I realize I'm coming out of the blue here, but you're a friend of a friend and I sympathize with your plight.
We have a 2006 Prius and we adore it. However, they're MUCH easier to get in Colorado, even with the tremendous state tax credits here, so other than waiting 6 months like most everyone else, we got exactly what we wanted without any markup. The car is awesome in all ways, and yes, actually has quite a bit of space - we have daytripped many SCA events in it here, both with people/dogs in the back seat and minimal stuff in the back and also with seats folded down and stuffed to the gills.
I've been starting to think about a 3rd car though - our other vehicle is a Nissan Murano that while awesomely comfortable and able to haul anything we need, gets 20 mpg. That's just not reasonable for a daily-driver, not at these prices.
If I'm able to manage a 3rd car, I am going for a Mini Cooper. The baseline version gets a blended mpg of 32 with the manual transmission, which is not too shabby for a non-hybrid car that's also SUPER fun to drive (I test-drove one and almost couldn't bring myself to get out.)
The regular Mini Cooper only has 5.5 cu ft with seats up, but 24 with them down, and the "Clubman" wagon they've just come out with has 9.2 cu ft with seats up and 32.8 with them down. I can't find an official figure for the Prius' cu ft with seats down, but I believe the 14.4 cu ft figure I've seen is with seats up, so this is probably pretty comparable - and the Mini is more box-shaped so you don't lose as much space due to the sloped back of the Prius. It also has a split rear door rather than a typical hatchback door, and also a very small "suicide" door behind the front door, so I would imagine loading and unloading would be a snap in Clubman.
Finally, if you *wanted* to you could get a roof rack for the Mini, which is obviously not an option for the Prius. I'd rather have the entire-roof-open sunroof, but that's just me. :-)
Minis have, to the best of my knowledge, become solidly reliable in recent years - the first few years were definitely filled with quality issues but many of them seem to have smoothed out. They're not going to be necessarily on a par with Hondas and Toyotas, but they seem to be acceptable.
Since "boring" is subjective, I'm not sure what would meet your crierion for that, but they do at least come in bright red, bright yellow, and an assortment of other more sedate colors - although in my mind British Racing Green is neither sedate nor boring. My pfennig. :-) You can also get the Union Jack in a decal on the roof, checkered-flag mirror caps, and other fun and silly things not generally available on most cars.
Finally, according to the website, it definitely has a navigation system optional and something it lists as a "Bluetooth and USB/iPod adapter", which would indicate hands-free phone usage - I don't think Bluetooth is used for anything else in cars, though of course I could be wrong.
Anyway, since all of this has been on my mind and I actually own a Prius for comparison, I thought I'd share.
Good luck, and on the off-chance you get a Mini, do tell us all about it!
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Date: 2008-06-04 10:01 pm (UTC)We have a 2006 Prius and we adore it. However, they're MUCH easier to get in Colorado, even with the tremendous state tax credits here, so other than waiting 6 months like most everyone else, we got exactly what we wanted without any markup. The car is awesome in all ways, and yes, actually has quite a bit of space - we have daytripped many SCA events in it here, both with people/dogs in the back seat and minimal stuff in the back and also with seats folded down and stuffed to the gills.
I've been starting to think about a 3rd car though - our other vehicle is a Nissan Murano that while awesomely comfortable and able to haul anything we need, gets 20 mpg. That's just not reasonable for a daily-driver, not at these prices.
If I'm able to manage a 3rd car, I am going for a Mini Cooper. The baseline version gets a blended mpg of 32 with the manual transmission, which is not too shabby for a non-hybrid car that's also SUPER fun to drive (I test-drove one and almost couldn't bring myself to get out.)
The regular Mini Cooper only has 5.5 cu ft with seats up, but 24 with them down, and the "Clubman" wagon they've just come out with has 9.2 cu ft with seats up and 32.8 with them down. I can't find an official figure for the Prius' cu ft with seats down, but I believe the 14.4 cu ft figure I've seen is with seats up, so this is probably pretty comparable - and the Mini is more box-shaped so you don't lose as much space due to the sloped back of the Prius. It also has a split rear door rather than a typical hatchback door, and also a very small "suicide" door behind the front door, so I would imagine loading and unloading would be a snap in Clubman.
Finally, if you *wanted* to you could get a roof rack for the Mini, which is obviously not an option for the Prius. I'd rather have the entire-roof-open sunroof, but that's just me. :-)
Minis have, to the best of my knowledge, become solidly reliable in recent years - the first few years were definitely filled with quality issues but many of them seem to have smoothed out. They're not going to be necessarily on a par with Hondas and Toyotas, but they seem to be acceptable.
Since "boring" is subjective, I'm not sure what would meet your crierion for that, but they do at least come in bright red, bright yellow, and an assortment of other more sedate colors - although in my mind British Racing Green is neither sedate nor boring. My pfennig. :-) You can also get the Union Jack in a decal on the roof, checkered-flag mirror caps, and other fun and silly things not generally available on most cars.
Finally, according to the website, it definitely has a navigation system optional and something it lists as a "Bluetooth and USB/iPod adapter", which would indicate hands-free phone usage - I don't think Bluetooth is used for anything else in cars, though of course I could be wrong.
Anyway, since all of this has been on my mind and I actually own a Prius for comparison, I thought I'd share.
Good luck, and on the off-chance you get a Mini, do tell us all about it!