Potential Buyer; Stop In and Advise

If you plan on towing, best to get a Rav4 hybrid. Similar gas mileage, just more room and more power.

 

ive a 10 and 13 that both pull a floe trailer pics all over net.. plastic aluminum thing .. in my world the 10 w solar and jbl has been twice the car of persona 13 both same engines similar mileages. both commercially driven 17 rims and 45 series do not do it..

 

a well maintained 2009 is not out of the question depending on mileage, no major issues, but you will need a battery eventually.
gen 3 (2010-2015) are problematic. 2015 is the only one i'd feel comfortable with because they updated the pistons and rings.
egr clogging, blown head gaskets and engines, brake actuator failure, just some expensive systems to keep an eye on.
2016 and newer, so far so good, and many major improvements, but probably not in your budget.

 

Have you considered getting your wife a new/different car and driving her 2014 Prius? As I'm sure you're aware, used car prices are crazy and people tend to hang on to good-running Priuses (which skews the used market towards Priuses that are having problems or soon to have problems).

Since you are past the point in your life where you enjoy (or tolerate) working on your cars, I would caution you against buying a used Prius unless you know you have a good hybrid repair shop nearby. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that may not be the case in Paducah (though you could probably find something in Nashville or St Louis). A used Prius is a very economical car to put a lot of miles on, but a lot of ~$2,000 repairs are still possible. New hybrid battery, new head gasket (or roll the dice with a used engine), power brake booster, etc. I had 2 of those $2,000 repairs in the last 60,000 miles, but my Prius still cost me less than $0.22/mile to operate including gas, insurance, registration, repairs, etc (see my breakdown here: durability of replaced headgasket? | PriusChat ). So only consider a used Prius if you have a good shop (or are willing to do the work yourself) AND can tolerate pouring $2,000+ at a time into your car without its value going up at all.

Another thing to consider is what type of driving you will be doing. The Prius gets fantastic mpg in the city, but a bit more towards normal mpg at high speed highway driving. If you're driving 75-80mph everywhere, you'll probably be getting 40mpg, not the advertised 50. There are a number of non hybrid cars that'll get 30+ under those same conditions - and they generally don't run the same risk of large repair bills.


Finally, strongly consider a new car. While I applaud your desire to avoid taking on debt and would ordinarily agree that a used car is the economical choice, covid has really screwed up the market. If you are willing to wait 1-3 months to order a new one, you can buy a new Prius Prime for the ~$30,000 MSRP. If you act now you should still be able to get the full $7,500 tax credit (which will be cut in half sometime this year). You'll then have a brand new car for less than 3 year-old cars are currently selling for - and you'll have one that can get 80+ mpg if you plug it in each night. You won't have to worry about repair bills or down time, and you can concentrate on other things for the next ~10 years.

 

if you hate working on cars, a civic, corolla, etc. would be a better choice.

reason being, hybrid mechs are few and far between, and those few and dealerships charge a fortune to work on them. and there are some very expensive systems in a prius.

yes, they are great and very reliable. but a 2,3, $4,000. repair isn't out of the question if you don't diy with salvage parts.
i always advise people, before you buy an old prius, try finding a reasonable, reliable mech first. that may be enough to change your mind.

 

The manual states do not tow. Manual transmission is the safest investment