Minnesota couple puts 414k miles on a 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage

A couple in Minnesota just traded within their 414,000-mile 2021 Mitsubishi Mirage, which is notable for just about any car, topping most of the Junkyard Gems we’ve featured. We were also impressed because that’s a lot of miles in a vehicle that people weren’t especially fond of. But the couple that owned it, Jerry and Janice Huot, clearly liked it. Dubbed the “Purple Won” inside a nod to Prince, the subcompact endured six upper Midwest winters as an all-purpose utility and delivery vehicle.

“I usually loved the comments at gas stations and grocery stores and waves from people as I'd drive by,” Jerry said. “Kids would always stop and point. Everybody seemed to love that car; it would make everyone smile every time they first viewed it.”

The Huots were repeat Mitsubishi buyers in search of something with better fuel efficiency than their Cadillac. While Mitsubishi didn’t specify which model the Huots traded in, it’s reliable advice that whatever it had been, the 2021 Mirage will be a significant upgrade in that respect, as it was with a rating of 37 mpg in the city, 44 on the road and 40 combined if this was sold new; the EPA has since re-rated it at 36/42/39.  

“In the actual center of the showroom was this little purple Mirage that got 44 mpg,” Janice told Mitsubishi. “I'd had an Outlander Sport and Montero Sport before and loved them, therefore it seemed like the ideal choice. We drove the Mirage home on that day, quickly the showroom floor.”

“Janice drove it mostly for the first 7,000 miles or so, but when winter came, she wanted all-wheel-drive, so she got a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport,” Jerry says. “But then I began using the Mirage in my business. I'm a courier. I deliver samples from various doctors' offices to labs, and so i drive up and on the state and around town in Minneapolis all the time. The Mirage never missed a beat. It got me up and from our gravel driveway, even just in the center of winter, when others got stuck in the snow.”

According towards the Huots, the Mirage only needed two noteworthy repairs on its way to 414,000 miles: a replacement starter motor between 200,000 and 300,000 miles along with a new group of wheel bearings a while after 150k, each of which they are saying were addressed under warranty. We checked with Mitsubishi, who confirmed that the Huots purchased a long warranty from the dealership, hence the coverage of failed items at such high mileage. As well as that, the Huots say it has needed only regularly scheduled maintenance.

What replaced it? Another Mirage, predictably. Though the Huots have also added a new Outlander Sport for their driveway since the Mirage came home, they had no intention of replacing the Purple Won. The principal in their servicing dealer provided to buy it after learning many miles it had accumulated, and he intends to apply it advertising.