Prius Three or Prius v five

It all depends on what you feel comfortable with. I might suggest doing as my co-worker is doing right now. He's renting the various vehicles he's looking at to get a feel for them. I have a Prius THree. I have plenty of room to lug things around. I put a 4.5CubicFt refrigerator in the back of mine and still had plenty of room for other things. I was looked at the v when I was looking at the Three and decided against it as I didn't need all that room. So I got a less expensive car with better mileage and when I need it I have room to haul many things. If I need to haul something much larger I'll rent a U-Haul truck or rent one from the place I'm purchasing from, or have it delivered.

 

I've gotten used to the space a SUV with the seats down provided and probably for that reason wouldn't have considered the Prius except that it finally came with a wagon like form factor. In terms of MPG, the % gain from my CRV to the v is much larger than going to a Three would be over the v. My son loves his Three for his 50 mile commute but his 6 person family also has a 8 person mini-van.

I use the extra space for taking the Christmas tree to the recycle, taking 5 freezer storage boxes to Costco and the like. I'm willing to give up the cost savings of the higher MPG for the convenience of always having that extra space available. I'd say I've used the extra space or larger opening twice a month since I got the car.

I ran the spreadsheet of cost savings over my old car, this car and alternatives. I found it illuminating.

But every person's needs are different and their priorities are their own.

 

If you need the extra cargo space a lot, that should tip in favor of the v, but pay attention to the cargo floor differences ...
In Prius v, notice when folding back seats down, there is seat fabric on rear seatbacks. Will your stuff damage that fabric?
In liftback Prius, fold rear seats down to find a smooth completely carpeted load floor. It is smaller than v though.
Also, the liftback rear seat headrests fold forward; lift them all way up, fold forward.

In considering the liftback, check out the new Persona series Prius. It's optioned out a lot like the Prius Three* inside except it has Softex seats (mechanical adjust, not power like Four/Five) and wrapped steering wheel, plus the 17" wheels good to go, no hassle changing wheels. Stickers a little north of $28k. Have no idea if there is discount incentive on those.

* At moment, not sure Persona has navigation, but would be a little nuts if it didn't.


Prius Persona Series

Leather wrapped steering wheel is pretty nice to have in Prius as the texture of non-wrapped is rough and a little plain. 2012/13 Three doesn't have wrapped steering wheel.

 

Might want to rethink the Jetta Wagon TDI. My wife and I have had two NewBeetle TDIs since 1999. First one (1999) very economical with lower diesel prices and 600 miles to a tank. The second (2006) much less fuel mileage, happy to get 400 per tank. Diesel prices have been high for the last three to four years. I have a 2011 Lexus IS 350 that requires premium fuel. That pi$$es me off, diesel around $3.78 is worse. I got the Prius Plug to replace the Beetle. Too many cars today require premium fuel. My new Virginia personalized plate for the Prius is "R3VOLTN". A play on my feelings about high gas prices and the ability to recharge the Prius Plug.

 

Mad 1,

I bought a V-2 and had aftermarket real leather and heated front seats added by the dealer for much less than the price of the V-3. I then bought a Garmin Nuvi GPS with voice commands.

The backs of the rear seats actually have hard plastic to protect them when you fold them down. The V has incredible amount of room inside. And, if you drive it sensibly, you can get 45-50 mpg avg per tank (~480 miles per tank). As usual, the disclaimer applies... your mileage will vary.

I'm kind biased but I think that the V is a better looking shape than the liftback.

 

And if you are worried about the look of the wheels, buy one of the lower models of the v and just pull the hubcaps off and you have some nicer 16"wheels and don't have to give up turning radius as you do with the 17" wheels. Center caps that look stock are $29.99 on ebay.

 

I first test-drove the Prius v-THREE and it was a very comfortable ride. I wanted a v-FIVE, but there weren't any in stock on that day, so I returned a week later. Looked at the v-FIVE (Pearl White paint) and liked it, then bought it WITHOUT test-driving it. Lovely vehicle in ALL respects except for two things: The ride on the 17" wheels is rough and bumpy compared to the ride I experienced in the THREE (may be the Toyo tires). Also, checked my gas mileage after my first full tank and it was 32.6 mpg. My vehicle is rated at 42/40 city, highway respectively. Will attribute the lower first tank disappointment to winter weather here in Sacramento, CA. as the mornings have been 25-29 degrees until 8 A.M. Idling while defrosting for safety is the culprit I believe, but we'll see as Spring approaches. I love everything else on the v-FIVE. The seats (Soft-Tex) are marvelous and feel very comfortable. All the other toys are great too. When folks say there is a lot of room in the v-FIVE, they are entirely correct. Headroom too.

Jack

 

I have a v 5 and love it as well,though I don't find the ride at all harsh. In fact, I find it quite smooth and very quiet. Check your tire pressure. I keep mine about 2-3 pounds above the suggested amount on the door jam. When we picked it up, the dealer had it about 10 pounds over and it was riding a bit stiff until I checked it myself.

 

I'm a former Jetta tdi owner and a current hybrid driver (HCH 3rd battery @110,000km) but wouldn't touch a current tdi Jetta due to high pressure fuel pump failures. (mostly caused by lack of fuel quality standards in North America.) I loved my Jetta (sold it to my Parents and still going strong @ 240,000km) and easily surprised coworker's gen2 Prius milage on the highway, but the Prius is less likely to suffer a unexpected large repair bill (VW hasn't taken ownership of the fuel pump failure problem and it is thousand$ to repair).

There are couple of hybrids out there that offer a more Jetta like driving experiences (Ford Fusion and CMax are more driver oriented than Prius at the expense of some fuel economy).


Nexus 7 ? HD

 

One thing the v offers over the hatchback is rear seat headroom. If that's a concern, be sure to check it out.
We opted for the hatch, in part because we could get the solar sunroof package.