QOTD: What Car On Sale Today, If Given To You Free, Would You Give Right Back?

Mark Stevenson
by Mark Stevenson

I’m all for cheap cars. What I’m not for is unnecessarily cheap cars. And if I was given a new, fresh-out-of-the-Thai-takeout-box Mirage, I’d probably give it right back.

Lately, I’ve noticed a massive uptick in the number of Mirages skulking around the streets of my home town. I’d like to think the people who’ve bought them didn’t test drive anything else and don’t actually know there are better options available.

The reality is probably a bit worse. A Mitsubishi dealer is more likely than a Nissan dealer to welcome a subprime borrower into the F&I office.

That said, the Versa sedan (and Micra in Canada), while ugly, is better than the Mirage in almost every conceivable way – except fuel economy, as the Mirage has a CVT.

I totally understand the selling points of Mitsubishi’s multi-colored zit mobile: low price, easy financing, long warranty and great fuel economy. But, for all those things, you have to put up with driving a car that feels like it was engineered in 1992 by a blind guy named Takumi who has a daily affection for saké.

On the other hand, if given a Versa (or Micra), I’d drive it ’til the wheels fell off.

What free car would you straight up turn down?

Mark Stevenson
Mark Stevenson

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  • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Jun 12, 2015

    As the old saying goes, "Never look a gift horse in the mouth". I'd take any freebee new vehicle but that doesn't mean I wouldn't sell it the next day after the transfer papers went through.

  • Taxman100 Taxman100 on Jun 13, 2015

    I'd keep something that is similar to our 2000 Corolla with 188,000 miles that my wife bought new, but I use to commute to the office. (she stays home with the kids, and the minivan) Looking at the features, even the Mirage has more than I really need - I don't waste my time downloading music etc., so I don't care about entertainment features in a car. I enjoy silence in the car - gives me time to think while I'm driving. Also - I cannot remember the last time anyone looked in the passenger side vanity mirror of the Corolla. I turn my own wrench on repairs as much as possible, so simple is a big plus for me. (3 spark plugs and only 3 quarts of oil in the crank) Also, the bonus of 10 mpg more than the Corolla makes even more money available for my kid's parochial school tuitions. Local dealer is selling Mirage DE trim with CVT for $12,348 including destination. They sell well for them.

    • Skink Skink on Jun 14, 2015

      I know an actuary. He's a real barrel of laughs. I'll have to turn him on to the 2000 Corolla, if he's not hip to it already.

  • Ilkhan Ilkhan on Jun 14, 2015

    None of them. But 90% of cars, if someone handed me the keys, would be on another dealer's lot as a trade-in the next day.

  • VolandoBajo VolandoBajo on Jun 16, 2015

    Anything with a CVT. But most of the cars I see that I would give back are so unremarkable and so unnoticeable that I haven't even learned their names. But it would be any one of those econobox pieces of crap with less than 100 hp, thirteen inch wheels, or thereabout, the afore-mentioned CVT, maybe a pushbutton transmission, no trunk, a sealed coolant system, bumpers made of metal that you could twist with your bare hands, or bend by looking cross-eyed at them...a whole lot of cheesebox entry level specials. Or as one letter to a car magazine once said "I have a Yugo. A friend of mine gave me a car stereo. Does this mean I need to buy a car?"

    • VolandoBajo VolandoBajo on Jun 22, 2015

      If you gave me a Range Rover Evoque, I wouldn't give it back, but would arrange an immediate trade for a new Trailhawk, or perhaps a Mustang GT. But I wouldn't even want it to appear in my driveway. Mostly, I don't care what people think about what I drive, but I don't want to ruin my reputation for having some sense of what is a good car ruined, either. Would also wholesale out a Jeep Patriot so fast it would make your head spin.

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