What Vehicle Do You Drive and Why?

I bought my pick-up, brand new, in May 1996. I'm tall and don't have to climb out of it. I am a tradesman and it has room for all of my tools and, with the camper top on it, everything stays dry. When it's just Shadow and me, he rides up front. When it's DW, Shadow, and me, Shadow rides in the back. The camper top has windows on the side with screens and the windows open for air flow.
 
ETA:
1996 Chevy 1/2 ton regular bed, V6-Vortec (best motor I've ever had), 268,000+ miles, regular maintenance, I once pulled a 4,600 lb portable boom lift (cherry picker) with it even though the trainy was leaking from a worn out output shaft seal. It fits me well, physically.
Price: $17,000.
It's my keeper. When I can afford it, I will have the motor and tranny rebuilt and have the paint re-done in it's original color, olympic white.
 
Advantages, it is instantly upgradable. Vortec started out making fuel injection systems and superchargers, then went into partnership with GM. All I have to do to have a "blown" motor is remove the standard air induction, bolt on the blower and change out the powertrain module. But it's expensive. Over $3,000 for the kit. I won't bother. I like the gas mileage at 14 to 19 mpg, depending on the last tune-up.

a minivan!  and I'm not even a "soccer mom".  I can seat 7 people ...or take the back seat out and it's very comfy for the two of us and the dog to go on trips with plenty of cargo space...or I can take all the seats out and lay 4x8 sheets of plywood flat on the floor and shut the door...I can stand my bicycle up right in the back too!.  It really is the best of all worlds for my life. 
 
2000 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport.  78000 miles 19 MPG

I have a 1999 Subaru Impreza hatchback. I LOOOVE my car. [] The main reasons I like it?

- It fits a 30" crate in the hatchback area w/o having to put the seat down and a 36" with the seat down (If I didn't crate my dog, I could fit two or three medium canines in the cargo area easily or three harnessed in the back seat)

- It comes with AWD standard - I love being able to park in snow drifts when even the big trucks sometimes would spin a bit

- I get 20mpg city, 30mpg highway - my previous Honda Civic got almost 45mpg highway (not a hybrid) so I am a bit spoiled there lol

- It's still small enough to fit into tight parallel parking spaces

- I like the grey interior since I have a black and white dog. []

- I'm small so it fits me really well - a lot of the bigger vehicles are not designed for 5'2" people, but my Subaru is comfy even for 10 hour drives.

- So far I have about 80,300 miles on it and have had no problems other than a bit of brake squeaking (checked out fine by a mechanic, just a bit annoying at times).

My next vehicle will most likely be a Honda Pilot since I'll be adding a second dog next year and would like to be able to crate both dogs for longer car trips (agility trials, etc.). I know I'll want a good sized cargo area (fit 2 32" or 36" crates w/ room for luggage hopefully), 4WD/AWD that can be switched on and off as needed (ideally), low maintence, and gets good gas mileage. If I had the $$ I'd get a Subaru Tribeca though (drool drool).

I drive a 97 lexus 350 (small SUV). It is a total mess! I bought it because I had 3 boys who were about to drive, so safety was #1. The boys have pretty much junked the vehicle. I have 2 or 3 dents from baseballs coming out of the park. I have had the driver door ripped off. There are bangs to the bumpers, scratches on all 4 sides. It is a quite the sight. But the darn thing runs like a dream and is outstanding on wet or snowy roads. I have decided to try and keep my truck on the road until 2008. By that time the boys will be gone and I can buy the new Charger!

I've got a Toyota Camry. Both dogs fit nicely in the backseat. DH has a Toyotoa Tacoma truck with a camper shell. The boys have a sleeping bag and a couple of beds in the back and they just love riding around in there.
 
I've been thinking of getting a Toyota Highlander, because someday we'll have kids and I want to have plenty of room for kids and dogs.

