Torn between new Prius, Highlander or nothing

You haven't mentioned what you do with the guzzler truck that you wouldn't be able to do with another Prius (and how often). You already know you can put most anything from the lumber yard inside your Prius, shy 4x8 sheet goods. You can always get roof racks if you need 4x8 with some frequency and don't want to wait for delivery. I don't know if 4x8 goods fit in a Highlander or not. Same question with the HH, what CAN'T you do with the Prius that YOU need do with the HH? I am assuming the answer is 'nothing' since keeping the Fiat in running order is an option. You won't get an HH in the price range you mentioned anyway.

IMHO, it doesn't make sense to buy a vehicle that can do things you MIGHT do but in reality never or rarely ACTUALLY do. My manager's husband just replaced an old Civic with a new Jeep Grand Cherokee to pull the boat they MIGHT buy in TWO years. Given they are in their mid 20's I'm betting they'll be buying baby goods instead of a boat and something the size of a Prius would fit their needs longer than it will take for the Jeep to rust out.

They would have been better off getting her the Prius now for her 20 mile commute and having him drive her slightly newer Civic on his 4 mile commute for a couple of years when she is planning to replace it with a Prius. If they then really are buying a boat, they can buy the pulling vehicle as well.

In reality, he wanted a 'manly' vehicle and this was his 'logic' not to get something smaller and with a modicum of fuel efficiency.

 

I encountered a situation similar to the OP, had been driving a Jeep Wrangler as my daily driver for 8 years, and was really frustrated by the mileage. I also didn't like the lack of cargo hauling capacity, and while I had a nice little utility trailer that I could tow behind the Jeep, dealing with that was an onerous task for minor hauling errands. What I really wanted was a combination of a small pickup, an SUV, but also something that had the capacity to get great mileage. A good friend of mine recently purchased a Hybrid Highlander and loves it, and I'd driven his and liked it, but it cost close to $40K, and while I knew I could sell my Jeep for about $10K, and had another $30K in cash with which to work, I couldn't see myself putting all of my eggs in one basket like that.

So, what I ended up doing, for basically the same cumulative amount of money, was to sell the jeep buy an '08 Prius, package #2 to keep the cost reasonable, for a daily driver, trips, passengers, and a very basic '08 Tacoma, regular cab, 4wd, for hauling, and back-woods activities. The Prius is, well, a Prius. The Taco is great, not bad mileage (using a ScanGaugeII and some hypermiling techniques, I am able to get around 24-26mpg on the highway), and I'm not afraid to get it dirty or beat it up off-road as I would be with the very expensive, albeit nice, Highlander, and the Prius get vastly better mileage on long highway jaunts.

 

In Australia I have notices a proliferation of diesel powered air conditioners on long haul trucks which economically cool or heat the cabin and sleeper cab while the driver takes his mandatory rest breaks. An excellent idea. I think the cost of diesel will promote these units. I also see trucks with electric evaporative air conditioning which is even more efficient.
I work in the transport industry so I see these things.

 

I think there are a lot of drivers who are smart enough to understand how absurd it is to idle an 8 liter engine instead of having more efficient climate control. My guess is that people who run their own businesses and are cost conscious are probably all doing this. Does diesel cost more where you live? That probably does drive adoption of these techniques.

Does anybody know how walmart trucking deals with this situation? I see that they all drive international trucks of the same model. My home shares the middle of nowhere with a walmart distribution center so we see a lot of those trucks. The warehouse is a couple miles away but they have to drive by my house to get to I-80 (we live at Seabase).

EDIT:
So I googled about walmart trucking. It sounds like their 2007+ fleet is supposed to feature a smaller genset for heating and cooling...

Auxiliary Power Unit. This APU eliminates the use of the tractor’s main engine for keeping our drivers warm or cool at night. Instead, this very small diesel engine does the job at optimum efficiency. This saves a substantial amount of fuel.

 

Yep I think this is the unit I mentioned in the earlier post

http://www.trucktrailer.carrier.com/Files/TruckTrailer/Local/US-en/trucktrailer/comfortpro.pdf

The neat thing is that it will heat the motor and cab at -40, then in summer will cool the cab. I would think the fuel savings would be far more in Canada than in the US, just because of the cold winters