Traded 2012 Prius V Wagon (Level Three) for regular 2012 Prius (Level Two)

Here is a wild one. At the beginning of the year I had to buy a car in a hurry and chose the 2012 Prius V over a bevy of other cars. I had also looked at the Ford Edge Ecoboost, Mini Countryman, VW Jetta Wagon TDI, and Jeep Patriot. People had encouraged me to look at the Audi Q5, BMW X3, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee. I chose the V because the salesman was a nice retired Navy guy, Toyota offered a great military discount, and the V felt like a really modern car (it was a spaceship compared to every other car I have ever owned). The car was great, totally reliable and very comfortable and of course a little boring. The car displayed an average of 45.5 over the 13000 miles I owned it. I did a few paper calculations on MPG and found them to always be a little under the computer but still great (i.e. computer 47.4, calculated at 46.2). Cargo space was ridiculous for those MPG numbers.

This week I traded it in for a 2012 Regular Prius Level Two. I chose to do so since it cost me basically one month's rent to reset the miles to zero (although it took a lot of restraint not to buy the Scion FRS 6-Speed). I feel this was a good move, I felt I did not need the extra space and I don't use the Navigation. Entune was cool but it's still truly in development as a great technology.

I am going to add this as well. I was expected to buy an SUV because I have a job where I drive on gravel/unimproved roads on several days a month. Had I bought a sexy Euro SUV it would have cost me in the mid to high 30s. Instead I chose to buy the Prius V and an old Jeep TJ. Between the two cars I spent the same amount of money or even less and yet my overall MPG around 35-40 with the combined miles. The Wrangler is a blast to drive for 20% of my miles and the Prius is reliable and a great modern car. So my questions are these...

Did I make the right call in trading in a 2012 Prius V Level Three (13000 miles) for a 2012 Regular Prius Level Two (125 Miles)? (Cost me about 15oo bucks)

Does this two car solution make sense? (Prius + 5-Speed Wrangler over Crossover/Small SUV)

Does anyone wish that they made a Prius with a 6-Speed Gearbox for driving fun?

I have an active XM account with the trade in and need to transfer it to the Level Two which does not come with Sat radio. What is the best way to put Sat radio into a Level Two? (Best Buy, Dealer, SirusXM website, Ditch the Account, etc.)

Cheers!

 

I would add that the Jetta Wagon TDI was by far the least powerful car at low speeds that I have ever driven. It also seemed really cheap when you got some tactile experience with the car. I've driven the Porsche Cayman R and the Jetta was a 1 the Prius V was a 4 (hp at 0 RPM due to electric) and of course the Porsche was a 9 or 10.

 

Never drove the Golf TDI, sounds pretty good. I also test drove a used Mini Cooper S with a busted turbo and it was awesome even with a defective engine. I kind of wish I had also test drove the Honda CRZ with the manual but when you are buying a new car it means a lot to trust the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive. I know they are all mated with the CVT and there must be a reason for it.