Hey, it's been awhile. I recently had my 2015 prius 3 totaled. And now I need to find another car. So far.. from my reading on here it seems like the late model prius le generation 4 2021-2022, is the prius at it's best. However. I'm also considering corolla hybrids of the same years. ( I may piece together a spare kit.) The new 5th gen prius doesn't interest me due to the lack of spare, and weird tire sizes. And, the cramped interior. It is sexy. though. I'm just interested in hearing your opinions and maybe some facts that may have missed.
When a car includes a large expensive battery like a hybrid, freshness counts a lot. For the best economic service, get a young car and give it ordinary maintenance, which isn't much. Some 4th generation cars are great candidates now, but that won't always be so, as they all age through. Good luck with your search!
Do all fourth generation models have a spare? That wasn’t the case early on. And you’re avoiding the exhaust coolant leak defect with the later models too. I like the Corolla hybrid as well
^ That. I'm 'guessing' by the title you might not always be using the car for personal travel. If you live on free soil (i.e. gas far less than $3/gal, insurance is cheap, Priuses are not in high demand, your Zip code doesn't begin with 0,1,or 9) then there's a lot more to consider than just the price of the car. Me? I'd also recommend a low miles G4, especially since you're not put off by the car's styling. Good Luck!
We got a Gen 4 Prime not too long ago. That one doesn't have a spare either (but uses the same size tires as my Gen 2 and Gen 3 so it at least doesn't have the hard-to-find tires). My wife ran over a piece of road debris in our regular Gen 3 which took out the tire. That car has a doughnut spare and she was about 50 miles away from home. We have free towing on our car insurance, so it was easier for her to call the flatbed instead of changing the tire on the side of the road. Also, driving that distance on a doughnut would probably not be good on the opposite tire, so she graded papers (she's a teacher) until the flatbed arrived. When we discovered the Gen 4 Prime didn't have a spare at all (it's also got a weird-shaped back window without a back wiper, and a raised floor in the back hatch) we figured we'll just call the flatbed for that one too.
While trim level is more of a personal choice, evidence suggests that you are correct regarding those two years, assuming the car was well cared for. Few ( if any) heat exchanger problems since there was a design change (ASSUMING that the coolant was changed out when needed), for example.
