A few questions before I buy

1) The c should be fine for the rural areas. The point of the c is that it is a 'compact' in comparison to the Prius and the Prius v. So it should work in a lot of environments, you just have a shorter rear and was aimed for younger crowds that might not use the cargo area as heavily as a sedan user or a wagon user.

2) I think so, but YMMV.

3) You will have to check your state's DMV site, as in California, the Prius does not qualify anymore, but NY may allow for the Prius and Prius c. To clarify, California does not view the current Prius cars with the except of the Prius Plugin as a clean air incentive.

4) I would go over those threads. As what you have put in, not enough to really say more beyond what those to threads would point out that might fit your situation. Just that be aware that don't freak out on the MPG right away, especially if this is your first prius car.

 

The standard Prius is more aerodynamic and beats the 'C' by a couple MPG on the highway (48 mpg versus 46 mpg). So unless you are enamored of the C for looks or the slight price difference, I'd stick with the main Prius.

We'd need to know exact trim package (is it a three or a four) to tell you if that's a good price. I've been looking at both the three and the four with solar roof (and backup camera), but there's a difference of $5K between the two.

From that price, it's got to be a three.

One thing that surprised me being a newbie is that there is no reverse gear on the transmission from the gas engine. So reverse is 100% off the electric motor. I'm not really worried about it, but I'll be curious when winter comes what it feels like to try to rock the car out of some snow.

My four has arrived and is waiting on me to be able to take off and travel the 860 miles to go meet her.

 

I don't live in your part of the country but https://www.dot.ny.gov/programs/clean-pass might help. Hopefully someone from NY/NJ can chime in.

 

NJ isn't going to give you anything on a Prius. If you are a AAA member get dealer quotes at www.aaa.com redirect. One dealer is in SI, another in North Jersey.

I don't know how much snow you expect to go through but my 2010 got stuck a couple of times. You won't be able to spin the tires but you can still rock the car.

 

Drive the Prius and the Prius C to compare them.

How much stuff do you need to take on the trips? Will it fit?

Long ride, make sure the seats are comfortable. Lots of people find the seats uncomfortable and the only fix being the power seats of the Prius III/4

 

What do you mean by III/4? Let's not confuse people here.

Are you referring to the '12 Prius liftback (aka regular Prius) model 4/Four?

 

Sadly, no incentives from NY State.
Only perk is that you can get the Clean Pass stickers for the Prius that lets you use the 40 miles of HOV lanes of the LIE from Medford to the Queens border even if you're the sole occupant of the vehicle.

https://www.dot.ny.gov/portal/page/portal/programs/clean-pass

 

Son of gun no matter how tricky I got you knew exactly what I meant.

The forum seems to be divided into sections Prius II, Prius III, Prius V and Prius C. Toyota refers to current Prius as III(3) and then has models under that it designates 1,2,3,4. Prius III/4...Bingo.

Guess that's why you figured it out so fast.

 

The problem is, I'm pretty sure Toyota has never called the Gen 2 Prius a "Prius II", just like they've never referred to the Gen 3 Prius as "Prius III".

For the 2010 model year Gen 3, they used Roman numerals I thru V to refer to trim levels (Toyota Vehicles : Toyota Announces Prices for 2010 Prius / Toyota). The only "Prius III" was the 2010 Prius model III (now known as 3 or Three in MY11+ parlance). 2010 Prius models I, II, IV and V are NOT "Prius III".

For MY11+, they switched away from Roman numerals. However, some still incorrectly use the Roman numerals when referring to MY11+ Prius family members.

V wagon and C are supposed to be in lowercase.

Let's avoid confusion and go by the model year, Gen n or Toyota designations (e.g. NHW20, ZVW30, etc.) I know your screwy references have annoyed others in other threads. Annoyance is one thing.... adding to confusion is another.

Also, related to your post and the OP's, power seats were NOT available on the Gen 3 Prius until MY2012. To tell him to get a "III/4" is useless if he got a '10 or '11, model IV/Four or of ANY trim level.

 

I think you mean Gen II and Gen III. The 2010 liftback models were numbered I through V, but Toyota switched to 1, 2... 5 in 2011 to avoid confusion with the v, like that helped!

Never mind, cwerdna beat me to it!

 

Yeah, they switched it w/o really telling us the real reason. Then, later they introduced the v (wagon). If they'd only picked some other letter like w.