Thoughts on purchasing a 2015 Prius v

If you ask nicely, the dealer will let you take a test drive.

 

Is the v rear seat wider than a Liftback for 3 child car seats?

My wife used to like minivans now the "mini" is a misnomer should be "maxi" so she no longer wants to drive our "maxivan".

 

The v rear seat is a bit wider than the hatchback's. It also tilts back a bit.

On another subjective subject, the new v has a face only a mother could love (runs and hides).

 

Yikes on the face

 

Great when you can tell women anything and they'll buy it. Sorry all; that was more than a bit sexist, right?

 

I just purchased the Prius v Four (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) (and Four not IV for the model) yesterday (19 August 2015) and received the 0% interest rate loan, $1,000 manufacturer's rebate, and the USAA True Car Discount.

 

I have no issues with the 2015 v's handling or acceleration. If I need to accelerate quickly to merge onto a crowded highway, I switch to PWR mode and haven't felt any doubt/concern about whether I have enough pick-up to do what I need to do. I've taken off at red lights to get ahead of the cars in the neighboring lane, whether for an upcoming turn or because of an ending lane - and blowing past them is perfectly easy. I bought the v for the cargo-mpg combination - I can handle the trips to Ikea or Home Depot without worrying about what I can get home myself and drive around completely guilt-free the 90% of the time it's nothing but me in the car. For the cargo/mpg balance, I really don't think it can be beat.

As for the factory rebates + True Car question - When you set up your options on true car's site, on the page where you see the price distribution of what others paid, there is a link to "View incentives" near the top of the page, next to the link to choose the car options included in the quotes. Be careful - I found it automatically included the best cash rebate available in my area, and the estimates it gave were based on that $2k being taken off. The distribution of what others have paid also seemed to change based on whether you chose an incentive offer. You can unselect the rebate to get the pre-rebate True Car estimate, and then take that to the dealer to negotiate. Leave the rebate off the table when negotiating - sales people likesthe rebates because it lets them put a lower number in front of you without it coming from their cut of the pie. My strategy was to negotiate the dealer down to the best true-car estimate in the region (from another dealer), before rebate, for the car with just floor mats. I couldn't get two different dealers lower than that number, despite the clear competition between them. I then followed up with a proposal to pay X price, total, before taxes and rebate, for the car including x, y, and z options. My number was a low-ball from the true car certificate after adding those options (a number I purposefully never mentioned during the deal), and the dealer accepted it. Here in Indiana we have different incentives than the SE region, so I got $1k rebate + 0%APR (other option was $2k cash - worked out close to a wash but 0% was slightly better). Remember that the rebate comes off AFTER taxes...

 

with the 2016 coming out in a few weeks id wait...
they will be giving away the brand new 2014 and 2015's for fiddy bucks

 

I'd get the v if I were you and for several reasons. The Prius v has revised (read improved) front suspension compared to the sedan. Still it can get a LOT better. It has better styling lines, IMHO, and far better cargo space than the sedan.

Go to the "Juiced Hybrid" website and look at the handling/suspension mods. Yeah, there are a lot and I have every one of them. and now my v handles far better and is safer if I need to make quick maneuvers to avoid an accident. Most of these except the coil springs can be put on at home, avoiding labor costs.

If you get a v I recommend getting the top model minus the sunroof and collision avoidance radar package. For the extra money your get improved headlights, better wheels and tires (better handling) and other niceties in the cabin. I wish I would have gotten that model but mine is now, after a few thousand dollars, in most ways better than the 5 Model. Look at my v photos in my posts.

The new v's have a 5 star offset front crash rating. Mine is a 2013 purchased in Feb. of 2014 and has an "unacceptable" rating in that area.