What Car Did You Drive Before Your Prius?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Husker4theSpurs @ Oct 10 2007, 03:00 PM) [snapback]523729[/snapback]</div>

I drove a 1996 Infiniti I-30. I miss the seats - leather, multi-way adjustments -- and the moonroof. It also had a bit more power than the Prius. But I love the low fuel consumption, versatile hatchback, and all the electronic gadgets on my Prius. I also prefer a smaller car, since I am small myself. It just fits me better.

 

Directly before my Prius, I drove a 99 Corolla LE. When I had long highway commutes to work (26 miles one way, about 75% highway), I could get it up to 38mpg. Great commuter car. Didn't fare as well out here in AZ when my commute changed to 10 miles one way, no highway. Was lucky if I could stay around 32mpg for a tank. That's when I made the call for the Prius last year (got the tax credit, or, at least half of it but that's another story). Other than the mileage benefits, the Prius is much more comfortable than the Corolla. More headroom (I'm 6'1", and my head would graze the ceiling of the Corolla. Plenty of room in the Prius), a tad more legroom, and much more backseat space. The seats are comparable, I like the fabric in the Prius better.

Prior to that, I had a Plymouth Sundance (ugh . . . right out of college with no money, got it new for under $10k), a '78 Celica GT (still my favorite car, hand-me-down from sis while in college), and a '73 Datsun 610 (hand-me-down from Dad while in high-school, had its quirks). So, the Prius is my third Toyota.

My wife went from a Saturn SL1 (totalled in head on collision, not her fault), replaced that with an Acura (can't remember the model, but it was nice, two-door sporty something or other), then traded that in on a Nissan Pathfinder when we got pregnant with our first kid. Leather, sunroof, pretty stacked and nice car all around. Not as good of a kid car as we'd hoped, though. Right before we had our second kid, we traded that in on the Dodge Caravan that we still have now. Leather in that too. If you have kids, you want leather Since the introduction of hybrids, though, and our love of the Prius, we want to trade it in for either a HiHy or wait for the Sienna hybrid (if it ever comes out).

 

before my 3 Prii I had a very cushy ford explorer limited. Prius definitely more spartan in that regard, no so much in terms of room, though.
doesn't bother me, but I only put on about 1k miles/month.

rpm

 

I'm shure I left out a couple! I didnt like the VW or the Vega.
1964 Grand Prix
1968 GTO ( wrecked it, freight train got in my way.)
1970 Grand Prix
brand new 1972 chevy vega
1970 impala custom
datsun b210 ( wife wrecked it)
ford van
volkswagon beetle
chevy truck 1/2 ton
buick Sky Lark
(2) toyota FJ 40 land cruisers
FJ 60 land cruiser
99 chevy 3/4 ton 4x4 x cab
96 civic
2001 civic (still own)
2002 civic (still own)
98 park ave. (still own)
olds intrique 2001
and my beloved '07 Prius touring pk w/leather nav ect. (still own)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Husker4theSpurs @ Oct 10 2007, 03:00 PM) [snapback]523729[/snapback]</div>

Our family came to the Prius from a fully stocked Lincoln Town Car. It was definitely a cushy ride. But we were surprised how roomy the Prius was once we got in. Certainly we have less trunk space, but we've yet to have a time where all our stuff wouldn't fit in the hatchback.

The seat isn't great, obviously, but I went to an auto store bought a lumbar pillow and have been fine since.

And trust me when I say that we're thrilled to have gone from 14 mpg to 52. It's been awesome.

We never thought we'd be as happy with our decision as we have been.

Tim

 

your previous cars are much nicer in terms of "extras".. which is understandable, considering the price difference.

is it something like 40k vs. 30k (for the highest package/touring prius)?

you can always take a little of that 10k you have left over and put in better seats.

I drove a rav4 previously so there wasn't too much of a difference going to my prius. i do miss my moonroof.. and my higher clearance! I've scraped parking curbs one too many times with my poor prius's front end.

 

Jeep CJ-5, 1969 Camaro, Honda Accord, Honda CR-X, Subaru Turbo 4WD, Ford Aerostar 4WD.

As for seat comfort, our Ford Aerostar had the best seats in the bunch, and they weren't much more adjustable than the ones on the Prius. The Prius seats either work for you or they don't, so the best thing to do is rent one for a few days. They work fine for us.

