deer hit) which crushed the roof. I would love to find another body to swap this drive train into.