Questions about getting an 09 #6

A few questions and things we learned while shopping/test driving last weekend. Any answeres/comments/corrections appreciated:

- My wife is turning in her leased 05 Nissan Murano in a few weeks and we looked at Prius's last weekend. The murano is nice and roomy, but only squeaks out 20mpg if we are lucky. We already have another 4 wheel drive vehicle, so we dont really need two 4 wheel drives anymore. Looking to get something with high mileage without sacraficing too much.

- We like the layout with the hatchback. works better for our lifestyle with dogs and a kid on the way.

- The vehicle drove better and was quicker than we thought. Probably about the same as the Murano. Not kidding, the Murano is slow (but my wife likes it).

- The leather, nav, bluetooth, etc were very nice. Very impressive. Option #6 is the only one we are interested in.

- At the local dealership in WA they have somwhere around 30 total on hand. With the lower gas prices and the 2010 coming out in spring should this equate to lower prices than the 28700 MSRP? Is it worth shopping around even though we like the local dealer?

- There are not good lease deals on Prius. We could get a loaded $36,000 Murano for no down and $500/month for a 36 month/36k mile lease, but the same deal on the Prius was $570 with $1000 down. Probably going to buy anyway but it is intersting.

- She often brings our dogs with her on short trips around town and they sit in the back seat. They are 60lb goldens and mostly just sleep when they are in the car, but not sure how this will work with prius. I like how the back seats fold down so you can use the entire interior space though. It will be hard to get a dealer to let us try this out before we buy, unless we try it on a used one with a blanket or something covering the seats.

- How is the car with kids/baby seat? We got the latest and greatest Graco. I assume ok but if there are any issues let me know.

- How does the prius do in the snow? I see we can get cable chains for it.

- Can we fit the Yamkima Skybox 16 box on top, same one that fit the murano? I seem to remember seeing one with a box on top of it in the movie "Along Came Paully".

Can't think of anything else. Thanks in advance for any answers/suggestions!

 

Actually the local dealer let us try a used one with the dogs for an hour. It worked out fine there is actually a lot of space behind the rear seats, but theycan't fully stand up. With one rear seat folded down it gave them a lot more space.