Need suggestions on which Generation III Prius to buy.

Brutal honesty: Most seats don't fit because the driver's stomach is too big. I always prefer the base model of any car, as I don't see the point of paying $3-4 thousand extra just to get a few extra items only worth 3-4 hundred aftermarket.

 

Essentially no one is going to put aftermarket front seats in a new or nearly new car: They have become too complicated with side airbags, seat position sensors, occupant detection sensors, etc...

Now, try this experiment:

Find a friend of yours who is 6 ft 5 in tall (with looonnnggg legs)

Put them in a Gen III (2010+) Prius liftback with non power seat.

Slide the seat all way back, lower all the way down. If they can't reach pedals, scoot up only one notch

Now, yank as hard as they can to pull steering wheel towards them and lower down (it doesn't move much)

Observe the extra long reach they have to the steering wheel and then you'll see why this issue got mentioned in Consumer Reports recent 'Best Cars' issue : The steering wheel doesn't pull close enough for most of their testers. That's Consumer Reports dude. Car forums are like ants compared to them.

 

I was mainly talking about the expense. I doubt upgrading from the standard Prius seats to automated seats costs Toyota an extra 3 thousand. Probably only 20-30 dollars more wholesale, so that upgrade is almost-pure profit.

 

You don't mention what part of the country you are in. I have seen plenty of used Gen III models for under 18K.
Enterprise sells their rentals too. Usually 2012 or 2013 models around 18K before TTT, most under 50K miles on them. They are certified also. Another place to check is craigs list. You can even check different cities.
I have a new quote on a 2014 III with solar for 23.5K and a IV stock for the same price.

 

That a pretty good quote on the stock IV. I shopped around and the one I got wasn't as good, but still fair. Does that price include a trade-in?

 

That makes little sense. All the safety feature would be cross-platform/model. Your bigger issue would be if the vehicle side of the wiring harness is present.

 

I was in your shoes in May. I had about $18k for a budget for a new car. I looked at used models of Gen III only with 40,000 or less miles, Bluetooth and preferably leather. Everything I saw either had the low miles or had Bluetooth, backup camera and leather but high miles or too expensive. I ended up getting a new 2014 Three because the difference I'd pay for a used one with the criteria I was looking for was only a couple of thousand and in the long run I got a car with 300 miles (dealer trade mileage plus test drives) and I'm the first owner. With that being said, I realize if you have a budget you have a budget.

As for my 2 cents worth on trim level. I like my Three, it has Bluetooth, backup camera, in dash navi and satellite radio. The seat adjustment isn't an issue for me as I'm only 5' 4.5" and my husband, who rarely drives it, is 5' 8". My sister has a 2010 Prius (we think it's a Four or IV but the dealer listed it as a Two or II) with power leather seats. She hasn't complained about any discomfort driving. A friend has a 2013 Prius Two and they had leather installed because the cloth seats were uncomfortable. I do find the cloth seats annoying as I had leather in the Mustang and I loved it, I feel like I'm stuck to the cloth seats by Velcro and I just know my son will stain the bisque cloth when he's older so I plan on getting leather seats one day. I like the backup camera to judge how close I am to things, I use my mirrors for most of it. The in dash navi is fine, I rarely use navi anyway as 95% of my driving is done in town and I know where I'm going. I have a Garmin Nuvi that I used in my Mustang and it was nice but still had its problems. I prefer the fact that what I have now is in dash so I don't have to worry about unplugging it and tucking it away every time so nobody breaks my windows to steal it. I would have loved to get the Four but I also wanted the solar panel and to get that option on the Four was an extra $3,000 and included stuff that I didn't care about. I do wish the sound quality was better in the Three but maybe I'll upgrade that one day.

 

No trade-in. A dealer in Maryland.