Is a 2016 Prius V good for family road trips?

The 2015-17 were the refresh years of the v but the engine, brake booster, egr system and inverter are still gen3 and have been problems.

The 2015-17 v’s do have improved pistons and rings. They also have improved crash test results over the 2012-14 v’s.

A v’s back seat is nice, reclines and slides forward or back. As a result v’s were popular worldwide as taxis. The AC is enhanced over the hatchbacks and standard wheels are 16” rather than 15”

A v is noisy with virtually no sound deadening added. Mpg at freeway speeds is reduced sometimes to 35 mpg. The car is rated at 42 mpg max.

Overall a 2019 or newer Rav4 is far better with increased power, size and reliability over the older gen3 engineering. With similar overall mpg and better mpg than a v on high speed freeways. Ravs have reduced road noise and far better safety systems. Safety systems alone make the Rav far superior for a family on road trips.

 

The backseat

 

We replaced a Dodge Grand Caravan with a v and just as effectively and far more efficiently moved kids and their stuff to and from schools.

 

rjparker nailed it. I would not buy an earlier PriusV unless it has had an engine replaced for peace of mind in this use case. (that's what I did).

Rented a 2012 PriusV while on a short vacation in Vancouver before we bought our own. Trip up and down to Whistler as the "worst case scenario" was uneventful and convinced us to get one locally on the east coast. We love the pano roof on the rental, but I came across 2 locally with roof leaks, so I ended up buying one without.

Going through the first winter and a few glaring issues (to me) but not applicable to you in New Mexico.
Poor ground clearance scrapes a lot on chucks of ice/snow after a storm, very poor sound deadening--will be DIY-ing that last one in the spring.

 

The late v's are the best of an iffy bunch, meaning the 3rd generation.

Don't expect to carry one out to the same 250k finish line you got with your other hybrids.

If you can find a 2016 or 17 with ~80k miles you might do okay.

 

clean the egr circuit asap and have the coolant pump remapped

 

NO

 

Recently took our 2012 v Five on a two-day trip from the northeast to middle Georgia, for a week there, and around there, on family business, then back. Over 2000 miles total, with tools and our dog going south, and tools, files and furniture, and the dog, back north. Easy, comfortable, low-cost trip.

 

You can get a low cost trip out of a gen3 until one of its many faults leaves you at the mercy of a Toyota dealer far from home. Most normal shops can’t or won’t work on hybrids and their non-aftermarket parts.

Hybrid batteries and inverters are scary to the old school shops.

Head gasket and engine failures are not much more difficult but Joes Garage is not used to the unusual symptoms these engines present. Head gasket issues often lead to $1000 worth of unneeded plugs, coils and injectors one guess at a time.

 

Yes, good for a family.

Noting the rear seats recline.
Rear storage is excellent.
As a negative, I don't think the rear seats are "plug and play", so to say, to install Wi-Fi laptops for the kids and their games/ movies.
As a positive, many Vs were used as taxi's, so we could say Vs are robust.

I like mine (2017 model year).
Lastly, expect 40 mpg.
Good luck with your decision and road trip.