2023 Mitsubishi Mirage Review: America’s Cheapest Car

2023 Mitsubishi Mirage : Nobody buys this car for fun, and that’s exactly the point ,There’s a certain kind of car shopper who walks into a dealership with one question: what’s the least I can possibly spend and still drive away in something new? For years, the answer has been the Mitsubishi Mirage, and the 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage keeps that tradition alive.

This isn’t a car built to impress anyone at a stoplight.

The subcompact segment has been shrinking for a decade. Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota have all walked away from their cheapest offerings, leaving a short list of survivors that includes the Nissan Versa, the Kia Rio, and this little Mitsubishi hatchback. Each one plays a slightly different game. The Versa tries to feel a bit more grown up. The Rio leans on styling. The Mirage just leans on price, and it leans hard.

That single-minded focus is refreshing in some ways and frustrating in others, and we’ll get into both sides of that over the next few thousand words. If you’re cross-shopping budget hatchbacks, or if you already own one and want to know how it holds up against today’s market, this is for you.

Our Opinion

The 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage is proof that cheap and good aren’t the same thing, though they occasionally overlap. Fuel economy is genuinely excellent for a gas-only car, the warranty coverage is among the best in the industry, and the price tag undercuts nearly everything else on sale.

But the tradeoffs are steep, and they show up the moment you merge onto a highway. We wouldn’t call this a bad car. We’d call it an honest one that asks a lot of patience from its driver in exchange for a low monthly payment.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Outstanding EPA fuel economy for a non-hybrid
• One of the lowest base prices of any new car sold in the United States
• Best-in-class powertrain warranty at 10 years or 100,000 miles
• Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standard across every trim
• Easy to park and maneuver in tight city spaces

Cons

• Underpowered engine struggles on highways and inclines
• CVT transmission is noisy under acceleration
• Interior materials feel cheap and dated
• Limited safety tech compared to rivals
• No manual transmission option anymore

What’s New?

Mitsubishi dropped the five-speed manual transmission that used to come standard on the base ES trim. Every 2023 Mirage, hatchback and G4 sedan alike, now ships exclusively with a continuously variable automatic. For shoppers who liked rowing their own gears in a budget car, that option is gone for good.

A RALLIART trim also joined the lineup later in the model year, leaning into Mitsubishi’s motorsport heritage with unique badging and cosmetic touches. Worth saying plainly: it doesn’t add a single extra horsepower. It’s a look, not a personality change.

Exterior Design

The Mirage’s front end uses Mitsubishi’s Dynamic Shield styling language, with a chunky lower grille and slim headlights that give the car more visual presence than its tiny footprint would suggest. It’s a trick that works better in photos than it does standing next to the car in a parking lot.

Body panels are simple and rounded, which helps aerodynamics and, by extension, that impressive fuel economy number.

Compared to the sharper Kia Rio or the softer Nissan Versa, the Mirage sits somewhere in the middle. It won’t turn heads. It also won’t embarrass you. The available Black Edition trim adds darkened wheels, a black roof spoiler, and blacked-out mirrors, giving the car a slightly sportier look without touching anything under the hood, and if styling matters to you at all, that trim is the one worth a closer look.

2023 Mitsubishi Mirage Driving Experience

Around town, at speeds under 40 mph, the Mirage is genuinely fine. Steering is light, the turning radius is tight, and the small dimensions make threading through city traffic easy.

Take it onto a highway on-ramp and the story changes fast.

We merged onto a busy interstate during testing and had to plan the move nearly a quarter mile in advance, watching the mirrors and hoping for a gap that would forgive a slow build to speed. The CVT drones loudly as it searches for whatever power the little three-cylinder can offer, and passing on a two-lane road takes real commitment. Body roll is noticeable in corners too, and the steering offers little in the way of road feel, so this isn’t a car that rewards enthusiastic driving and it never pretends to.

If your daily route stays inside city limits, none of this will bother you much.

2023 Mitsubishi Mirage Performance Acceleration

Every 2023 Mirage uses the same 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine producing 78 horsepower and 74 lb-ft of torque, paired exclusively with a CVT sending power to the front wheels. There’s no engine choice to make here. What you see is what every Mirage owner gets, on every trim, every time.

That modest output means acceleration is best described as leisurely, and the engine has to work hard to get there, which translates into a fair amount of noise inside the cabin. The upside of all that modest muscle is efficiency. Drivers coming from almost any other car on the market, even other subcompacts, will notice the power deficit immediately, and Mitsubishi doesn’t try to hide that this is the slowest new car most people will ever drive.

Ride Comfort and Cabin Luxury

Comfort here is a mixed bag. The seats are reasonably supportive for shorter trips, and the driver’s seat offers height adjustment, which helps taller drivers find a workable position. Ride quality over rough pavement is acceptable too, soaking up smaller bumps without much drama.

Where things fall apart is noise.

Road noise, wind noise, and engine noise all make their way into the cabin more than they should, especially at highway speeds where the engine is working overtime. Long road trips in this car are tiring in a way that has nothing to do with the seats and everything to do with the constant drone coming from under the hood. For a daily commuter doing twenty or thirty minutes each way, that’s tolerable. For a family road trip, it’s a harder sell.

2023 Mitsubishi Mirage Interior Design

The word “luxury” doesn’t really apply here, and Mitsubishi never pretended otherwise. Hard plastics dominate the dashboard and door panels, and the overall fit and finish feels like it belongs to an earlier era of small car manufacturing.

