I've had our 2010 lift back through that faze ( no dogs though). They are 5 and 4 now. We use the lift back for road trips and have enough space. A one car family or will the v be another addition to the fleet? You should be fine. A new one or looking at a used v? Some good deals can be had these days.
This would be THE family car. My husbands has his own plain Prius 2 for his use. New!! We are planning on a luggage rack to. Glad to hear we should be good! I'm excited!
I find the v works great for 2 kids (now 4 yo) and a dog (~30lbs) + luggage. Two extra dogs would take away a lot of the luggage room, but you could probably still do well with a luggage rack on top (I've used an old Yakima ski-type box on several occasions). Of course a minivan or whatever will be a little more comfortable and give you more room to spread out - but if good fuel economy is a priority, you won't do any better than this!
No. If by travel you mean take 3 dogs, 2 kids, 2 adults and luggage for a week to somewhere. I've had 3 kids and 2 adults in mine for short trips. But the back seat gets tight after an hour and the kids squirm all over each other if they are that close. I've taken 2 kids and 2 adults and all the beach stuff for a week. No sweat. When I had to go with 3 and 2, I rented a minivan. What I saved in gas over the year more than paid for the rental costs for two such trips a year. What I saved in fights, squeals, etc made it worth every penny. I don't imagine 3 dogs is any less than the extra kid. I buy for the norm, rent for the exception. The problem is once you put the luggage in the trunk, where do the dogs go. And the luggage rack costs some significant MPG so so don't want to leave it mounted except for the trips. But of course it is on the trips where the v's MPG shines. There are times for the mini-van, I'd say you are a candidate. There is even a hybrid mini-van from Chrysler now. Not as cheap. Not as MPG efficient but hugely more comfortable for the crowd you could be carrying.
