Your "pre-Prius" car?

First car: a yellow 1974 Dodge Polara Custom (we called it the "Grapefruit" because it was too big to be a lemon . . .

Replaced by a 1980 Chevy Citation that my brother rolled on a country road . . .

Replaced by a 1981 Buick Skyhawk, a sporty little car that got a bit scratched up when it skidded off a wet road and slid partly under a barbed-wire fence . . .

Replaced by my wife's car, a 1982 Nissan Stanza, rather unremarkable, but had a leak along the top windshield so water would run in when it rained . . .

Replaced by 1986 White Buick Century, good car, but every single white Buick Century I have seen has been completely rusted out--this one was no exception . . .

Replaced by 1993 Mercury Villager, well-built, smaller minivan--reliable Nissan engine, served us well . . .

Replaced by 2003 Honda Odyssey, great car, but didn't realized just how big it was until I washed it right after the Prius--it's huge!

Just added the 2004 #7 Salsa Prius--great car!

 

1998 - Ford Mustang GT covert.

1999.5 - Audi A4 Quattro 1.8T - Garret Chip, full exhaust - 225 horses

2001 - Lincoln LS - V6 Sport Pack

2002 - Subaru Impreza WRX - TurboXS Stage 4 - 345 horses - 0 to 60 in 4.68 seconds

2004/5 - Toyota Prius - Silver on order and waiting...

(oh yea, current "tide me over" until Prius gets in, 1988 Pontiac Grand Am bought used, one previous owner, 84 yr. old lady, hehe.)

 

Hand me downs from my parents:
- Oldsmobile Cutlass Culass (sp?)
- Ford Aerostar MiniVan: not too bad for a van

First New Car:
- 2001 Toyota Rav4: solid vehicle

In about a week 05 Prius

 

From my first car as a university student in 1979, to my current ones - in roughly chronological order, some owned concurrently:

1972 Fiat 127
1977 Fiat 126
1972 Citroen GS (ex Paris-Dakar rally car)
1980 Fiat 127 Sport
1983 Fiat Panda
1985 Audi 100 CD
1985 BMW 318i
1983 Ford Escort XR3i
1984 Ford Escort XR3i
1986 Ford Escort XR3i
1987 VW Golf TDi
1980 Fiat 127 Palio
1987 Fiat 126 Bis
1998 VW Polo
1987 BMW 320i convertible
1990 VW Golf GTi
1991 Honda Accord Aerodeck
1993 Isuzu Trooper
1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1
1986 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
1993 VW Golf TDi (another one)
1987 Chevrolet G20 Dayvan
1988 Ford Bronco
1996 Audi Convertible
1971 Ford Mustang Grande
1998 Mercedes Benz A170
1983 Fiat Panda (another one)
1999 Mercedes Benz A170 (another one)
1991 Alfa Romeo 164
1986 Jeep CJ7 with 327 Chevy small-block
1999 Beetle 2.0

and the current cars are (until the Prius arrives) are:

1984 Ferrari Mondial QV
2001 Fiat Multipla (you really ought to look at one of these...)
2002 Honda S2000

Phew!

 

In order:
1959 Ford Galaxy
1965 Oldsmobile dynamic 88
1948 Plymouth Business Coupe
196? Rambler American
1973 Grand Tourino
1977 VW Rabbit
1976 Ford Econoline Van
1984 Jeep CJ7
1986 Jeep Cherokee
1977 Chevy S10
1988 Mercury Tracer
1986 Honda Civic ( two of them)


Still have
1997 Honda Civic HX
2001 Mercury Mountaineer ( for towing only)
2005 Toyota Prius

Each of the vehicles did (does) it's job very well. Prius is the most advanced and probably fits life style best of all the vehicles.

K-State Roller Hockey Club - Faculty Adviser & Coach

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco\";p=\"50955)</div>

The Fox was a Brazilian made VW.

Mine were:

1967 Dodge Dart 2dr hardtop.

1973 Mercury (European Ford) Capri V-6

1978 Datsun 280z

1985 Audi 5000S Turbo

1987 Mercedes 300E

All were new with the exception of the Dodge Dart which was a "hand me down" from my parents.

 

'67 Plymouth Valiant w/ a slant 6 very easy to work on until I rolled it (sharp turn in wet leaves caught a curb as a late teenager. At least I was smart enough to be wearing a seat belt.)

'73 Plymouth Malibu - wife made me give it up in the mid '90's because she was getting gassed to death in the passenger seat.

'90 Honda CRX Si Still runs well with 204k miles on it. Relegated to be the "kennel car"

All pre-Prius cars bought used. ('04 Pruis bought from the dealer as technically "new" but it was their TRAC car and had 3700 miles on it. They sold it to us at just over INVOICE!!!)

 

2002 Chevrolet Avalanche......great SUV/Truck. Got tired $50 fill-ups and 17 mpg.

 

94 Geo Tracker...Ran like beast and still runs, just donated it,
01 Porsche Boxster S...Nice sports car, fun to drive, had engine issues.
05 Prius....so far pretty happy with it, doesn't quite handle the corners like the Boxster did
next car....maybe a Lotus Elise...

