Buying advice: What would you choose when looking at used Prius?

For that kind of money, you can get a Gen 4.

Low mileage is fine, and those are not that low anyway. The worry about battery health of low mileage hybrids really more how long they sit between drives, as in weeks or months, not days. So a Prius that gets driven 6 months a year/in storage 6 months a year might be a problem, but one that does 3K miles per year, but driven at least once a week would be a cherry.

 

2013, because the depreciation rate platooed, and will only go down as you put miles on it.

 

OP, you're in California, which means that you'll receive a 10 year/150k mile warranty on the hybrid/traction battery. That's longer than most of the rest of the country. Estimate your annual miles and then do the math to see which of these cars will keep you under 150k miles at the 10 year mark.

Also, make sure the one you purchase is truly a California car and not from another state. Otherwise, it probably won't receive the extended battery warranty.

Since you're not in a hurry, look at what you get above the base model (II). I personally like the advanced features and you usually don't pay too much more for them on a used car.