Practical alternatives to a new Gen 3?

I have a feeling your Sister doesn't want a Prius. We travel all over the U.S. in ours Prius. Have taken extended trips with luggage and 3 non child sized people on more than one occasion. All that has been done comfortably, with plenty of room. A baby in a baby seat and a folding stroller, plus diaper bags, cloths, extra clothes/blankets, toys and plenty of baby bottles in the cooler would easily fit in the back behind the seats. Need to show your sister that a Prius is a hatchback with quite a bit of room... and don't forget to show her the big bin under the hatch load floor that could event double as a travel bassinet, or extra storage for towels, cleaning agents and other baby paraphernalia.

Prius makes a lot of sense, it's roomy, efficient, safe, super reliable and will help save money on fuel, no matter the price per gallon happens to be. To top it off, if you shop wisely (and as some on this thread have previously stated) you can find lightly used Prii for bargain prices at the moment. Win-win in most cases.

 

Based on what was presented....what ever she gets, I would advise staying away from a used car. The last thing a new parent needs is unexpected breakdowns and car repair costs with the expense of new/young children...and statistically women "usually" have another child shortly after the first...if they have another one. Space is also a big consideration. I would "guide" here towards a Toyota Corolla as there is plenty of space for Baby Bags, two car seats and two strollers. The OTD price is lower, the MPG is still good and the reliability is just as good as the Prius. Best wishes.

 

CPO as in Certified Pre-Owned? Still just a used car. They just had one of their over-worked mechanics give it a once over looking for obvious stuff and fluid levels (just like during their free oil change)...then jack the price.

 

My sister in law bought a used 2nd gen 2007 Prius on my recommendation a few years back after someone backed over her beloved and parked Honda Civic and totaled it. I found a well maintained example, with dealership receipts, for all services performed. The car had almost 60K miles on the ODO. She bought it in 2010 for about $16K. Her Prius now has almost 200,000 miles, without complications and still gets 48 mpg. She's replaced the 12V battery twice in that time and is about to replace the tires for the third time. Tampa, Florida heat can be tough on batteries. I've tried to get her to trade the '07 for a 3rd Gen a couple of times, but she will not give this car up. Loves it.

Prius has some proven reliability cred. I wouldn't hesitate buying a well treated Prius. Both Prius we've owned, our '05 and now our '11, have been mechanically trouble free solid reliable.

A full sized jogging stroller is about as big as a bicycle. That's pretty good that you can stow that in the back of the Prius with the rear seats up! You might want to invest in a bike rack to allow more room in the car. We use a bike rack on our Prius when we have to carry more than one bike, which is fairly often, Spring through Fall.

The baby seat should always be placed in the center seat area when possible. The good thing about car seats, is that they are somewhat temporary. Eventually your child could graduate to a smaller front facing child seat, unless yours is a combination seat, and then after that booster seat.

We were blessed with twins, so double the load. We didn't have a Prius back then (Toyota wasn't even thinking about Prius yet), but we were able to handle the loads with our huge Honda Civic Wagon, which was a good bit smaller than a 3rd gen Prius. At the time we were living in Phoenix and managed to make a few epic family trips to Florida and other eastern areas of the country for family reunions, birthdays, and holiday events. Would have loved to have been able to drive a Prius during that busy period of time!

 

I have no problem getting a full-sized running stroller in my trunk! In fact the three of us, stroller, 80lb dog, (and his kennel, folded) plus our luggage took the Prius on vacation last summer. We had plenty of room! We folded the "60" side down, put the stroller on top of the folded kennel. The dog shared the hatch with our luggage. It was great! Plus 1300 miles on less than two and a half tanks was amazing!

SM-N910V ?

 

Sure, as I said in my post, The Gen 4 leaves dealerships wanting to exit the remaining Gen 3 Prius, BUT...
Given low gas prices, and sluggish hybrid sales as a whole, I'd think good deals on Prius v's would be possible, even if NOT at quite the desperation discount of a departing Gen 3.

Also I don't know your sister lifestyle, but it's been my observation as a whole that often people get an SUV, for purely emotional reasons. Unless she does a LOT of rough unpaved road driving and camping I'd think a Prius v would fit daily needs as well or better than a Hybrid Rav 4.

And yeah, it's going to be a lot cheaper right now, as well as offer better gas mileage.

 

I suppose the bottom line also, is if you can afford it? People should get what is going to make them the happiest.

But personally? I'm NOT that impressed with the Hybrid Rav 4 gas mileage, a combined number of 33 mpg?

I think I'd rather buy a Honda HRV, it might not quite reach those numbers but it's close.

I'll watch with interest how the sales numbers with the Hybrid Rav 4 go...
If I'm buying a Hybrid, I'd want better fuel efficiency than the Hybrid Rav 4 offers.

 

In the end she has to drive it and like it. What ever she chooses, the fact that she is leaning toward a Toyota is a plus because of the reliability factor. I helped my Mother-in law buy a RAV4 because of that. She was still looking at GM and Ford small SUVs...and trusted me...being the Mechanic in the family.

 

Congrats to your Sis and I'm sure she appreciated your help.

 

Good job and good for her...and it's not used or CPO either...so you won't be helping her with "those" car problems anytime soon.