What Car Did You Drive Before Your Prius?

drove a 2003 beetle convertible.... Trading it in was a great move !!
love my lucy Little foot PRIUS !!!

 

In the past year before I got my Prius, I had a Ford F150 Supercrew 4x4. It was lifted and had big all terrain tires on it. Loved it but hated the 12 MPG so I sold it. At the same time, i also had a 2004 Navigator which for some reason I could only get 11MPG even though it was a 4x2. Anyway I just sold that and got the Prius. I also had a 2003 Porsche Turbo that got 12 MPG. I loved that car but I needed more room so a month ago I got a BMW M5. It has 10 cylinders and gets 10MPG but I figure my Prius off sets my M5 gas mileage. My 2 cars now average 30 MPG. LOL.

When I drive the Prius, I feel good that I am doing something good for the world. When I drive the 507 hp M5, I just feel good!

 

I drove a 2003 Nissan Murano. There are only 2 things I miss, one more than the other. I have less cargo space in my Prius, but it hasn't been a horrible problem. The big thing I miss is my Bose sound system. One thing I don't miss is getting only 15.8 mpg. Also, the Prius is so much easier to maneuver in & out of the garage & parking spaces!

 

I drove a 2006 lexus GS 300. I don't regret the change one bit. Love my prius.

 

I traded in a 1997 GMC Yukon 12 mpg with 112,000 miles on it for a 2008 pkg 6 Prius. Miss the load hauling and towing of my old Yukon but I could not afford to put gas in it anymore. At 48 mpg my Prius is four times better in gas milage. Everything is great, with my Prius, just wished it had better seats.

 

Interesting that you mention the M5, I was seriously thinking of picking up a used M6. There are a lot of them going for less than half MSRP even with not a lot of miles. I talked to a guy who got a year old one with ~8600mi for less than $65k. Gas prices are really driving the prices on these things down, much to my benefit

 

There are a lot of people wanting to get out of their M cars and the dealers are begging people to buy them. On the new cars they are heavily discounting from MSRP and have .9% financing. Even if you lease, the residuals are set so high (72% after 24 months) it actually becomes a good value for the kind of car you get to drive.

I tell people you can't burn gas faster in an M5 even if you light it on fire.

 

Toyota MR2, then Toyota Supra (which I kept as a weekend car). I was also driving a Ford KA which was great fun but falling apart. It was getting 46 MPG so I just wanted something safter and more comfortable. After 1 week im getting about 53 MPG and far more relaxing.

One factor for me getting a Prius was the reliability of my other Toyota's over the past 12 years!

Toyota Supra MKIV (2004 - Present)


Toyota MR2 (1998 - 2004)

 

Current Fleet,

1993 GMC Sonoma (Yard Ornement not driven for 6 or so years)
2003 Chevrolet Express Cutaway Hi-Cube Van
2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road Pre-Runner SR5
2011 Prius V

Car that I sold prior to getting my Prius was a 2005 Saab 9-2x Aero, AKA Subaru Impreza Wagon. I liked the sporty bolstered seats in the Saab they fit that car. They were all manual adjustment with a rachet for up and down just like the Pruis. But I like the feel of the Prius seats they are not as sporty but there more luxurious and have the power lumbar which is nice. My wife wanted power seats and yes they would be nice she really wanted the Lexus HS250h just because of the memory power seats. Me and the Prius won out I told her it may seem to be a bigger hassle to adjust the seats but it is faster to adjust the manual seat.

 

1995 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, just sold it with 186,000 miles. I quit driving it because I liked the Prius so much. The Fleetwood cost $36,000 new in 1995, what is that in todays $? The largest car made in probably the last 20 years and maybe ever. It got 18-19 mpg on the highway, and I never checked in town, but was probably about 14 or 15. I drove it from Iowa to California 3 times, cost $400 gas one way, the Prius cost $100 last time I drove it one way 2000 miles.

I do miss my '95 Caddy, I had a sunroof in it, a Corvette LT1 engine and never did find out how fast it could go, easily 100 mph with no effort.

The seats were huge and comfy, the trunk was amazingly large, and I could easily fit 6 passengers. It was a great rolling huge piece of history.

I do love my Prius though, I love how I can fit into any parking spot, can do a U turn about anywhere, and I love the hatchback, it has more carrying capacity than the 95 Cad. But best of all I love driving past gas stations. One time when I first got it, I decided to fill it up and could only get 2 gallons in it. The attendant asked if we were filling up a lawn mower

 

Nah. My mom's old '69 Fleetwood had an 8 inch longer wheelbase than the 95. Now, we're talking proper landyacht dimensions. :rockon: When she drove it, it got 9mpg. When I drove it, it got 6mpg! 472 cubic inch V8 will do that and smoke both rear bias ply tires at a rolling 30mph.

