Exterior: The parsity of wagons on the market, the extreme rake of the windshield angle and tear-drop shape give it a somewhat unique appearance. It's a pretty good looking body except for the front end. Ingress/Egress is easy.
I have the Five, which has the 17" wheels and low profile tires. So yes, it probabaly does ride a bit harder than the other trim lines. In 2012, the Five package added LED headlights, alloy wheels, fog lights (which are more for styling than anything), power lumbar support and "leather" seating. I do not have the tech package which added collision avoidance, a bigger dash screen and a panoramic sunroof.
Interior: The design of the instrument panel with its center mount cluster is a disappointment. They will do a full re-design of the "V" for Model Year 2018 if you want to wait that long. There are soft surfaces all around.
One item that is often not mentioned (maybe cause Toyota is not putting this in their other cars, even the RAV4) is that both front seats have full lie-flat capability. This adds extra capability, such as if you are moving. The 67 cu.ft. of cargo space with the rear seats down rivals larger CUV like the CRV and RAV4. I was able to load a single bed mattress flat and close the hatch!
The "leather" seating surfaces are some sort of synthetic ("no animals were affected in the build of the Prius"!!). However they sit comfortably and are very comfortable for longer trips. Rear seat room is very good.
However at super-highway speeds it is not the quietest car.
The navigation system could be better, doesn't tell you if the destination is on the right or left. But the Entune system with the Bing search engine can find stuff like the nearest McDonalds etc. and can do it through the mic. Then at a touch to the screen it will transfer the found destination to the nav system and guide you there. The controls are pretty straightforward. The Five (and I think in 2012 the Three) come with automatic temperature control. Also, the Prius is the only vehicle in the Toyota line with temperature adjustment on the steering wheel, which is really nice for those small adjustments. I'd almost buy a Prius again just for that.
POWERTRAIN & PERFORMANCE: I have averaged 48MPG, math computation, not the in-car meter. Now to break that down: warm weather with trip lengths consistently over 15 miles at moderate speeds will often return a 50MPG+ tank. Below freezing, mpg is down to 38-45MPG. I live in a suburban area and my minimum trip was long, often 20miles. That helps MPG. NOW I am driving shorter trips so the MPG will fall off to the high 30's to low 40's. Around 70mph the car is a 40MPG or so machine. "Your Mileage may vary"
Gas mileage will depend on how you drive and what your trip distance is. The car has limited power and three throttle mapping modes: NORMAL, ECO and POWER. ECO mode goes into battery-only running sooner, however great economy can be had out of this mode. If you demand a lot of power, often carry a lot of weight, esecially on upgrades like freeway ramps, the power could be viewed as marginal, so see if it meets your needs. But it's a trade-off for the good gas mileage, good seating and great cargo room. Where else will you find that?
