What were you driving before your Prius?

2003 Lexus IS300 - Avg. MPG was about 18 8)

 

1999 Acura 3.2 TL. Miss the leather and the sun/moon roof and, ok, I admit it, the heated seats. Was getting about 22-23 mpg. Liked the solid hunker-down feel on the freeways. But the Prius has been a great decision. It is a much easier car to manouver through my 22 miles per day of surface streets and good mpg has become a challenging game with each new tank (avg 53.5 since December and 55+ over last 2 months).

 

First off i must comment. The trade ins are amazing. I wouldn't expect people who love there Porche or X5 to get a Prius. Then again, the prius doesn't really have any problems compared to any car. My turn...

Previously, i was driving a 1985 318I BMW (currently trying to sell) Which had more problems i could count. My technical friend and i went thought it checking computer system and so on. Damn car. I love BMWs.. but hate my car. When that broke in multiple way over 2 years ago, i purchased a 1987 Lincoln Mark VII LSC from my brother for $1. What i love about this car and will miss... the 5.0L HO Engine that purs in that car, and screams when i do 0-60 in 5.5 - 6 seconds. A true sleeper car. The comfy semi bucket 8 way electric seats. The auto flipping (not dimming) rear view mirror. The auto off headlamps when your brights are on and someone comes at you. And some other gadgets that are on the dash. The awesome visibility. And, the Sub i installed. (won't take the chance of harming the Prius or my warranty with a sub) What i will not miss when i get my new Prius (Ordered June 3rd will receive it on June 16th) is the DTE (Distance till empty) that has a short in it so displays 0 all the time. Every once and a while the alarm will go off just to display 0. Very annoying. The non working heater that dies every year. The AC that was never installed properly -$750.00 The cost of having to replace parts, like the control arms, the shots, the struts (about a grand) the leaking trunk.. the drivers door that never locks anymore. the "pitted" windshied that seems to turn into solid light when the sun hits it (very dangerous) the lovely smell of the exhaust, the pollution (can't be tooo bad seeing it passed CA smog a month ago) the combined MPG of 16 no matter how i drive. (might as well go fast if i get the same MPG) and the windshield wiper that no longer has a intermittent.. so it's either off.. or fast. I'll be glad to trade this car in and see it gone. Can't wait for my new Prius Silver 9

Now i'll go have Prius dreams.. Night everyone

 

1987 Toyota Corolla.

Despite it's age, it didn't require all that much in terms of maintenance, and was still just fine for a "City Car". I was rather hesitant to take it for long highway trips though.

Not a problem with the new Prius - going to drive down to California from Vancouver in a few weeks

Dave

 

How 'bout a '93 Dakota with 190,000 miles? Steady 17 mpg from the trusty 318 c.i. engine on midgrade gas. Comfortable truck EXCEPT the a/c has been inoperable for 4.5 years....and I live in FL....refused to get it fixed since it was an old r-12 unit. But I refuse to sell it since it's long paid for (I couldn't replace it with what little I could get for it.) Guess you can figure that I'm in heaven with the Prius especially considering my 80 mile round trip commute.....aaaahhhhhhh.......

 

A 1988 Acrua Legend. Great car, but it was starting to develop rust issues. I love my Prius.

 

Peugeot 206 1.9 XTD

[Broken External Image]:http://www.xs4all.nl/~krkr/peug/peugbatavier.jpg

 

55% more from Carmax? That's amazing, congrats! BTW, if you don't mind my asking, what was the dollar difference between the dealer and Carmax.

 

Gave up this baby ('94 MR2) for the '04 Prius...sold to a friend...

 

I had a 1998 Jeep Grand Cheroke. It is a great vehicle that got very good mileage for a Truck of its type. I got almost 20mpg combined. The Jeep was 130,000+ Miles old and I wanted all that the Prius could offer. I drive between 15,000 and 20,000 a year and I think the Prius is just what my Bank Account ordered.

Peace,

Fr. Bill

 

Hoping to replace my MR2 with the Volta Hybrid...soon...

 

Conicidentally, when I went to pick up my Prius from the very same dealership you are getting yours, the rental car company gave me one of those Buick Rendezvous. I felt kind of silly driving that SUV/Van thingy by myself through the hills of WV, burning what seemed like enough gas to make a small car payment, and it definitely drove like an SUV. It was quite a contrast when I got my Prius, and made me appreciate it even more (1/2 a tank on the ride home). Still, I could see why the Buick would have its time and place.

