What Car Did You Drive Before Your Prius?

A 2004 Saturn Vue with the Honda V6

I haven't missed the larger cargo space, yet.
I do miss the Michelin Cross Terrains; they drove through the snow like butter.

 

2001 Chevrolet S10 4wd Blazer .....

Yea no, don't miss a thing except the sunroof.

 

We traded in our 2002 PT Dream Crusier..one of about 5,500 or so made that was an Inca Gold color. It was a great car with lots of room and never let us down. But the best MPG was 27 or so MPG on highway and 16 or so in city. We wanted at least one car with good gas mileage, thus the Prius. No regrets.

 

I came in form a 20 year succession of Soccer-Mom minivans. Maybe that's why I think of Hal as a sports car? I found that the seat problems were largely resolved once I installed seat rail extenders

PriusChat Shop : Toyota Prius Drivers Seat Extension - ExtendMySeat [ExtendMySeat] - $204.95

and a lumbar support cushion

http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B000MUSOZ6?tag=priuschatcom-20 also LOVE my Wet Okole seat covers. A little spendy, but give a nice bit of added cusion and look great!

 

A beautiful Lexus GX470 with every option. It got 17-20 mpg. My last monthly gas bill for it just came...$260ish dollars.....my first Hymotion Prius bill? $42

Since I came from such a nice car the Prius is going to get some bling. This week it gets tint on the glass and new Motegi SP 10 wheels.

 

I had a 2002 Toyota Celica GT 5spd. I had it since new and went through 2 engines and 1 transmission. I beat the hell out of it and it lasted me 9 years. If I didn't mod it or beat it then I think I would still drive it today.

 

2007 Corolla CE
2000 BMW 540i
1994 Corvette Z07
1991 Mustang GT convertible
1985 Mustang GT convertible
Too embarassed to list the next one....

 

1999 Subaru Legacy Outback. We had some great adventures, and it'll be an adjustment knowing that I can't take the Prius on old mountain logging roads, but well worth the trade..I love the Prius!

 

2001 BMW 740il with the performance package. It was a very good looking, comfortable, and roomy automobile. However, it was also the most expensive and most unreliable automobile we ever owned. My wife made sure she had her cell phone with her so she could call me when it broke down. Here are some of the problems: leaking radiator, leaking water pump, leaking power steering, leaking engine oil line to the oil filter, leaking transmission, GPS did not work, broken latch on glove compartment door, broken cup holder, broken plastic tabs on radiator grills, broken plastic tab on parking light, intermittent misfire in engine, and, the straw that broke the camel's back, some broken component on rear of the engine that caused oil to get pumped into the intake manifold which caused a lot of gray smoke to come out of the tail pipe.

I was concerned that the move from a 540 to a Prius would be a shocker. It was a smooth move and we love the Prius.

I also have a 65 Mustang and 1997 Lexus SC300 that I will own forever.

 

2005 Honda Pilot (Still own)
2002 Buick Regal (Love this car and kept it for long trips)
2002 Olsmobile Silhouette (Loved the whole mini-van thing)
2000 Oldsmobile Bravada (Great ride but unreliable)
2000 Nissan Altima (Nice car)
1998 GMC Truck (Unbreakable)
1998 Honda Civic (Noisiest car I've ever owned)
1995 Honda Accord (2 Door coupe, faster than expected)
1994 Dodge Truck (Great for towing but lousy off road performance)
1993 Mazda Protoge (fun little car)
1992 Mazda Protoge
1970 Chevy Truck (Still own, Fully restored) I bought this when I was in the 9th grade (before I could drive) so it has some sentimental value.
In process of doing a full restoration on a 1975 VW superbeetle
convertible

I lean toward keeping vehicles much longer these days so hope I can keep from getting bored with the Prius for a good 8-10 years.

 

Interesting to hear about your 740i. I almost bought one when I got the 540i. They have the same engine. They also seemed to have many of the same problems. 3 water pumps, two radiators, the same oil control problems.
Wanna hear the ironic part? I bought a "premium" brand because I wanted more reliability than the Vette.
The final straw: They would not put in a new water pump. The impeller fell off. The temp gauge malfunctioned. At the same time. I found out when my windsheild was doused in coolant during rush hour on the H1. Exit one 4.4 liter V8.
Ergo, why I buy Japanese cars now. should have got a Lexus.

 

I'm not surprised. BMW 7-series usually do poorly in Consumer Reports reliability ratings. BMW reliability is pretty hit or miss across all models.

