Just wondering, why are the Mirage and Fit the only two cars you're considering?
Do you really want this thread to go on for a few more months?
;-]
@Nevada_545 - "Ed doesn’t have a trade-in, he has old vehicles that are not marketable by a new car dealer. " Man, you don’t beat around the bush, do ya? 
I’d be offended if you weren’t spot-on. I’m proud that I used up ALL the value in my cars. By the time I’m done with them, there’s little left beyond scrap metal value. Guy at work offered me $600 for the Jeep, I told him I was gonna park it in the back yard and plant tomatoes in it. (p.s.- maybe I’ll put it on Craigslist for $4,500. 
)
Called “Honda of America” customer service today and spoke to a lady who seemed a little befuddled by my query, but she did tell me that it is early in the 2016 model year, some manual transmission Fits may be coming along in a few months, they won’t ship more Fits to local dealers until they move the inventory they already have on hand.
@“Margarets Dad” - “Just wondering, why are the Mirage and Fit the only two cars you’re considering?” Well, they aren’t. I’ve had my eye on the Fit since if first came out here in 2006. Almost bought one about 18 months ago but my Mom went into hospice care around the same time and I decided I couldn’t buy a car at a stressful time like that - buying a car is supposed to be a happy time in your life. Was planning to buy LATER this year but @cwatkin 's thread about HUGE sale on Mitsubishi Mirage got me off my butt and out to the showrooms.
Registration and emissions on my current two junkers expires Nov 30th, so I’ve got until then to buy something, but if I want the super-bargain on the Mirage I’ve gotta act soon.
I think I’ve boxed myself into a psychological corner wherein anything other than a Fit I’m going to think of as settling for “second best”. On the other hand, Consumer Repts says Honda’s reliability has slipped in recent years, and I am kinda pixxed there aren’t any manual transmissions around. . .
The Ford Fiesta has dismal reliability ratings from Consumer Reports, shame, you’d think it’d be a natural successor to a Festiva. . . (yeah I know, some folks here don’t put no stock in what Consumer Repts says … . . I’ve gotta weed my list down some way. . . )
Hyundai Accent / Kia Rio - I think it was either the crash test ratings or I didn’t like the way one of them felt when I sat in it at the auto show.
A dealer nearby has a Scion iA with a 6-speed manual transmission - I’m thinking about going up there tomorrow to check it out if I don’t get my butt kicked at work again tonight.
@insightful - “Do you really want this thread to go on for a few more months?” Hey, no one’s forcing you to participate. 
P.S. - Consumer Repts says the best way to deal with trade ins is to consider it as two separate transactions - buying a car and selling a car. Don’t let the dealer lump the trade with the purchase. Same way you’re not supposed to speak in terms of monthly payments. Work out the final price of the car, THEN deal with the financing, if necessary.
As I said before, I’m not really. . . . . aaaahhhh, never mind. . . heavy sigh. . . .
Ed Frugal- You do know this is the last year for the Scion brand, right?
Yeah, but the iA got a really good review from Consumer Repts. I thought of that though. 10 years from now you need a piece of window glass or a body panel . . . Didn’t go up there today anyway tho, too tired from work. . . maybe Friday, who knows. I’m reaching the point of indecision and disgust now. For what a new car costs I shouldn’t have to “settle”.
If that shifter on the Mirage had felt the way I expected it to, I probably would have bought it by now, well, not that one, but the blue one the salesguy said he could order. I was hoping @cwatkin would weigh in on that shifter, but I guess that’s not going to happen.
Maybe I should hold out to see if a manual shift Fit comes along later this year, but if it doesn’t it’ll be too late to go back and buy the Mirage. . .
I will say, the Honda salesman is eager to make the sale. He keeps calling me. He doesn’t want the sale 3 or 6 months from now, he wants the sale NOW. By contrast, the Mitsubishi salesmen seem indifferent as to whether I buy or not. Odd.
Both the Mitsubishi “dealers” I visited are little areas carved out at the end of much, much larger Chevrolet dealerships. I wonder if these salesmen really mostly sell Chevrolets and take turns serving “duty” down at the Mitsubishi section at the end of the lot. Kind of like in some offices everybody has to take a turn cleaning out the coffee machine and microwave oven in the employee break room.
***Or, maybe I should just throw in the towel and buy the Fit with the CVT. It is rated 4 mpg higher, and the price is about in line with what I had planned for in the beginning. The blue Fit is a deep, rich blue, Honda calls it Aegean Blue Metallic, I call it ‘Royal Blue’, like that old Gallagher bit, “. . . and they took it straight to the King, and they said ‘King, you need to buy this!’ and the King said ‘Why?’ And they said, ‘Cause its Roy-al Blue!’”
If Mitsubishi goes out of business, you are up the creek. With Scion, you can get parts at your local Toyota dealer for as long as you own it. We have a 2003 Oldsmobile, and parts are no problem even 12 years after Olds ceased operations.
@“oldtimer 11”
Yes, Toyota is dropping the Scion brand . . . but they’re keeping some of the models and rebadging them as Toyota
The article I read said the Scions are sold as Toyotas elsewhere in the world
Kind of makes me wonder if the Scion name was only used in North America . . .
Over in Europe, many cars are sold as Honda, but in the US, they’re called Acura
Most of the Scion’s are sold as Toyota’s elsewhere, the Scion IA is made by Mazda
My local Scion dealer has 5 manual transmission iAs in stock, with the $500 bonus it is $1500 less than the lowest price Fit.
If we are comparing Scion to Mitus, I think Scion will win hands down. The Toyota Auris (sold in Europe) is the same Scion iM (sold in US) which is a hatch-back Corolla. The list goes on.