What car does your Prius replace?

Our 2005 Prius replaced my wife's 1991 Toyota Tercel (which got pretty damn good mileage - roughly 35MPG). If only there were a suitable hybrid replacement for my 1987 Volvo 740 intercooled stickshift wagon, then I'd certainly get one.

 

I'm replacing my 1994 Blazer. Spending $40 a week on gas and taking the chance of engine probs weren't worth it. My aunt bought a 2006 Prius which I saw for the first time a few months ago and at first I didn't know what it was. After I found out I thought... cool but thought it costed more than they do.
I was talking to a friend of mine I work with about getting a new car and the Prius was one he named off. My reply was... Those cost to much (I hadn't checked prices yet, just sounded expensive). Then I found out they start at only $21,000
Having no credit and nobody to cosign for me was hard but package 7 and $31,000 later I love the Prius.
I'll never go back to a "gas only" vehicle.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TimBikes @ Feb 2 2006, 11:45 PM) [snapback]202988[/snapback]</div>

My Dad needed to replace his older Buick, so I let him have my 2002 Buick Regal that served me approx 30K miles at 43k. I bought it as a "Program" car, it was well taken care of. He is still enjoying it, even at 75K miles on it by now. My Dad is a Realtor with focus on "retirement". Ralph

 

The 2005 Prius replaced a 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix that was only getting 20 mpg for most of my driving. Since I've had the Prius for more than a year, it has been a fun car to drive and I see quite the difference in the fuel charges over time.

Only thing I miss is the longer leg room and the lumbar support. Need to find a way to make the seats comfortable. The Grand Prix did perform well at highway speeds -- with the 3.8 l engine, it was the only time it performed well -- 30 mpg. I have not missed the big trunk since it is the same space as what the Prius provides.

All in all, it has been a good year of driving. So far, my wife has not asked to drive it -- so it is still a one driver car. She is still driving a 3.1 l Grand Prix and her gas cost is double mine.


First year Prius performance

 

I replaced my '05 Prius with an '06 Prius.

When people think I'm nuts, I explain that I got within $1500 of what I paid for my '05 in trade. Add to that the tax credit of $3150 and the trade was a no-brainer!

 

2005 Corolla -- I really wanted a Prius!

 

Believe it or not...
I am replacing a 2005 Cadillac CTS which will be greatly missed except for the 14-15 city mpg. I am about 2 weeks away from my Magnetic Gray package #4. I hope I like the car and color. 90% of my driving is short trip city driving. If I can get 40mpg, I'll be happy.

 

My 2005 Prius replaced an aging 1996 RAV4 that had 147K miles on it and was averaging 22 to 24 miles per gallon. The RAV4 still had plenty of life in it and was running fine, other than suffering from a minor oil consumption problem, but I'd driven the car for 8.5 years and wanted something that was better suited for my 64-mile roundtrip commute, i.e something with higher gas milleage. The extra safety features (like ABS, which my RAV4 lacked) and all of the electronic gadgetry were just icing on the cake. And I managed to sell the RAV4 to a gas station garage mechanic who works just down the street for $4,000.

No regrets about getting the Prius, or what I paid for it. In fact, if you take into account the rate of inflation, it's about equal to what I paid for the RAV4 (The out the door price of the RAV4 was $22K in 1996 dollars, which is around $26.5K in 2004 dollars, and my out the door price in November 2004 for the Prius was $29K).

Our other car is a 2004 Sienna XLE Limited, and I'm looking forward to when Toyota releases a hybrid version of that. While I probably won't run out and buy it when it first comes out, it will be at the top of the list when contemplating replacing the Sienna (which would be in about 4 or 5 years).

 

It's really my wife's, and replaced her 86 Mercedes 300SD (5-cyl. turbodiesel) at 275,000 miles. Oil pressure at idle was less than 1 atm., but still pegged the guage at highway speeds and used only 1 gallon of diesel for 25 miles. But diesel price in California went over premium fuel price when new fuel refining rules gave refiners an excuse. My car is an 83 Mercedes 300D (non-turbo), still getting 25 mpg, but with its second engine.

I get to drive the 04 Prius when we go anywhere together, and would really enjoy having my own, but we don't really need it (both age 78) and I'm planning to make my own used cooking oil fuel for my Mercedes.