Layout-wise, though, the cabin is simple and easy to understand, with large buttons and straightforward climate controls that some buyers will genuinely prefer over a touchscreen-heavy modern interior. Storage around the cabin covers the basics, with door pockets and a small center console bin. This is an interior built to a price point, and it shows in every panel and switch you touch.

Technology and Infotainment

Here’s a pleasant surprise. The 2023 Mirage comes standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto across every single trim, a feature some competitors still charge extra for. Given how much people rely on their phones for navigation and music, that standard inclusion carries real weight for budget shoppers.

The screen itself is small and the graphics look dated, but the core functionality works reliably once you’re connected. Beyond phone mirroring, don’t expect much else. There’s no available built-in navigation, no premium audio worth mentioning, and no connected services. Mitsubishi clearly decided phone mirroring covers most of what buyers here actually want, and honestly, they’re probably right.

2023 Mitsubishi Mirage Fuel Economy

This is the Mirage’s strongest argument, full stop. The hatchback earns an EPA rating of 36 mpg city and 43 mpg highway, while the G4 sedan comes in slightly lower at 35 mpg city and 41 mpg highway. Those numbers rival or beat some hybrids, and they come without any of the added cost or complexity of a hybrid powertrain.

It’s worth being honest that the low power and high efficiency are directly connected. You can’t have this level of thriftiness without accepting the performance tradeoff that comes with it. That’s the whole deal, in one sentence.

Practicality and Storage

Cargo space in the hatchback is modest but usable, with rear seats that fold down to expand capacity when needed. It won’t swallow a week’s worth of luggage for a family of four, but for groceries and daily errands, it covers the basics without complaint. Rear seat space is tight, as expected in a car this size, with taller passengers finding legroom limited on longer drives.

Safety and Driver Assistance Systems

Forward collision warning comes standard on every 2023 Mirage, a welcome baseline for a car this basic. Lane departure warning, though, is limited to higher trim levels rather than standard across the board, which feels like a missed opportunity in a segment where safety tech has become increasingly common.

Crash test results tell a mixed story. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave the Mirage four out of five stars overall, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s results were similarly short of top marks. Neither organization rated it a standout in its class.

For buyers who put crash protection at the very top of their list, that’s worth weighing carefully against newer competitors with more robust standard safety suites.

Worthy Competitors

The Kia Rio brings sharper styling and a nearly identical price point, though it doesn’t match the Mirage’s fuel economy numbers. The Nissan Versa feels like a more mature choice inside, with a nicer cabin and more standard safety tech, at the cost of giving up some of the Mirage’s rock-bottom pricing edge. The Hyundai Accent, where it’s still sold, tends to offer a more refined driving experience but rarely undercuts the Mirage on price. Buyers who genuinely just want the lowest possible monthly payment keep circling back to the Mirage anyway.

Key Strengths and Key Weaknesses

Its biggest strength is the combination of low price, exceptional fuel economy, and an industry-leading warranty, a trio that’s hard to find anywhere else on a new car lot. Its biggest weakness is just as clear: the engine isn’t strong enough for confident highway driving, and the whole cabin experience suffers because of it.

Which Category Does Cardrav Recommend?

Budget-focused city and suburban commuters should look at the base ES trim. It delivers the core value proposition, standard CarPlay and Android Auto, and that class-leading warranty, without paying extra for cosmetic packages that don’t change how the car drives. Buyers who spend real time on highways should look elsewhere, regardless of trim, because no version of the Mirage solves the underlying power problem.

Conclusion: Is It Worth Buying?

If you’re shopping used and your daily driving rarely strays beyond city streets and short suburban commutes, a 2023 Mirage can make real financial sense. The fuel savings add up, the warranty protects you from expensive surprises, and the price of entry is about as low as new cars get.

If your life involves regular highway merging, long commutes, or road trips, we’d steer you toward a Versa, Rio, or a well-priced used compact sedan instead.

Since Mitsubishi ended Mirage production entirely after the 2024 model year, buyers today are largely shopping this car used. That actually works in the Mirage’s favor in one sense: depreciation has already done its job, and a well-maintained example can be had for a genuine bargain, often with years of that powertrain warranty still intact. The tradeoff is that Mitsubishi’s cheapest option going forward is now an SUV, the RVR, which starts at a noticeably higher price point, so there’s no direct new-car successor to the Mirage’s formula. Against redesigned rivals like the current Versa and Rio, both of which have received more recent updates to their tech and safety features, a used Mirage increasingly competes on price alone.

The Mirage does one job well. It’s up to you to decide whether that job matches how you actually drive.

FAQ

Is the 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage a good car for daily commuting?

Yes, for city and suburban commutes it handles daily driving duties well, with the caveat that highway merging requires extra patience given the modest engine output.

What is the fuel economy on the 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage?

The hatchback is EPA-rated at 36 mpg city and 43 mpg highway, while the G4 sedan comes in at 35 mpg city and 41 mpg highway.

Does the 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage have Apple CarPlay?

Yes, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come standard on every 2023 Mirage trim, from the base ES up through the Black Edition and RALLIART.

Is the 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage still in production?

No, Mitsubishi discontinued the Mirage lineup after the 2024 model year, so the 2023 Mirage is now only available on the used car market.

What is the biggest downside of the 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage?

Its 78 horsepower three-cylinder engine struggles noticeably on highways and inclines, making it better suited to city driving than long-distance travel.