Tom

 

In order:

Prius 2006 (angel chorus, I saw the light!)
BMW 318i E46 (very economical but booooring, manual transmission a pain, NO FEATURES!)
BMW 730i E32 (glug, glug, glug but niiiice)
BMW 535i E34 (glug, glug, glug but faast)
BMW 318i E30 (very economical, but boxy)

 

Let's see, in order (if I remember them all right)

1st car: 1960 Triumph Sedan (that was one cool car!) I turned this one back over to my dad when I got married.
1980 Honda Civic (got rear-ended and the car was toast) Hubby and I bought this right before we got married after an accident claimed the life of his car.
1978 Ford Torino (another accident victim)Bought this after the accident which killed the Honda
1986 Ford Taurus (one terrific car- lasted 250,000 miles)Bought this when we had the third kid and I went back to work- sent this one to the junkyard
1980 Toyota Cressida wagon (bought this after the Taurus finally ate the dust)Turned this over to kid #2 to drive for work and school- this one also lasted more than 250,000 miles before we sent it to the junkyard
1995 Ford Ranger - This was hubbys car and lasted 230,000 miles and lasted until kid #3 totaled it in his first accident.
1997 Ford Explorer- bought this when neither the Ranger or the Cressida could hold all 5 of us at the same time so we could all go places in one car. Kid #3 now uses this one for work and school.
2000 Infiniti I30- my current car. It's a beauty, lots of pickup and handles better than any car I've ever driven.
2007 Prius- Bought this for hubby to drive so kid #3 could use the Explorer (sparingly) for work and school. Makes good sense since his daily commute is in the 50 mile range.

I know I missed at least one - we had a VW bug for a while, but it was small and old and I don't remember exactly when we had it or where we were in the "car stream" when we got it.

 

We had 2 cars before the Prius:
1. 2001 Lexus ES 300
2. 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid
Since my heart failure episode, my driving alone is almost nil and 2 cars were not needed
Then the gas prices went up so much.
We were never so sad as the day we sold our Lexus. That is the only car we liked better than the Prius.
The HCH was my choice more than Lily's choice. I love new stuff, esp electronics. I went to Toyota 1st, but there were no Prii available, so we chose the HCH. At that time in Feb 2003, Gas prices were still around $1.25/gal. The salesman practically gave the HCH away. He said there were not too many buyers around.
This year, we traded the HCH for Prius, b/c the Prius offered more room, esp the flat flooring available with the seats folded. The resale value of the HCH was so good -- we sold it for a $1k less than we paid for it after 4 yrs of use. Now, we have only one car, and the Prius fits our needs very well -- AND its fun to drive.

 

Had a 1995 Volvo 850 Sportswagon. The Volvo 850 was frequently highly praised for having the BEST SEATS EVER. The Prius, not so much.

Before then, had a 1987 Honda Civic Wagon. Still my favorite all-time car. So useful and fun to drive. One thing the non-Touring Prius is NOT is fun to drive. My guess is that you will be hard-pressed to find a worse handling 170 something inch long car. My advice if you get the Prius is to get the Touring model.

My very first car was a 1969 Chevy SS 396. It's somewhat legendary. Bruce Springsteen (and others) have written about it ... "I got a '69 Chevy with a 396, Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor ...." But actually, I don't miss anything about it, least of all the 13 mpg on premium.

 

My daily driver prior to the Prius is an S2000. I miss the tightness of the handling and the ability to zip around... I still have the car, but for as many things as I miss of it, I like the Prius as well...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Husker4theSpurs @ Oct 10 2007, 02:00 PM) [snapback]523729[/snapback]</div>

My wife's car prior to the Prius was a Toyota Solara convertible. We just traded in a Prius with cloth and got a Touring with leather. The seats are comfortable. I have a bad back and it hasn't bothered me. It is actually a very roomy car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Husker4theSpurs @ Oct 10 2007, 12:00 PM) [snapback]523729[/snapback]</div>

My Prius replaced a Volkswagen Passat (which was getting a very respectiable 29 mpg for an ICE-only car!). What did I give up?
- More space, esp. for the 3 kids in the back. You can squeeze two boosters and a regular front-facing car seat into the back of the Prius, but it's harder to click in the seat belts.
- Trunk space. The '98 Passat had a big trunk!
- More solid steering feel -- typical German-made car
- Rear-window visibility with that crazy bar extending across the middle of the window

What did I get?
- 80% better MPG and much cleaner emissions
- Lots of gee whiz gadgets like bluetooth, keyless entry/start, voice recognition
- Quieter ride overall (course it's not really fair comparing a brand new car with a 10-year model)
- Cool MFD incl. the oddly addicting energy monitor screen

Overall, no big regrets. Love my Prius!

hope this helps!

