In the market for a Gen II

Take your time. The more you look, the better you'll be able to sense what the going prices are... Although, just because someone asks for a given price doesn't mean that's what they get from the buyer.

I'm going to sell my Gen III in April, because I am getting a Plug-in Prius, which shortens my commute time. Used is always a better value. Avoid used rental cars.

 

^^^
http://priuschat.com/forums/knowled...andard-optional-equipment-some-countries.html
http://priuschat.com/forums/knowled...al-equipment-some-countries-2.html#post612688

 

CPOs are recommended for poorly built European cars, but Japanese cars are built much much much better, so a private party sale is fine as long as the person has service records to show the maintenance was done. you will see at the top of the different gen II forums will have sticky threads that are permanently there, most of which have to do with maintenance, what is needed and when it should be performed.

The Allroad is one of my all time favorite cars from a "features" standpoint. Obviously cars with gray bumpers make it look like you couldn't afford to get the whole car painted, and obviously it was removed from america a long time ago since wagons (or estates as they are called in Europe) are not popular in america.

With modern winter tire technology, traction, and stability control systems, AWD is an absolute stupid waste of money and fuel. My Prius with winter tires drives circles around AWD Audis and BMWs with all season tires in the snow. But the feature I absolutely love love love about the Allroad is the suspension. It can lower for the highway and raise up for the snow just like a Range Rover . . . that's just brilliant, I wish I had that on my Prius, and I think that should be optional on every car, I would pay big money for that feature.

As for comparing Gen II and Gen III, on the outside the Gen II is nerdy whereas the gen III is beautiful. Although I'm not complaining everybody else on here says the gen III seats are a huge improvement over the gen II. Other than the light colors being difficult to keep clean, the gen II has the worlds best interior of any car, every button and display is exactly exactly where it should be. I actually bought a gen III but after half a year I had to go back to a gen II because the interior of a gen III is really stupid. It was missing steering wheel HVAC buttons, the center console makes the driver feel claustrophobic and has too many buttons and the nav screen is too low, and the cupholders are really stupid compared to the ingenious ones in the gen II.

So although the gen III interior drives me nuts after owning a gen II, it may not bother you coming from a teutonic Audi. If you can afford a fully loaded gen III than go for it. But if you're in the $20K shopping range, then you either have to choose b/t a loaded older prius or a base new one. I always go for the used loaded Prius, but that's cause I like my cars to have all the bells and whistles. Some people don't need navigation, some people don't need cool headlamps, manufactures build base models for these persons.

But don't take our opinion, you should do your own due diligence research so you can buy the car that fits your needs, your tastes and your budget.