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There are many cheap cars on the market, but very few are actually “cheap cars.” Those cheap cars cars are affordable, but not necessarily cheap in the sense that it will come with few, if any, features.

That’s not the case with the Mitsubishi Mirage G4, which might be one of the cheapest cars on the market today in terms of the overall price and what you get for your money.

The Mitsubishi Mirage G4 is pretty cheap

A close up view of the front grille of a Mitsubishi Mirage
The grille of a Mitsubishi Mirage | Jim Mahoney/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images

Recently, Motor Trend compiled a list of the cheapest cars that are on the market today, and while the Mirage G4 earned a respectable third place, it was narrowly defeated by the Nissan Versa and the Hyundai Accent for first and second place respectively.

This was a mild surprise since the Mirage G4 is not only an affordable car, but it’s also a cheap car in the more traditional sense of the word. 

To be fair, like Motor Trend said, the Mirage G4 isn’t the most affordable sedan on the market, as the Accent and the Versa are both slightly more affordable than the Mirage G4 is.

How cheap is the Mitsubishi Mirage G4?

But, like Motor Trend wrote, what separates the Mirage G4 from its competitors is the fact that it’s also a “cheap car” in the sense that it’s a bad car.

Many of the other “cheap cars” that are on the market are actually pretty decent cars that make a few sacrifices to get to its price point, but they are otherwise average cars to drive around in.

The Mirage G4, on the other hand, is simply a bad car in almost every sense of the word. It comes with a very small 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine that gets just 76-hp, according to Motor Trend. In addition to this weak engine, the interior of the Mirage G4 is exactly like what most people think a cheap car’s interior would be like. 

U.S. News said that the Mirage has, “low-grade cabin materials, poor build quality, and cramped rear seats.”

Furthermore, U.S. News said that not only did the Mirage have a poor interior, but its ride quality was also pretty bad. As such, it’s no surprise that the Mirage is usually one of the worst-reviewed cars on the market, and indeed, U.S. News gave it an overall score of just 4.9 out of 10, which made it the worst car in its segment. 

To be fair, this car does have some good stuff

It’s not all bad news though, since the Mitsubishi Mirage G4 does come with a few good points that makes it bearable to some extent. U.S. News said that one of the Mirage G4’s highlights is that its fuel economy, despite its ridiculously weak engine, is actually very good. With a CVT equipped, the Mirage G4 gets an estimated 35 MPG in the city and 41 MPG on highways. 

Furthermore, while the Mirage G4 doesn’t have many standard smart features, its infotainment system, which includes a 7-inch touch screen display, was described by U.S. News as “easy to use.” That being said, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto aren’t standard on the Mirage G4, but that isn’t really a big surprise. 

On top of that, while the Mirage G4 does have a cramped interior, U.S. News was also mildly impressed by its cargo capacity. The Mirage G4, which is a sedan, has about 12.6 cu. ft. of cargo capacity, which is about average.

However, the regular Mirage, which is a hatchback, can get up to 47 cu. ft. of cargo capacity, which is impressive for a car in its segment.

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