2012 Prius v Starts at $26,400; Coming late October

Anyone who has seen the rear seat of the Prius v think that 3 car seats will fit back there? It's really not possible in the current Prius (or any other midsize sedan). If not, what's the best MPG vehicle that can fit 3 car seats?

 

I've seen the v but since I have no kids, I can't really give you an answer on that.

I'd take a look at the lists at Most fuel-efficient SUVs and Best & worst cars review, fuel-efficient vehicles. These are FE results in CR's testing.

The current gen Highlander and HiHy have the 3rd row of seats standard and show have no trouble holding 3 car seats. Only problem is the HiHy is rather pricey. Maybe a RAV4 w/3rd row will work at a cheaper price?

It really is too bad nobody is selling a hybrid minivan and Toyota isn't bringing the 7 seat version of the Prius v aka Prius+ (http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...s-v-toyota-s-first-hybrid-mpv-cnbc-video.html) to the US.

 

All I really want is a sunroof!

So to get that one extra feature, do I need to get the Five package WITH the Advanced Technology package? That comes out to $9170 in upgrades over the base model.

Or is there a cheaper way to configure in a sunroof?

 

Totally in the same boat. I was excited to see the prices were in the same ball-park as the standard Prius. But I did a double-take when I read the moon/sun roof is only available with the high-end tech package. That's a serious disappointment! Having more light and view from within was a major selling point for someone of my height, but I can't rationalize spending $30k+ for some extra cargo space and light.

 

Prius V should be more spacious than Rav4 when it comes to back seat space.

 

The key factor many herein are missing is that like the iconic Prius the new 'v' is not intended to meet the purchasing standards of the entire market.

The old argument against the iconic Prius was 'Why buy a Prius for $24000 when you could buy [xxx] for $15000 and save all that money up front? You'll never recoup the initial overlay in a resonable period of time.' This was perfectly true then and remains perfectly true today.

However what was misunderstood by many making this argument was that the iconic Prius - and now the Prius v and soon the PHV - were not and are not intended for those that have a limited budget, won't pay more than $xx,xxx for a vehicle or who normally buy used vehicles. N America is a huge and wealthy market overall.

The Prius v and soon the PHV are targetted to segments that normally spend $25,000 to $35,000 for a vehicle. When this demographic segment goes shopping they never look at vehicles under $20,000 and rarely look seriously at vehicles over $50,000.

The Prius v is a complementary vehicle to the iconic Prius. It's not intended to replace it and it certainly will not sell anywhere near the volume that the iconic model does. I think that $26,400 is a fair price for the high volume model.

 

If that's all that you want put in an aftermarket sunroof. It's only about $900-$1000 and it does everything that the factory sunroof does. Some makers even offer a longer warranty than Toyota's 3/36 on it's factory-installed SR's.

 

True that on all fronts (including my dog's head). But there have also been times when I was able to load things into my GenII primarily because the hatch provided such a large opening - furniture and things that many would never even think of hauling in a Prius. As I said, cubic feet is cubic feet, and the V increases that considerably.

 

Agreed. Now imagine using is as a camper like I do sometimes. The v would be great because you are not forced to sleep with your head in the front portion of the car. The non-sloped rear window/roof is great!

 

The rear seat hip room in Prius v is spec'd at 1" less than Camry and 2" more than regular Prius. I don't know if 3 child car seats could be strapped in side by side in Camry.

I'm glad to see the Prius v coming out. It will add to the sales numbers of regular Prius. The top sellers are usually Camry, Altima, Fusion and Accord, but they all have variant models included in sales numbers, coupes or hybrids.

btw, Prius was #15 of all cars in US in Aug and Sept 2011, not including trucks and SUVs.

I hope people will see the practicality of the Prius v. It looks fab to me. Price will be tricky because it will sticker about $27k for the entry model which is a lot more than an Accord LX at under $22k. Times are changing though and Prius is leading a whole lot of change.

Just got 27.8 MPG in my Accord again (quite a bit of city). Guarantee it would be like 50 MPG in a Prius.

 

My local dealer has had a Prius V for 3 weeks and can't sell it. It's overpriced for just 40 mpg.

 

Is it considering nothing else in it's size class can compare to it in terms of mpg and price. Maybe you should research the vehicle in more depth. You may just change your mind like many of us did.