The 4 costs more than the Personna, but it has heated power seats and 15inch tires which will give better gas mileage. The Personna is basically a Prius 3 with pleather seats and 17in tires.
Every 6 months or 5k miles is minor service including tire rotation and inspecting brakes, all fluids and undercarriage. You could do this at home, but seems quite a pain.
The deals will not get much better on the prius two. The discounts will decrease as production stops for 2015 model
FWIW, here's a link to Toyota's compare tool so you can easily see all the differences between the models: Toyota Prius Interior, Exterior & Safety Features If the choice is between the Persona and Four, I'd go with the Four for 2 "main" reasons; the heated seats will keep her warm in the winter, perhaps reducing heater use, and the 15" wheels will give her better mileage, though she needs to be prepared to switch to snow tires for better traction. There are other advantages, like auto on-off headlights, JBL features, 8-way seats and auto-dimming mirror w/Homelink, but those are more personal preference and do add to the cost difference. Other cars will probably close the mpg gap in winter, so fuel savings may not be as great overall and may not cover the difference in car prices over a given period of time, assuming comparable features. There are a lot of unknown variables though, such as distance to dealership, is the 30 miles round-trip or one-way, cost of Prius vs cost of something else that will meet her needs, etc.
As was said earlier, Persona on the 17-inch wheels/low profile tires rides significantly harsher/louder than the standard 15-inch tires. We had Persona for 6 months before just buying the 2014 on 15-inchers, and the difference is quite noticeable. Much more smooth/quiet on the 15-inchers.
As far as winter performance? Listen, I love The Prius, but in all honesty, it wasn't designed to be a great winter conditions performer. IMO it has a overly aggressive traction control system, coupled with starting out with on pure electric power (instant torque)...just all combine to make it IMO a less than optimal winter conditions choice. That being said, I've driven it in snow and ice. Others living in even more extreme conditions will tell you they have driven the Prius successfully in winter conditions or worse. I still think The Prius is NOT a great choice if winter conditions driving is a priority. More than any other vehicle I have owned, I believe GOOD/GREAT tires are a must for The Prius. My Goodyear OEM's are HORRIBLE on Ice and Snow. So IF owning a Prius is coupled with a greater amount of severe conditions driving? At the minimum I would recommend winter tires. If the person isn't particularly skilled in winter driving, or needs the confidence of 4 wheel drive or all wheel drive? Then I might even go as far as to say an entirely different vehicle is a better choice. This all depends on how much reliance and repeated Snow and Ice driving the owner projects doing. When conditions get bad? I really try to NOT drive The Prius.
I own a 2015 Persona currently and 2 cars ago had a 2013 Prius Liftback 3... Oh and almost forgot, I also currently own a 2014 Prius v Three, aka wife's car... In short the persona which comes stock with 17" wheels handles a lot better than the three / four with the 15" wheels and in my opinion looks a lot better. You can expect a 2-6 mpg loss of mpg, depending how you drive with the persona over the four along with as stated, a "more firm" ride.. Oh a a lower profile tire is more susceptible to pot holes, curb rash... Etc. If your mom cares about comfort (plush ride) and the best mpg possible then tell her to get the four. I came from a hot hatch / muscle car background and opted for the better handling car with a hit in the mpg dept. I had no issue with my persona this past winter in the snow with the stock tires but with that said it is always cheaper and easier to find winter tires to swap onto the fours 15" wheels... My lifetime mpg average with my persona thus far (7k+ miles on her) is calculated at around 41-43 mpg approx. I used to drive 55 and p&g and do all the tricks but now I just drive it for the most part... displayed mpg is hovering at 44.8 for the last 7k... With the three I had I could manage a very high 40's mpg. Ie. 47-49 mpg calculated consistently. Persona also has side mirror blinkers.. Four has heated seats...blah blah blah... Drive both and see. The way I see it is the persona is a little more stylish handles better and has all the amenities I need. The four has a little more amenities and gets better mpg's but not as stylish and handles a little "soft"... I think if I were to do it again (OR IF THE DARN GEN 4 EVER COMES OUT!!!) I would get the four just for the better mpg and not having to worry about popping tires and curbing rims....But I have the persona now and am extremely happy with it. Food for thought. My persona did better than my buddies monster truck this past winter when he couldn't get his 4x4 to engage. I was driving circles around him on a long snow covered hill. Lol!!
Thanks everyone! Great answers! I think the Four would work better for her, because it has heated seats, JBL audio, power seat, and better millage.
I would think a subaru or some other 4 wheel drive would be better. Had prius gen 2 for 10 years and was the worst in snow, even with snow tires on all four wheels, hope this helps.
If gas consumption is irrelevant, those might be good choices, don't know about Chevy Quality these days, but my wife's last three Subie's were ok not great (oil leaks, head gaskets, air bag lights) and the list goes on.
