I got the 2009 model in November when I was pregnant with my first kid. I was replacing a 1999 Honda Civic and commuting 1.5 hours per day. I loved it. I only had to get gas once every 3 weeks, felt good about my reduced emissions, had plenty of space for my things, and felt like it was an overall pretty safe car (except it did seem to momentarily lose traction from time to time, like after I big bump). Anyway, we kept it 18 months into our second kid. We didn't have any problem with rear facing carseats preventing comfort for the front seat folks (although we're average to short people). But, we couldn't fit anyone else in the car with us and we really had to be careful when packing for long trip for the four of us. So, when we realized that we were going to want to start carpooling our kids' friends and when my mom became disabled, we went ahead and got a minivan instead. I prefer to keep cars for 10 years and so have given some thought to our prius purchase. All in all, I am glad we did it. When I finally bring myself to sell it, I expect to get all but about $10k of what we paid for it, which isn't too bad. Also, our carbon footprint (which is something I care about) was much lower for those years.

If you plan to have it for a while, I would think about whether you plan to have more kids or anticipate a need to carry more than your nuclear family. If yes, then it might not be a great investment for you. If you'll stop at two kids and don't want to have more folks in the car with you, then go for the prius wagon. The extra cargo space will be so helpful to you.

I don't like mine. It's a 2008 so of course things may have changed, but:

- I find our MPG is much less than advertised. We drive it almost exclusively around town and for short runs and get about 37 MPG.

- The interior finishes like the padded cover of the console btw the two front seats are falling apart

- I think it skids around a lot and feels light and unsafe

- The displays are just the worst. They are hard to see and the touch screen is terrible. Plus who wants to control the heat and radio by touch screen -- you have to look away from the road to adjust climate, etc. The controls on the steering wheel are useless.

Again, this is a five year old model -- I hope they've improved some of these things.

I've had my 2006 Prius for over 6.5 years now, with over 100k miles on it. The only part I've had to replace has been a headlight bulb, and that was around the 95k mark. I plan on driving it until it dies at this point. I'm 6'1", and I sit comfortably in it.(Just an infant car seat in the back for now) The battery warranty is long enough that it covers the expected life of the car, and even after that, the failure rate is low enough that I'm not worried about it.(Odds are that something else will kill the car long before the battery has any issues) To buy a new battery replacement would cost in the $2200-$2600 range, but it would be silly to put that much money into a car at that point. Fortunately, there's a decent market now of used batteries that cost as little as $500 and make more sense for older vehicles.(They are available relatively cheaply because of the surplus of good condition batteries that outlived the rest of the car, which is a good indicator by itself)

As for space, I'm not sure what kind of stroller the PP had that she didn't think would fit, but I routinely fit both a stroller and groceries(Plus whatever other stuff I'm picking up on normal errands) in the back with no problems. I know I can fit the stroller and one Corgi, although I haven't tried putting both Corgis in with with stroller yet. It really comes down to how much space you need, but that's true for any car.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is 6'5 and drives mine without a problem.

Mine too, though a rear facing car seat probably wouldn't fit behind him. Ours goes in the middle.

I disagree. We have a Prius III with two RF Britax Roundabout 55's in them in the outboard seats. I keep the driver's seat pushed all the way back. I adjusted the angle of the carseats with a pool noodle following instructions in the manual that came with the car seat. Works fine.

OP,

My DH wanted a Prius a few years ago when we were looking for a new car for him. I totally support reduced gas use even if it costs more for the upkeep/purchase. The reasons I couldn't get on board with the prius after test driving it:
(1) Did not look like our stroller would fit in the rear.
(2) Terrible visibility in the rear b/c of the long sloping hatchback.
(3) Warranty on the battery (which costs $4K+ to replace) is only 8 years and we always keep our cars 10-12 years. The possibility of a major item failing, thus making the car useless was too great for me. We buy Toyotas and Hondas b/c we know the transmissions will be good for 10-12+++ years. That's probably the most expensive part on a regular car, and we want it to last. With the hybrids, the battery is just as important as the transmission b/c the car won't work at all without it. The battery warranty of only 8 years is not good enough for me.

We ended up buying a Rav4 and we've been happy with it. More trunk space, still gets good milage, more peace of mind with the engine parts.

Anonymous wrote:My husband is 6'5 and drives mine without a problem.

Mine too, though a rear facing car seat probably wouldn't fit behind him. Ours goes in the middle.

Anonymous wrote:An article said it takes years to make up the money from gas savings that it cost you in a premium to buy the car because it's more expensive than other cars in its class.

Also, when I see someone driving one, I assume they are a left wing loon. Usually they are. But if you are crazy far left, then it's befitting.

Why make a discussion about the functionality of a car political? You're the one who sounds like a loon.

DH has a major commute and we bought the prius based purely on potential cost savings on gas and the gas savings have quite exceeded what we expected. In addition, the car just ended up being nicer (lots of features, space) than we were expecting, which was a nice bonus.