 

My Prius replaced a 2004 Honda Civic LX, which I liked quite a bit. I don't miss it, though.

My mother has a 2004 Civic Hybrid, which is also pretty nice.

 

My MAIN concern is seat comfort ... I have test driven both cloth and leather seats and the lack of adjustments/lumbar has me worried. My last two cars have been VERY comfortable ... Lexus RX 330 before the MDX.

What car did you drive prior to your Prius? Do you miss things about your old car? Do you have other cars in your family? How do they compare?

Just some general sentiments from people about making the Prius adjustment would be great! Sorry, I'm sure this has been discussed to death on here.
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I, too, am wondering about this... I just purchased a used 2004 Prius last Saturday. It's for our college son who is attending university out of country until December. I picked it up early so I could "test" it until he gets home...

I have been thinking of trading my BMW for a Prius and this seemed like a great option to test the comfort, etc. We do live in snow country and the X5 is our only AWD (hubby drives a 3 series BMW) so hubby is somewhat against replacing the BMW with a Prius. (The X5 has also been paid off for years...)

Cars we own:
2004 Prius
2000 BMW X5
2003 BMW 3 series

Cars we have owned in the past:

2001 Subaru Outback
1999 Audi Avant
1996 Toyota Landcruiser
1995 Toyota Previa

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Husker4theSpurs @ Oct 10 2007, 02:00 PM) [snapback]523729[/snapback]</div>

How tall/big are you?

 

My previous cars:

• 1968 Camaro Rally Sport w/ 327 V-8 (really, my mother's car that I drove during high school!)
• 1977 VW Scirocco -- Fun car with Recaro seats; my first fuel-injected engine
• 1984 Honda Accord Hatchback -- great 5-speed with good mileage and decent room
• 1992 Pontiac GrandAm -- a "sporty" sedan that was more OK than anything else; loud V-6
• 1996 Nissan Maxima LX -- black on black; leather and loaded; fabulous Nissan V-6
• 1998 Nissan Maxima GXE -- newer model; loaded with heated leather seats, moonroof, incredible Bose sound system -- and that great V-6!
• 2003 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL -- same size as my prior Maxima; fully loaded with leather, moonroof, Bose -- but with a tinny 4 banger. Good mileage.

The Camaro was the exciting car (and the scary one with no weight over the rear axle). The Scirocco was a load of fun to drive, but the aluminum wheels didn't treat the tires well and the body rusted out very quickly. The Honda was dependable. The GrandAm was my attempt to give GM a chance to prove it was learning something. I enjoyed the car, but when I compare it to the others it really doesn't make the grade.

The Nissans were superb cars. They held their value, they performed well, and they didn't cause me grief, except for the quick-wearing brakes on the Altima.

What do I miss about any of these cars? I like the fit and finish of the Maximas, though the Prius stacks up well. I loved the Nissan V-6 and its great transmission, but you just can't beat the smoothness of the Prius. Also, the Prius's passing abilities are better than the Altima's. The Nissans all had highly adjustable seats, and I miss that. Still, I've done a couple of long road trips with uninterrupted 6-hour stints in the Prius. I was surprisingly comfortable, but I still think the more adjustable Nissan seats were better. I miss the moonroof, but not too much. I miss the tinted windscreen. I really miss the Bose sound system. The JBL premium system sounds pretty much like any other stereo.

I don't miss paying so much and so often for gas.

What do I like about the Prius? Pretty much everything. I wouldn't go back. I think it is the best car ever made, and it represents a real sea change in the industry. The very best fossil-fuel-only cars are being made now, but the future is in designs that take us away from dependency on oil (foreign or domestic) and give us cleaner air and less noise.

If your number one concern is the comfort of the seats, then consider the cost to you of getting a Prius without the leather, and then having new electric seats with lumbar support and heat put in the car. Yes, it will cost you extra, but you'd be willing to spend the money on another car just for those conveniences. Have them installed in a better car, and you'll still spend less money on the purchase. Then just think about your later gas savings!