 

Before??? You mean currently. The black #9 is due at the end of the month.

94 Saturn SL. 135,000 miles. Standard transmission, no AC, no power steering, AM/FM cassette that is distorted at any volume, takes a quart of oil a week.

What I'll miss? The smoke screen option that will produce a large cloud of oily smoke when I downshift or go down a hill with the foot off the gas. It's a great option to keep away the tailgaters.

I'll miss the slipping clutch. And the distortion when trying to crank Born to Run. And the large biceps I've grown trying to parallel park it without power steering and a manual transmission. I'll miss changing the brakes once a year (rotors and all). And I'll miss the pleasant conversation with the homeless people who see your windows open (no AC, I gotta breath somehow) and figure you will be a good person to harass.

Before I say any other bad things about the car, I should mention that it did save my wife's life. Back in 95 she was driving down an expressway when a semi changed lanes into her right rear, spinning the car sideways and in front of the truck. A miracle kept that car from being flipped over and run over by that truck. It just skidded down the expressway sideways until that truck could stop itself.

It also gets 37MPG and thanks to plastic sidepanels, no rust (a major consideration in western NY weather with road salt).

Needless to say, I'm none too anxious to get my new Prius.

So, any buyers?

 

2003 Saturn VUE with the CVT and AWD. It was a lemon vehicle, and I find it interesting that there is another person on this forum that dumped their VUE for the same reason. Although, I was able to get better mileage out of mine. I saw 30 mpg on highway trips in it. I actually liked it alot, but just couldn't trust if after 6 times in the shop for serious warranty issues, and beginning symptoms for a 7th trip, with less than 6k left on the warranty. Bye bye GM, I won't ever be back.

 

Yup, I'm that other person who traded in the Vue, Wolfie. I was fortunate in that I didn't have the lemony issues that you had with yours. Overall, I give the Vue a B- grade taking into account all of the other cars I've owned in 35 years of driving. I've actually seen it twice after trading it in still sitting on the dealer's lot

 

My wife and I replaced a 1983 Z28 and a 1991 Caravan with our '04 Prius and '04 Corolla.
The Z28 was my commute car ..., fun, but only around 17mpg.
We were sad to see the Caravan go. My wife drove it to work, and we used it for vacations. We donated it with 227,000 miles on the odometer, everything still in very good shape, except the original catalytic converter and paint were shot. We just didn't want to take a chance with it on long vacations.
I'm looking forward to taking the Prius on our vacation to Colorado. Lifetime MPG so far is about 52.
We got on the list for a hybrid Highlander for my wife so I can drive the Prius ALL the time!!
-Ed

1969 Nova (my 1st car, scrapped it at 317,000 miles)
1967 El Camino (beater car for dump runs, getting ready to sell)
1983 Z28 (my first new car, getting ready to sell)
1991 Caravan (excellent vacation car, donated at 227,000 miles)
1991 Miata (wife's fun car)
2004 Corolla (wife's commute car)
2004 Prius (my commute and fun car!)

 

I drove my husband's hand-me-down 1993 Volvo 850 sedan - which was a lemon if there ever was one.

I miss the luxury of the seats (heat and more subtle adjustment possibilities) - but considering MY heated seat didn't work, I guess I just miss the IDEA of it, not the reality.

So far, my Prius is zippier, and far, far more fun to drive - but it's becoming as problem-filled at the moment, much to my chagrin, as my thank-god-I-traded-it-in Volvo, now that the check engine light has come on twice - and this second time the dealer wants to replace things...uh oh...I sense trouble ahead...

 

i traded in a lexus rx300 on the buick, mainly because a few times a year, i need the room, and the buick has a lot of room compared to the lexus, plus the 3rd seat. i still don't know what i am going to do about those 3-4 times per year, but i could probably rent a van for them and still save a bundle overall and enjoy myself more with the prius.

 

Still driving a Tercel

We are still driving my Wife's 1988 Tercel (180K miles) until our Prius shows up.

 

Bye Bye Baby Mobile

Replaced the the 97 Mercury Sable Wagon we bought just after bringing our daughter home with a #7 Driftwood. Went from 22 to 42 mpg.
My 2 mile commute is hammering my MPG rating....

cas
PS 7 year old dtr chants.... "You can't hear me" when we hit stealth mode on the way home.... tres cute...