The 2012 Prius v

EdmundsInsideLine.com

If size is the only thing keeping you from buying the world’s best-selling hybrid, “the Prius v is your car.” Twelve years after the Prius sedan’s debut, Toyota has begun an expansion of the brand with a wagon whose “v” stands for versatility. Performance-wise, it “still feels like a Prius”: Power is just adequate, and steering is marked by a remoteness reminiscent of “a dubbed kung fu movie.” But cargo space is way up, and the v’s back seat is “a far more platonic environment for three-across seating.”

The Washington Post

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So what if the tiny gasoline engine “whines and struggles” when climbing hills? We think the v will be a major hit with the “practical sort” likely to consider it. It offers just what many American drivers want—“fuel efficiency, reliability, safety, decent road manners, and lots of utility.” All at a reasonable price.

Cars.com

Toyota “got it right” when it stressed this car’s versatility. This Prius offers “just enough space to stretch out, but not so much that we were left crying at the gas pump” about the difference between the v’s 42 mpg and the sedan’s 49. And talk about family-friendly: The “wagonized” Prius even includes three small steps inside the rear doors that are “perfectly placed” to help toddlers clamber up to their seats.