 

85 Chevy Sprint 3 cylinder
85 Toyota Corolla
82 RX-7
90 Isuzu Trooper
94 VW Golf
91 Mazda Miata
85 VW Golf TDI
98 Jeep Cherokee (my first new car)
00 Plymouth Voyager
02 Dodge Grand Caravan
03 Dodge Ram 1500 (26 Gallon tank at 14 MPG!!)
05 Prius
Traded the gas guzzling truck for the fuel sipping Prius.

 

Learned to drive in my parents 57 Chevy Wagon
1948 Dodge Sedan - drove it till it died.
1965 VW Bug
1957 Chevy Belair
1968 VW Square Back
1964 Chevy Stepside Hot rod truck
1971 VW Super Beatle
Datsun 510 Station Wagon
1973 Chevy 4wd Blazer
1964 Corvair Monza
1975 Ford LTD
Datsun B210 sedan
Dodge ¾ ton Van
1983 Mazda GLC hatchback
1991 Chevy Blazer
1995 Chevy Blazer
2004 Prius

 

OK dates may be off by a year or two except the first and last.
1969 Fiat 124 Spyder Blue with roll bar and four point seat belt Heithcliff
1972 Red VW Camper Van George
1978 SAAB Turbo Oscar
1986 Niassan Maxima
1990 Ford Explorer Red (purchased in Jan 91 but as 90)
1999 Ford Explorer The Beast (still have 100K)
2004 Toyota Prius Belle

 

I tend to keep Toyotas for many years.

1975 Datsun 280Z (third hand)
1983 Toyota SR5 Tercel 4WD Wagon (1st new car)
1976 Datsun 280Z (2nd hand)
1986 Toyota 4Runner (2nd new vehicle ever bought)
1983 Porshe 928S (theft recovery bargain, big mistake)
1989 Toyota Cressida (2nd hand)
1998 Toyota 4Runner (2nd hand, to replace earlier 4Runner)
1999 Ford Ranger XLT (bought new, 7 miles on odo when traded in for Chevy truck)
1999 Chevy Silverado extended cab truck (sold after 3 years with only 10K miles)
2001 Toyota Prius (TRAC car)
2004 Toyota Prius BC Black, to replace 2001 Prius
2004 Toyota Prius BC White
2005 Toyota Highlander Hybrid (next new car, slated to replace 98 4Runner summer 2005)

 

Latest previous car....'95 Miata, owned 10 years, less one week. Sold to daughter-in-law, so I still get to caress it.

Other previous fun cars...'57 MGA, '58 TR-3A, '65 Corvair Corsa convertible. Plus the obligatory station wagons and family sedans.

Now, if only Toyota and Mazda would cooperate on a Synergy Hybrid Miata......sigh!

 

Well, up until a week ago I was driving a `93 Grand Caravan, a.k.a. "The Daddy Mobile". 218K Miles on it. Now it's on its way to my favorite "please send us your car" charity. (I'd write a eulogy, but I'd probably break down and ) Everybody in the family loved that car.

Long story made short: 18 months ago I had a Chrysler rebuilt transmission installed (36,000 mile/3 year warranty). That transmission died at 37,000 miles. In a nutshell, Chrysler said "tough luck, have a nice day."
:cussing:

The real bummer is that my Prius is still about a month out.

Sigh, life goes on.

Chris

 

First car: 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with a 231cid V6. Years later I found out that my parents referred to it as the Gutless, which was a perfect name for it. Got rid of it when it had 234k miles on it - 3rd engine, 2nd transmission, 3rd paint job

Next was a 1981 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Brougham. Hand-me-down from my father. Had it for about one year, during which I replaced the transmission and the engine control computer. When I sold it with something like 140k miles on it, it needed a new steering column, new master brake cylinder and all kinds of other stuff. Horrendous POS!

Then came a 1987 Acura Integra LS 3door hatchback. Bought it as a 3 year old car with 87k miles on it. Kept it until it had 223k miles on it. Original transmission, original engine were still running great, original paint still looked good, but it was developing problems and needed suspension work. Best car I had so far.

Traded it in for my current ride, a 1995 Acura Integra GS-R, which I again bought used as a 3 year old car with 28k miles on it. Nice fast car that handles very well. Currently has 118k miles on it, but hasn't held up as well as the '87 did. It makes some rather ugly rattling noises at about 3000 rpm that the dealer told me not to worry about (??!). Hopefully nothing major will give out before it comes time to trade it in.

Recently put my name on the waiting list for an 05 Prius and was told that it will be 8 months, so maybe early next summer it will be mine. That will be my first new car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jchu\";p=\"50970)</div>

Jon, you sure that wasn't a Chevy?

 

The first three were joint financial ventures with the parents:

1967 VW camper van (struck from behind by high-speed drunk driver, rolled, totalled, no injuries)

196? Fiat 850 (sold; I was VERY surprised to read here that someone has owned several Fiats)

1972 Toyota Land Cruiser (outlasted its engine)

1969 Chevy Malibu (sold)

1959 Ford F600 with Herman van body (amazing 11 mpg toy, now a storage shed in Vershire, VT)

1966 Mercedes 230 (taught me how to rebuild engines; sold to a collector)

1985 Audi 5000 (sold)

1985 Honda Civic 4WD station wagon (stolen)

1990 Mitsubishi/Dodge Colt station wagon (sold)

1995 Honda Civic (sold, since totalled by new owners no injuries)

2001 Toyota Prius (pick of the litter)