Howdy Do From San Francisco

I have had about 200 cars over time, but about 2 years ago sold my 4Runner and did not see the need to get another car. But now I am looking again.

Since I don't drive much, about 1000 miles a year, I was looking at a Mini Cooper. But I drove a 2008 Prius from City Car Share here in San Francisco. Loved it.

Also drove a Mini Cooper twice. They are cool and get decent mileage [not as good as the Prius], but in looking at all the ads for used models I note that a LOT of people say "Had transmission replaced" or "New clutch." And that's with 50,000 miles on the cars. So that tells me to steer clear of the Mini since no way a car should be needing new parts or replacement trannies at 50,000 miles. Funny thing was, all the sellers were mentioning the new parts as if it was a plus. I saw it as a warning.

So now I am looking at getting a used Prius. Especially since my 4Runner was the best vehicle I ever had [and I have had em all, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, etc. Sidenote: Mercedes are the biggest pieces of junk on the road. I had four of them and after the one SL in 1995, said never again. BMWs were OK, most of the time, taking into account my $70,000 740i had a FUEL LEAK on to the exhaust manifold and it took BMW two times to fix it. The morons. I digress, forgive me.]

Going to pay cash out of the pocket [no financing, I hate payments]. So my budget is about $18,000 or so.

So far looks like I can afford a 2004 or 2005. New is out or even a 2006-2007.

Mostly researching for now, to see what is up with those two years, any troubles, etc. Hopefully I don't find out the 2004 and 2005 are lemons that should be avoided.

Anyway, just discovered this Forum and hope to find answers. Great site here. Good to see so many proud [and happy] Prius owners.

Howdy do all.

Query: Is Larry David or his wife a member of the Forum?