2023 Mitsubishi Mirage Review

There's nothing quite like that new car smell. But sometimes you have to ask yourself if that olfactory experience is worth sacrificing a few creature comforts, especially when you're working with a limited budget. The Mitsubishi Mirage is one such case where you might instead consider a used car over new.

The 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage is one of the lowest-priced cars on sale today, and it shows. The Mirage gets a basic interior equipped with only the bare essentials. Under the hood is a 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine that makes a scant 76 horsepower and 74 lb-ft of torque. With so little power to work with, that engine is constantly huffing and puffing, which makes the cabin a noisy place to be. For 2023, Mitsubishi dropped the five-speed manual transmission, which previously came standard on the base ES. That means every Mirage now gets the efficient but whiny continuously variable automatic transmission. 

But the Mirage does have a few things going for it aside from its low base price. For one, it gets exceptional fuel economy. The tiny hatchback gets an EPA-estimated 36 mpg in the city and 43 mpg on the highway, which is better than some hybrids. It also, surprisingly, offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration as standard. Still, if price is your chief concern, we recommend stretching your budget a bit and considering competitors like the Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent and Nissan Versa before settling on the Mirage.