I have a 97 Dodge Intrepid with the ONLY decent engine they put in them--the 3.5 L, 24 valve. If you buy a used Intrepid, RUN from the 2.7L or the 3.3L (especially that one--ACK).I loooove my Intrepid.  It gets about 24 mpg highway and lower (15-1 in town. I get BETTER mileage on the highway than DH does in his PT Cruiser!

I can get Gypsy's crate in the back seat and put all four of us in it as well, but it's a bit crowded.  Without her crate, I can put six people in it.

It has incredible off the line and 0-65 times for a car its size.  It's also nimble and reminds me of upper end Eurpoean sports sedans.  My last car was an Audi sedan and the Intrepid is every bit as good, if not better than my Audi was. My favorite part? It only has 70,000 miles on it and it's PAID FOR.

If you want the room of a minivan (more or less) but not the stigma of a minvan ("mom-itis"), look at the PT Cruisers.  We have put Gypsy's crate in the back, put luggage in beside her and put all four of us up front. When you lay down the back seat, it is amazing at what you can get in the back!  I have put a large crate and a medium crate side by side in it.  We have also put two fully assembled bikes in the back.  DH takes Scouts camping and he can fit an amazing amount of gear in it The only downside of it is that it has a wide turning radius. I can manuever my car in a smaller area than his!  Also, unless you get the turbo, the pick up isn't exactly snap your head back fast.

I will replace my car in the next few years.  I am looking at another Daimler/Chrysler.  I am torn between the Magnum, Charger and the 300C (with a Hemi, of course!). However, my in-laws just moved into a retirement community and many older folks sell their cars when they can no longer drive.  I have asked my FIL to keep and eye out for something that I might like.  Seniors generally have low miles on their vehicles and keep them in impeccable condition. I will drive an Edlorado with a landau roof and wire wheel covers and mucho gold trim if the price is right![]

Dogs are always a consideration for me when purchasing a car.  I went from Blazer (small) to Bronco (small) to Trooper to Suburban to Pickup to...drum roll please...Toyota Sienna.  The last time I shopped my requirements were a nice cushy cab and lots of room in the back.  I have 3 Great Danes and when we go to the park, we watch the action from the car.  Although no dealer thought of showing me a minivan, once I honed in I saw they were all very different.  You need the back side windows to come down so the dogs can stick their head out.  Only Honda Odyessy and Toyota Sienna back windows roll down 75%.  All others push out.  The Sienna had more room than the Suburban with height (headroom in back) being one of its best feature.  The Dane can stand straight up without touching the ceiling.  The floor is totally flat.  My preference was the Honda but I settled for the Sienna because of price and a special promotion going on.

this is my ride..89 chevy pick up...350 cu in engine pushing about 350-375 HP..havnt dynoed it..

this thing is so much fun in the snow...I had it painted back when i used to watch Nascar,and long before Earnhardt died..



I want to add a roll bar and a crate for the dogs this summer...

 As to why i drive it,i love older chevy pick ups,and i can actually pop the hood and work on it with out the aid of a computer..lol

I drive a 2006 Toyota Matrix.  We got it because we needed something a little bigger than the Echo we had and this fills the bill - a small station wagon. We got another Toyota because the Echo (which we gave to DS #1) gave us 217,000 trouble free miles.  It wasn't terribly expensive as new cars go (around $20K) and it has some features I really wanted, like a remote key and a rear window wiper. Because we already had credit with Toyota financial, we got pretty good interest rates and the payments on the new one are only $35 a month more than they were on the old one.  And ... Max fits very nicely in the back seat.

Joyce

I'm not a driver but our SUV was bought for my dogs and my kids and me lol!
 
We have a Kia...second Kia we've had. We upgraded from the Sportage to the Sorento a couple years ago...GREAT cars both of them. Reliable, affordable, attractive, and never gave us any trouble. Both very safe as well which was important with the kiddos...
 
We got a used/new Sorento from a Volvo dealership, it's the higest trim level and it's niiiice. No extras like nav or DVD but we don't need that.
 
