Our last car was a 1990 Camry Wagon -- w/170k miles. We gave it to a family that was having a rough time due to a medical condition. The only thing we ever needed to do with that car was regular maintenance. We never had a repair bill!

Before that, we had a Honda Acura hatch-back with 180k until it was totaled in a head-on crash (no one received a scratch!). That car gave us a consistent 35MPG and ran beautifully. It was sad to part with it.

Prior to the Honda, we had a Datsun that we sold for $500 with 250k miles.

We like to run our cars into the ground -- but we take good care of them so they last as long as possible. Our other vehicle is a Dodge Caravan that is used for hauling windsurfing equipment around and doubles as changing, sleeping room, etc. This is the second Caravan (purchased used). The first one needed a new transmission at only 70k miles. What is nice about the '04 Prius is that we can use it for hauling all but the largest items, so the van is only used for short, local trips (less than 10 miles on most days).

Our next mini-van will hopefully be a hybrid with better milage. What is so disouraging is that the van gets better milage than many of the new, smaller sedans on the market. I'm so hoping that the word *truly* gets out about the new hybrids. That's the only way Detroit will respond.

Pat