What are you driving.....and do you like it?

We have a 2016 Toyota 4Runner Limited. We bought it used in 2018. It is a pleasure to drive, and we have had '0' problems with it. It is our third 4Runner over the years. Prior to that we had a Toyota Land Cruiser, that got too pricey to buy, so we switched to the 4Runner...

Toyotas are great quality and seldom need any repairs. They are expensive, but in the long run, if you keep them for 200K+ you save a ton of money...
 

I have a1998 Neon, 61,300 miles. It's served me well. I'm hoping it will see me out, I don't want to have to learn anything new like push button windows.
 
Brookswood said:
Don’t be so sure. My 80 year old friend just bought a new Lucid Air EV. He loves it. 500 mile range is claimed.
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Since our driving is so little, 4000 mile per year with routine maintenance is should last 10 years or more. At 82 and family history of father, mother & 3 brothers not living past the age of 61 I'm living on luck right now. Luck, good health habits & stress free lifestyle.
 
I am driving my 4th. Hyundia had 3 new ones, wrecked 1 sold the other 2 now driving a used one I bought in 2014 had 63,000 miles on it. Has a little over 163,000 on it now and runs almost as good as it did in 2014, very little maintenance on it since then!
 
Our summer car is a 2008 Toyota Corolla with about 185K. Our winter car is a 2009 Toyota Matrix AWD. My fishing and material hauler is a 1999 Chevy Suburban 4WD which also is a good vehicle for pulling my kids out of the snowbanks and ditches. I wash my vehicles regularly when the temps get above freezing in the winter due to the salt on our roads.
 
Gas engine Hyundai Kona here. It replaced a 100k mile Prius. I like the Kona, lt’s fast, maneuverable, good mileage, and of a size that is easy to park. Being a small SUV the rear seats fold down to give it ample trunk space. It’s red. I dislike the sameness of white, black, and beige cars, and red is easy to spot in a parking lot. Next car will be self driving and probably electric.
 
In 2002 I bought a Civic Hybrid and that car was like a spaceship on road trips. Nominal range of over 600 miles per 13 gallon tank, I always got at least 550 miles on a tank. I never ran out because I could rarely go that distance without a break, at least to stop and walk around and hit the can.

It never needed any repairs until it developed battery degradation at around 9 years old. Even then Honda went in for half on a new replacement battery. I'd still be driving it but in 2018 I hit a deer that jumped out one night. Drove it home but the insurance company totaled it.

No hybrids I had interest in then, so I bought a 2018 Civic Hatchback. Final assembly was in the old Swindon plant in England, wrapping a body around an engine & drive train made in the US. My main complaints are a low seating position and smaller glass area, limiting visibility. I suppose cars are going to turn into tanks with slit windows and 360 degree cameras? I don't want an AMC pacer, but I do like to be able to see out.
 
Brookswood said:
That Prius is barely into its young adult years. I hope it found a nice person who will get it to middle age - 200,000 plus miles. :)
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The Prius battery pack gave out at a little over 100k. I had it replaced with rebuilt batteries, and traded it for the Kona. Granted the Prius got twice the mileage of the Kona, but the Kona had electronic features like lane change warning, automatic braking, and backup warning that the Prius lacked, and it was $7k less than a new Prius, and did not have the very pricey battery pack of the Prius. Anyhow, pricey gas or not, the Kona is a better driver.
 
ElCastor said:
The Prius battery pack gave out at a little over 100k. I had it replaced with rebuilt batteries, and traded it for the Kona. Granted the Prius got twice the mileage of the Kona, but the Kona had electronic features like lane change warning, automatic braking, and backup warning that the Prius lacked, and it was $7k less than a new Prius, and did not have the very pricey battery pack of the Prius. Anyhow, pricey gas or not, the Kona is a better driver.
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I am sorry you got a Prius lemon. The Prius owners I know are in the mid 150,000 area and the battery is still running fine. I agree that the new safety features are great. My car has them and they are a big aid in safer and more secure driving.
Buying a newer car in order to get the safety features is a great move if a person can afford them.
 
Brookswood said:
I am sorry you got a Prius lemon. The Prius owners I know are in the mid 150,000 area and the battery is still running fine. I agree that the new safety features are great. My car has them and they are a big aid in safer and more secure driving.
Buying a newer car in order to get the safety features is a great move if a person can afford them.
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My Prius was not a lemon. It was an early model and 100k battery life was normal. At the time (2018) I did the math - the additional cost of that battery pack combined with a $7k higher price, and the Prius was no bargain. Of course I had no way of knowing the astronomical increase in gas prices we were going to soon encounter. In any case these days all electric has an appeal, but I think I would prefer to wait for Level 4 driving and a safer battery than the current Lithium Ion.
 
I feel it's hard for me to beat my 16 XLT Crew Cab F 150 with 2.7L for Comfort and safety for long mileage weekends.
Snowball runs around in her Kia SUV during the week for shopping and her thing. We need some time to consider the best with the EV's / Hybrids. Too many Charging discrepancies now for us to try to understand and accept as normal.

I am guessing its gonna end up Seri, "where's the closest charging station?" Most likely knowing the 20 minute wait / vacancy of a charging station is gonna send us 10 / 15/ 50 miles out of our way often as this moves forward. It's real easy to surmise a 100,000,000 EV's in the near future and the need to charge lines stretching for miles in some locations.

Ya just got to see Field Tractors, 18 wheelers, most all former gasoline engine stuff now battery charged stuff at a recharge very soon. Of those most will be on property developed for agriculture and Commercial stuff, its also easy to estimate the Electrical generated power needed, well it's going astronomical. Sure, it's gotta go nuclear generation again very quickly, that is also a no brainer.
 
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Level 3 DC Fast Charging an F-150 Lightning takes over 40 minutes to get to 80% charge. Fast Charging over that fraction of capacity is not recommended. Level 2 AC Charging takes 8 hours to get to 100%.

If a significant number of electric monster trucks end up on the road you can probably forget about a 20 minute wait to take your turn at public charging stations. Public Level 3 chargers are not very common outside of major metro areas.
 
horseless carriage said:
Anyone bought an electric car? Do you find changing the batteries a pain?

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I bought a Chinese made electric cart two or three years ago. I drive it around on the Beach Road where I live. Its top speed on a level surface is about 22 miles per hour. My son changed the battery when I needed a new one. To recharge it, I just plug it in for six to eight hours. See photo.

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Prius 2, 2009. It gets us from Pt A to Pt B and with carrying capacity. It's inexpensive to operate. Rather have a newer car but a new car would be hard to justify...Uber-Lyft would be cheaper.
First as a commuter 60mi RT for 2 years, then retirement country mode. Now living in urban center and driving about +/-100m/mo. Total 101K miles.
 


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