It seems I haven't answered this thread myself. Here's my past car history although there were times when I wasn't driving (in college for part of the time w/o a car).
86 Olds Cutlass Ciera - was quite troublesome
93 Dodge Caravan - pretty reliable for the time I drove it
91 Toyota Camry V6 - pretty reliable
02 Nissan Maxima <-- Prius replaced this - I liked the car a lot and liked its power, ride and quietness. The handling and brakes sucked compared to my 04 350Z though.

 

1989 Honda Prelude 5 speed manual with 4 wheel steering... I bought this new, and still have it. It's a very nice handling car, and averages 32 MPG (except in the worst of winter weather).

1980 Buick Skylark. A terribly built car, with constant problems, I can't believe I kept it as long as I did.

1963 Plymouth Valiant with push-button automatic (all gears push-button except park; now with push-button park on the Prius, I've had all combinations.

I tend to keep my cars a long time, so we'll see, maybe I'll be the one to see if the Prius battery pack can really hold up for over 20 years.

 

This has been a very interesting thread with all the cars everyone has owned. I can't name all the cars I have owned in the past, however I can name the past few cars I've owned in the past few years:

2011 Toyota Prius Package III w/nav (newly owned)
2007 Honda CRV EX-L (still own)
2007 Volvo S40
2006 Audi S4 (still own)
2006 Mercedes C350 Sport (traded this for the Prius)
2005 Infiniti G35 Coupe
2002 BMW 325i
2001 Nissan Altima
1999 BMW 323i

 

'94 Camry V6 XLE with a fantastic 17 mpg. I did own it when gas was $1.31 though

 

2004 Audi A6 Turbo Quattro (traded for the 2011 Prius)
2010 Dodge Challenger - still own
2005 Dodge Ram quad cab hemi - still own
1991 Chevrolet Corvette - still own
1969 Dodge Daytona hemi - still own
1996 Dodge Grand Caravan 330,000 miles traded for Challenger
1998 Oldsmobile Aurora - gave to daughter
1996 Dodge Interpid - gave to son
1992 Chevrolet Lumina 225,000 miles sold to rental car place
1985 Lincoln LSC
1978 Corvette
1971 Plymouth Road Runner
1969 AMC AMX 390 4 speed

Had a few fun cars along the way.

 

Our thoughts are very similar. I also wanted a "premium" brand for reliability. Unfortunately, I did not get the reliability - I only got the high repair bills. One thing that I forgot in my list of failures with the BMW - the water cooled alternator also failed. Yes, water cooled!! Fortunately, I now have a very reliable and economical Prius that I will drive until the wheels fall off which I think will be a very long time from now.

 

Let's see, my list is pretty long (looks like I have a problem) but with any luck I'll have the Prius for quite a long time..

2010 Prius V
1962 Dodge Custom 880 (still own)
2007 VW GTI (traded for the Prius)
2007 Jeep Wrangler Saraha Unlimited (leaked like crazy)
2006 Toyota Tacoma Sport (bought new, sold to my mom who still owns it)
1999 Mercedes-Benz SLK230
2001 Jeep Wrangler Sport
1996 VW Passat
1995 BMW 525i (totaled)
1995 Mazda Miata (leased)
1986 Mercedes-Benz 300E
1993 Nissan 240SX
1991 Volvo 240
1991 Toyota Camry DX
1987 Pontiac Firebird (worst car I have ever owned)
1986 Dodge Omni
1982 Plymouth Horizon
1962 Dodge Custom 880 (different than the one listed above, believe it or not)

 

1983 Chevrolet Celebrity
1976 Cadillac Coupe Deville *
1989 Ford Mustang LX (Toatled)
1993 Ford Mustang LX
1996 Cadillac Sedan Deville
1999 Pontiac Grand Prix GT
1998 Volvo V70 (Parted)
1999 Volvo V70 XC
1998 Volvo V70R *
1995 Cadillac STS
2008 Toyota Matrix XR (Totaled)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 SE *
2009 Toyota Prius (Toatled)
2008 Toyota Prius *

Some Of those are Co-purchased with The Wife..... But, The Cars We currently Own are marked with the *

@karter- I've always loved that late 90's Olds Aurora. It's one of those cars I would love to own but will most likely never really get the chance. though i did own one for exactly 30 minutes a few years ago, ended up the headgasket was shot so it went back.