Fits a 200 crate in the back with seats up...and still some room left for gear and then there's the roof rack. Seats down I can fit 3 crates if I want....200's...or a BUNCH of stuff lol!
 
I like the Sorento a whole lot and Kia in general has made great strides with their vehicles.

I have a 2005 Toyota Sienna, great minivan, but terrible gas milage, I'm only getting about 20 mpg in the city. If I have a lot of errands to do, I take my husbands Ford Focus,  saves on gas. After next year, I won't be needing a mini van anymore so I'll probably trade it in for a Camry. This is the 3rd minivan I have had and it is the best by far. I had a ford and a chrysler and they weren't too good.

I got a 36  inch crate with the halves stacked together in a 2 door  '02 cavalier, and I could have put it together once it was in the car, with the seats up. We just got rid of the cavalier. My sister traded it in when she got her Matrix, and I took her '02 4 Door Kia Rio because it was in better condition than the Cavalier. The dealership gave her the same amount on the trade for the Cavalier as they would have for the Rio, so it made sense for me to keep the Rio. I'm planning to get something new next year, but we're keeping the Rio because my younger sister will be driving in December, and my parents both just got new Scion xBs that they won't want her driving.
I don't think you could get a crate in the back of the xB or Matrix with the seats up, but it's a split fold, so you could put one side down and still use your other seat. I've liked the xB since before they started shipping them to the US, so I am totally disappointed now that both of my parents have them, but after my mom got hers, they lked it so much my dad traded his '04 Chevy Impala for one. My sister got the Matrix a few weeks after, although she had been looking it for a while, but she wanted All Wheel Drive (that option is discontinued for '07). They're both on the Corolla base though, as is the Pontiac Vibe. The Vibe is basically a Matrix clone.
Prior to the xB, my mom had a Hyundai Sonata. That was a nice car, never had any problems with it, but it was totalled when someone tried to make a left in front of us and the person behind us was following too closely. She would have replaced it with the same thing, but it would have been more money, and she decided to go with something with some room. The only issue there ever was with the Hyundai was that it would get me carsick. I'd definitely check out a Hyundai or a Kia if they have something you are interested in. They're not the junk they once were.

I drive a 96 Pontiac Bonneville, because it's the car we have now. It's pretty good sized and I like it because my puppy now can fit on the floor in the back if she needs to. Otherwise there's plenty of room on the seats for them.  As far as looking stylish and very cool, I want a new version of the Pontiac Grand AM , an SE maybe. I don't know much about them, such as the gas mileage or interior, I just love the way they look [8|] []

We travel a lot WITH the dogs and we do pet therapy.  So not only am I schlepping 3 dogs around but I have the wagon we use for pet therapy (gets the dogs up high enough for kids in wheelchairs) plus the rolling crate with all our 'stuff' in it. 
 
We have no human kids (*sniff*) but we're a package deal otherwise -- if we vacation we gotta take the bird (and his cage) TOO.  So 2 humans, 3 dogs and the bird and wagon.  phew.  And I hate anything 'big'.
 
So we got a PT Cruiser and put a roof rack on it.  I LOVE MY PT CRUISER!!!
 
You can take both the back seats OUT TOTALLY -- or they tilt up and strap up so the back of it is pure 100% deck!!! 
 
I sooooo love my PT Cruiser you can't believe it.  I love driving it -- I commute into downtown Orlando every day and it's great.  Not the best on gas mileage (but I'm also a hog with the air conditioner and this IS Florida) and most of my mileage is bumper to bumper interstate/city traffic crawl.
 
We left the smaller back seat (there are two backseats -- one slightly wider than the other) in and that's folded up and strapped up.  The rest of the room is totally ample for THREE DOG BEDS!!!  It makes going with the dogs soooo completely easy.  I got a cargo mat for it first thing and the beds kinda 'stick' to it -- we get in and they just go to their beds and that's it!! (high walled foam/sherpa beds)
 
I can't even begin to tell you how flexible this vehicle is -- and for us flexibility was the key.