I traded in an '07 Nissan Quest in SL trim. I avg. 18.5mpg (mostly city) while my wife usually got 16.5mpg (leadfoot). Miss the room but not the weekly $50 fill ups.

 

1969 Opel Kadett (first car at 15, only 3 of the 4 cylinders fired and I couldn't go over 50mph downhill with a tailwind, bright red with tasteful rust accents...perfect car for a HS kid with a lead foot)

1974 Super Beetle (again, bright red...awesome for college, until I ran off the road in a blizzard and totalled it head-on into a tree...the front end and spare tire took the impact and I walked away unhurt)

1986 Yugo (yep, I actually had one of these...also red. it was designed for leaded gas, so I added a splash of 2-cycle engine oil to each tank of gas and it ran solidly for five years. I passed it to a cousin who forget to add that 2-cycle oil and seized the engine)

1963 Studebaker Lark (I'm originally form Indiana and always wanted this home-grown, native car. It looked like an older Mercedes, ran like a dream with its old-school straight-6, would tow my boat and snowmobile, and actually got about 25mph)

1980 Suzuki 600 m/c (fast, red, and totally a bad idea in Midwest winters and summer thunderstorms)

1988 Jeep Comanche (first of a long line of Jeeps, always with the inline-6 4.0L engine, 5-sp manual, and 2-wheel drive, always red, all steel and unstoppable in any weather...too bad I could squeeze only 20-22mpg from them)

1990 Jeep Wrangler

1993 Jeep Cherokee

2000 Jeep Cherokee

And finally, my 2007 Prius. The Silver Surfer...the first non-red, non-manual, metric, high-tech vehicle in my roster. I can't fix it with duct tape, a hammer, and screwdriver and I don't need to! It runs like an electronic top and I love it!

 

H 2. o. Van as driven before it was decked be 2 drivers

 

2007 Honda Civic hybrid

 

1992 Honda Civic VX with 280K miles.

 

I learned to drive (in the UK) in a Nissan Sunny in the mid-90s because my contract required me to get my license just in case I needed it to travel to a customer.

Then I didn't drive a car until I "re-learned" driving in my dad's Nissan Micra in late 2006/early 2007.

Moved the US and bought a 2008 Civic AT to go with my wife's 2000 Mercury Sable. I have a slightly longer commute than my wife so I got the Civic initially, but she got fed up with the old Sable and we started alternating weeks.

She set a date to buy a new car. I decided to wait a bit to increase the limit to allow for the purchase of a Prius (or other efficient car up to $25k all-in) and my wife agreed to that but claimed the Civic for commuting after the previous time limit.

Since she prefers driving the Civic the Prius is my commuter. Oh, woe is me! Ironically on most days it would be more efficient if we swapped cars, as my relative efficiency is greater in the Civic.

 

In the order purchased/acquired :

1988 Dodge Colt Vista - Parents bought new, was my first car in 1994, sold for $100 in Sept 2010 with 243,xxx on the clock
1971 Buick Skylark - 455ci, TH350, 2.56 rear - 10/17 MPG
2002 Pontiac Trans Am WS6 - Totalled 8/29/08
1990 Suzuki Katana 750 - sold
1985 Checy C20 pickup - converted to Diesel, ran on homebrew BioDiesel made from WVO
2005 Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 - sold
2001 Chevy Silverado 2500HD 4x4 - The bad weather beast LOL
2008 Suzuki Hayabusa - My Need for Speed!
2003 Suzuki DR650SE - The offroad experience!
2007 Toyota Prius - Wallet saver, OPEC buster, any my new daily driver! Purchased 1-15-2011

I am absolutely astonished by the fuel economy of the Prius. It gets the same MPG as my motorcycles!

 

Sweet little 2003 Toyota Corolla S w/ a CAI. Wife drives it now.

 

Haha, so when I first learned to drive we had three vehicles, a 2001 prius, a 2004 prius, and a 2001 Sienna. My mom drove the '01 prius and I would drive whatever car my dad didn't take to work (he hates the seats in the '04). I was driving the van and would occasionally drive one of the prius if my parents were home/ didn't need the car or the sienna was out of gas.

Im only 19 so driving a van kind of sucked, not to mention i was paying about $60 in gas per week. Luckily i was saved a few weeks ago when my dad bought a new 2010 Prius V so now im driving the '04. (its in the shop now after an accident, but it should be back on the road soon)

I do miss the van for the leather/ heated seats, sunroof, sound system(meaning to take out some of the aftermarket speakers and swap them in my car), power (lol), and space...I used to pick up 6 of my friends and we'd cruise around town smoking bud and fishbowl the shit out of the car.

But I love my '04 Prius even more
It gets me 45 MPG (Would be higher but I go to drivethroughs too much/ like to sit in the car and listen to music)
plus it has all the options, nav, bluetooth, cd changer, upgraded stereo, hids, fogs etc.
Only 85K on it too!

 

I drove a 2005 Jaguar X-Type 3.0 AWD