I am currently driving a Honda Pilot. My wife and I recently got a 2013 Prius for our eldest daughter to drive. We have the Pilot because we have four kids and our elderly mother living here. Sometimes we have the whole family in tow. More often we have the three younger kids with us. But, day to day, there's usually two of us, sometimes as many as four in the car. Having driven the Prius a few times, I have kinda fallen for it. I really want to drive a Prius most of the time. And it bugs me that we are lugging around such a large car when we don't have to so much of the time. What is the rear seat like for three kids? One reason we got the SUV was because of the bickering from the back seat. The extra space helped quite a bit, as did extra charging USB ports. Am I looking at the wrong car? I considered the Prius v but I think I would hate the acceleration and handling most of time. The Prius makes tons of sense for us most of the time, but I wonder if we would regret the space for kids to be kids.
I have a v I use mostly to haul cargo. When I need it to, it has a larger rear seat then my Gen 2 Prius did. Acceleration and handling are also better than the Gen 2. U turns, not so much. Two adults and a 10 year old is doable in the rear. The Gen 4 Prius is new this month, so experienced users will be in short supply, but expect it to be smaller than the v in the rear seat but get 50% better mileage. Do the children need car seats? That will define the room quite a lot.
That's a good suggestion, xliderider. I was thinking about that. I may need to look at it. I really like the Prius, though...
We have a 16 yo and 13 yo twins, all boys. They sit pretty much shoulder to shoulder in the back of the Prius. It's a good thing there's no bickering from the rear seat, they all get along great. Things aren't so tight in my Camry. The HyCam will be roomier, quieter, and more powerful than the Prius.
If you can afford it, a Highlander Hybrid might be worth taking a look at. 3 rows of seating, can tow 3500 pounds, and still gets around 28 MPG. Our best so far was 26 on a trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco, but it hasn't had a full shakedown cruise yet. It's pricey, but spacious and plenty of power.
I wish I could afford the Highlander, but it's out of my price range. Otherwise, that is a good suggestion, thank you!