Hey, V8 Cobra Kid, have you gone into biodiesel production?

 

well I bought an 06 Lexus IS250 and managed about 27-28mpg....[record was 32.5] but it requires PREMIUM.....the car has only 3400 miles on it and is beautiful but I'm trading it in hoping to double my mileage and cut my gas bill in half.

 

Replaced my combination tow vehicle/telescope hauler/daily driver, a 98 Dodge Dakota pickup with a V8 and a stick (18 mpg on the highway, 10 or so in traffic) with my Prius. Had a new commute to Santa Monica on the dreaded San Diego freeway, and the fuel consumption and transit times were killing me. The tax credit and HOV stickers combined with the fuel savings to allow me to make the financial case for the Prius to the CFO, my wife.

Love the Prius (though I'd KILL for somewhere to put my size 13 left foot) as a commuting tool and it hauls my smaller daytime solar telescopes to schools just fine. I'm overhauling the interior of an old F-250 diesel behemoth and replacing fuel lines to allow me to run 100% biodiesel when I can get it - that will be the new family tow vehicle and my hauler for the big telescopes. Amateur astronomy is a lovely addiction which has turned into a second career for me, but if you get bitten badly by the bug, you wind up owning telescopes WAY too big to haul in a Prius! B)

Jim

 

The Prius is replacing my Ford Taurus which my wife will now drive on her approximately 3/4 mile one-way daily commute! We have another older Taurus that is in the garage as a back up.

 

'03 Ford Escape

 

A 1993 Ford Escort Wagon. It was starting to show its age, dear thing. My son will get it when he finally gets a license. In the mean while, it's our back up car.

The only thing I don't like about my Prius is that it is a hatch back instead of a full wagon. As a Mom Mobile, I need all the space I can get.

 

Mine will be replacing a 2002 Ford Focus ZX5. It's been a great car overall. I just want less impact on the environment. I want to show the auto manufacturers that they must delve deeper into alternatives and provide a quality vehicle. I nearly bought a new Mustang until my conscience got the better of me. I test drove one and felt it was not the car for me. But the Prius is another matter. The 2006 that I test drove fit like a glove. Hopefully I only have another month to wait.

Here is to the future of Hybrids as well as other alternatives....

 

The poll should have an "Another Prius" as a choice, since I know a lot of people upgrading to 06s. I gave my 04 to my wife and bought an 06, so pretty much had to choose Other.

I'll probably end up replacing the 06 in 08, since Toyota will probably improve it enough to make it worth it.

 

We replaced a 1994 Toyota Previa (minivan), but only because it was our old car, with 206,000 miles on it. Our other car is a 2003 Subaru Forester, a neat car to drive but disappointing MPG. We may replace it in a year or two with a Toyota Sienna or Honda Ridgeline pickup, since we really want a roomier vehicle we can haul 7 people and tow with as our second car.

 

Replacing a 1998 Isuzu Rodeo 4-cyl, 2WD, 5-speed, 77,000 miles....any interested buyers? :lol:

 

WRX Waggon 2002 standard. I trade cars around every 2 years. Got a package #1 at sticker from the dealer floor two week ago. The wrx was a great car for Denver where I had a little commute during the week, and drove 90 miles to ski on weekends.

Moved to Houston and found that I was getting dismal gas milage in traffic and the shift points were not really geared for "real world" big city driving. Prius is very good as a daily drive especially when considering I what I paid compared what is available new in the price range. Since my comute is 90 miles there and back, I no longer am gassing up with premium every 2 days. Can go all week if I want between fillups.

What I have found is that the nature of the car to a large degree determines how you drive it. The wrx was geared and tuned to accelerate all the time. Holding the gas peddle constant the car would Want to go faster. The Prius lets you really control your speed with out pushing you one way or the other and has plenty of torque all around. Excellent car for real world city driving.

Bought mine right before gas prices went up, there are fewer on the floor these days. Oh, I work for an oil services company, needless to say, I am the only Prius in the lot (more of a campus actually). I get a few comments from pickup truck owners at work that they feel guility burning so much "foreign" oil. People here have a real cultural delema since "men drive trucks" but Bush says we use too much oil and there is no pickup that gets good mpg.

 

My Blue Prius replace a 2000 Dodge Intrepid with 90K miles. Its the first Toyota I have owned. Had it about three weeks and am thrilled with it.