“Perfect” is a hard word to sell in the car industry, but for the Toyota Prius V, it’s as good a word as any. The wagon version of the Toyota Prius gives drivers plenty of room for storage and family members without sacrificing fuel economy.

Discontinued in the U.S. after the 2017 model year, the Toyota Prius V is one of the best options to look for when shopping for a used vehicle. And if you can find a 2016 or 2017 model, you can certainly expect it to last you for years to come and still have most of the modern technology included in new vehicles today.

The Toyota Prius V is a fantastic used car

Searching for a high-quality used car within a budget can be a headache-inducing nightmare. But if you’re in the market for a reliable and fuel-efficient car with plenty of room, then we’ll make it easy for you: look for a Toyota Prius V.

Consumer Reports picked it as their top choice for their list of used cars that give the most for the money in the “minivan or wagon” category. If a car can get the CR stamp of approval, then it has a lot of good support backing it up from other car owners.

Part of what makes it a great used vehicle is that the Prius V is roomier and has much more cargo space than a regular Prius, but you still can get up to 42 mpg. You typically have to sacrifice good fuel economy when you look for bigger vehicles, but not with the Toyota Prius V.

And even though they discontinued production in 2017, they were still made recently enough that you won’t miss many of the latest safety and technology features. So, for a few more years at least, the Prius V is a great option for a used car.

Why did Toyota stop making the Prius V?

The Prius V was introduced to U.S. markets back in 2011 and was in production here until 2017. It has continued to be made in non-U.S. countries since, however. Toyota’s reasoning for discontinuing the Prius V stems from the success of another hybrid: the RAV4.

When the RAV4 Hybrid was introduced in 2016, sales for the Prius V took a steep decline. The two essentially were competing for the same customers, so Toyota ultimately decided to discontinue the Prius V and instead focus solely on the RAV4 Hybrid. Sales for the RAV4 Hybrid went up following that decision.

Reviews still hold up

The Prius V has the best possible reliability rating on Consumer Reports for every single model year it was made, and reliability is one of the most important areas that consumers should look at when shopping for a used vehicle; after all, we all want our cars to last us as long as possible. Looking at the 2017 model, the Prius V also had high overall Performance, Comfort/Convenience, Owner Satisfaction, and Safety ratings. 

One common trouble spot to keep an eye on for the Prius V is the acceleration. This was rated lower than other categories based on Consumer Reports’ road tests, where they noted that the acceleration was loud and touchy at times, which is in line with other Prius models.

Other areas that were rated lower — though still higher than average — include styling, driving experience, and braking. These were ranked lower by other drivers, but in the official road test, there were no major concerns with any of those areas. In our opinion, the Toyota Prius V is about as close to “perfect” as a used car can get.