An 'amethyst purple' Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback named "Diva" only deserves the care and admiration given by its owners, considering how well this car has served them.
Entrepreneurs and partners, Chira dela Cruz and Ehly Garcia, took home little "Diva" in 2015 after finding a daily driver in the Mirage GLS CVT. It possesses the qualities the partners were looking for in their ride: fuel efficient, dependable, and budget-friendly.
“We based our purchase on fuel efficiency since we will be using this car everyday for work,” Dela Cruz shared. She added that in city driving, the Mirage can average 12 to 15kpl.
Dela Cruz has the Mirage's 1.2-liter three-cylinder MIVEC engine to thank for. It makes 78hp and 100Nm of torque, mated to a continuously variable transmission (CVT) to yield stellar fuel-sipping numbers.
The partners also admire the car's reliability, as it never had any problems in the six years they've been with "Diva." Dela Cruz said their Mirage keeps to its preventive maintenance service (PMS) schedule.
“It’s like driving a go kart," Dela Cruz, a car enthusiast and long-time driver, complemented. The Mirage's turning radius measures only 4.6 meters, after all.
"Diva" had also taken the partners on road trips, too, and on some occasions loaded with friends and gear. “If a small car like the Mirage can take four adults up to Tagaytay without any problem, what (would be the case) with the other Mitsubishi cars with bigger engines?” Dela Cruz asserted.
She added: “I don’t think other people who haven’t driven a Mirage on a daily basis and on certain conditions can understand or believe this.”
The partners' admiration for the Mirage grew even further when Mitsubishi's after-sales service quickly took care of their car after it was hit by a truck in Batangas.
“I was really worried because every time I heard people who had to go to the casa to have their car repaired, they would say it usually took a really long time to have it done," Dela Cruz recalled.
"But since Mirages are assembled here in the Philippines, parts are never a problem,” she added.
The Mirage and its sedan sibling, the Mirage G4, are assembled in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. The brand's local arm, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation (MMPC), operates a plant there.
“I took Diva the next day to the casa and they immediately worked on her. It only took three weeks to have her repaired," Dela Cruz said, noting that the car was repaired quickly considering the damage it sustained.
Are you already wondering how did the car's name come about? The partners have thought of many names, and while they were driving along, they suddenly blurted out "What a diva!" For them, the name suited the car and its styling.
Dela Cruz and Garcia now have an affection so strong for their Mirage that they "wouldn’t trade her for any other car" and "keep her forever with us.”
Prices for the Mirage hatch start at P704,000 for the manual variant, while the CVT is priced at P765,000.
Photos from Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation (MMPC)
Also read:
Mitsubishi Mirage G4: The Pros and Cons
Mitsubishi PH Loans L300 Vans to Gov’t Covid-19 Response Units
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