You Grew Up Driving Mostly....

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Dad absolutely LOVED Chevy and Pontiac. It didn't matter to him that all of his cars were lousy, dangerous pieces of crap that had serious engineering and safety defects. None of his GM vehicles ever made it to 70,000 miles.

The day I turned 18 and could buy my own car, I got a motorcycle. But seriously, I will never, EVER own a GM. It would be like setting fire to Stacks of $100 bills.

I couldn't even vote on that one, because we almost never bought the same brand until recently. My family (parents, brother, myself) have owned at one time since 1960: GM (several - same experience as Ashen BTW), Chrystler, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Mercedes, Volvo, Infiniti, Honda, Hyundai. Keep in mind we usually own cars 8-12 years.

What we drive right now: 5 Hondas (Accord, Accord, Odesey, Pilot, HCH) and a Hyundai.

*** Retired after 65,000 outstanding miles ***

Not sure how to answer as at age 32, I have only had 4 vehicles. Averaging a different vehicle every 4 years. They have all been a different make and model.

1984 Mazda B2000 Pick up (1992-1995)
1995 Chevrolet C1500 Pick up (1995-2000)
2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited (2000-2002)
2002 Nissan Frontier Pick-up (2002-Present)

I guess I would have to say a mixed bag. Although I did learn how to drive in a 1979 Olds Cutlass Station Wagon

19,900 miles and (slowly) counting

Mopar all my life, until very recently.

When I was I kid my dad had the following, usually purchased 2-3 years old and then beat to death for 3-5 years. With 5 boys and weekly trips to the dump they took a lot of abuse.

64 Dodge Polara Station Wagon
67 Dodge Monoco Wagon
72 Plymouth Fury Wagon
77 Dodge Monoco Wagon
82 Plymouth Reliant (kids finally moving out)
84 Dodge Daytona (middle age crisis)

My Cars
67 Fury III
66 Dodge Dart
72 Plymouth 'Cuda
74 Dodge Dart
86 Dodge Colt (first new car)
88 Dodge Ram-50
66 Dodge Charger
70 Dodge Challenger Convertible
92 Jeep Cherokee
04 Honda Element
05 Toyota Tacoma

Most distance is in Peugeots.

Cars I've owned:
1976 Renault 5 TS (Euro version of the Le Car, more power, sold in 1980)
1967 Peugeot 404 Coupé Injection (sold in 1985, scrapped by new owner in 1996)
1965 Renuault Dauphine (crashed into a parked TR6 on a wet road, exploring handling)
1970 Renault 10 (rolled it the day I bought it)
1970 Renault 12 (bought for $50, sold a year later for $50)
1963 Peugeot 404 (died at 600,000 km from terminal body rot)
1966 Peugeot 404 Coupé Injection (my beloved restoraton project)
1984 Renault 5 TL(sold in 1994)
1989 Peugeot 405 DL (342,000 km and still going strong)
2002 Mercedes-Benz C 230 K Sportcoupé (sold in March)
2005 smart fortwo cdi pulse cabriolet (my favourite)

Notice a trend? Excepting the C 230 K, which was jointly owned with my late Dad, they're all built in France.

This doesn't count the 7 new cars I've had regstered in my name in France on purchase/repurchase plans.

But I'm not a hybrid owner, so there goes your poll ;-)

2008 Mercedes-Benz B 200
2005 smart fortwo cdi pulse cabriolet
1966 Peugeot 404 Coupé Injection
1989 Peugeot 405 DL

Model A Fords, we had two and I had to drop off and pick up my brothers. Dad thought the Model A Ford was a great car to learn mechanics. Mostly it taught me how bad a car could be. Noisy all the time; hot in the summer; cold in the winter; wet in the rain; hard to steer; top-heavy unstable; and the dash was the gas tank.

On family trips, we had an International Travelall. It wasn't until I was in the Marine Corps and bought my first car, a VW microbus, that I really had a car that was mine and actually had some good engineering. Unlike the Model A Ford, is was; less noisy; less hot in the summer; less cold in the winter; dry in the rain; easy to steer; less top heavy; and the gas tank was in the rear.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

My family's vehicles growing up.....

Mom's cars:
circa 1978 Buick Regal
1982 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser
1986 Buick Electra
1990 Chevy Astro-Van
1994 Pontiac Bonneville SSE (clear coat flaked off 2 weeks after warranty expired. Every other bell and whistle began failing shortly after.)
2002 Honda CR-V

Dad's work trucks:
Myriad of Chevy Silverado pickups purchased every 4-6 years over last 30 years. Never had any problems

After years of problematic GM vehicles, I traded my first car, an 86 Grand Am after it died at 95,000 miles for an 86 Civic Si with 120,000 miles and it ran trouble free through college and beyond. Now the rest of my family drives Honda's, except for my father.....

I'm glad to have mentioned Renault as a choice.

The motivating factor in putting this poll out was to reflect the declining share of Detroit cars. In 1980, GM had 50%, today about 26%, in ten years, maybe 18% of the American market.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

My dad bought a junker 1958 Chevy (sedan, but I don't remember the model name) for $5 sometime around 1973. The body was in great shape, interior okay, but the engine was practically nonexistent.

He fixed it up and drove it for 12 years. He probably would still be driving it but he totaled it in 1985. It wasn't truly a restoration project, since he never did any body or interior work, he just kept it running.