Fuel efficient family car with occasional need for 3rd row seating.

Except if you get a small SUV, minivans get the same or better gas mileage as the midsized SUVs like Highlander, Pilot, and Sorento. Buying another Sienna or a Honda Odyssey might be a good idea. You won't find many (or any) active safety features in your price point. Just ESC, which is still helpful.

From the cars on your list I suggest the Toyota Highlander and RAV4. The Mitsubishi is a tinny car and no one knows how much longer they will be around, no one buys them. Mitsubishi isn't well recieved in America right now, but they do have a good warranty. The Ford CMax is unreliable (and isn't it smaller than a Prius interior wise?). The previous gen 2011-2015 Kia Sorento was also unreliable. Hyundai/Kia had a class action lawsuit about their 2.4L engines failing. They recalled it but engines are still failing after the fix. The V6 also has problems of its own with no recall. The most occuring problems are the driver's door not opening and the sunroof randomly exploding and shattering glass over the people inside. Also, transmission failure was common. Doesn't sound too good. The new Sorento is really good though.

The 2008 Highlander had problems with the electronic speed control (which is very dangerous) but 2009 and newer fixed the issue completely. Other than that it has been one of the most reliable cars on the road. It was a nice SUV that drove like a Lexus. Fuel efficiency is not a strong point though, except with the hybrid. This would be my top suggestion.

My mother in law drives a 2014 RAV4. She likes it a lot. Gets pretty good MPGs. Comfortable, relatively quiet and has a nice list of standard features with a modern interior. I like the 2013-2017 RAV4 more than the 2012-2016 CR-V.

I own a 2005 Prius I put 247k miles on and it still runs perfectly. I also bought a new 2016 Prius early last year. Such an improvement from the previous generations. I have always thought the Prius V was a practical car, but when I drove it, it was slower than my 2005. That's saying something. It was also as tinny feeling as my 2005. Cheaper interior and louder cabin. I was impressed with the feature list though and the MPGs for such a big car. Aside from the engine noise it rode comfortably, but it is still a night and day difference compared to the 2016-2017 Prius liftback. I thought the trunk was pretty big and think of the gas you'll save. $

The 2013 Honda CR-V was a reliable, efficient, and comfortable CUV. Only problem is it has lots of road noise.

A key to getting past 200k miles is not buying a turbocharged car. Those things are expensive to replace. Of course researching helps too. Good luck and respond to tell us what you buy!

Toyota has a 10 year/150k mile warranty for the battery. The battery is not heavily affected with cold weather and is a small price to pay for. MPG only drops by 4-5 when in freezing temps. Where the Prius struggles in the snow is traction, so I've read. Never taken my Prius in the snow, just based off many owners. Overactive TCS and ESC.

The 2018 Honda Odyssey minivan with the 10-speed gets 30 mpg on their 75mph test with a 6.6 sec 0-60 time. The 2017 Toyota Sienna minivan with a 6.9 0-60 got 29 mpg on the same test and the Pacifica minivan got 31 mpg. At least the 2018 Traverse is better at efficiency than one minivan, the 9-year-old Grand Caravan at 22 mpg. I don't understand how 27 is better than 31 mpg. Traverse is 6.5 0-60. As long as you don't need to tow or off-road and you can live with the minivan stigma, a minivan is for you. Sienna is available with AWD.

Also, the previous Traverse does not compete with the Highlander and is not even in the same segment on Consumer Reports. The Highlander has a higher overal score than the Traverse. 84 vs 76. It's the one car made by Chevy that competes closest to the midsized SUVs. The Acadia is closer in size. The quality control on GM SUVs are shockingly bad. Interior fit and finish and squeaks and rattles have been emphasized in many reviews. At least it can only get better with time.

The Traverse does not have the latest safety features on the volume selling trims. You have to pay for the Premier or High Country to get the autobrake, adaptive cruise, lane keep assist, and auto high beams. The Highlander (and Prius and RAV4) has all this stuff standard on every trim.

Those minivans are not design to tow 5,000 lbs or accommodate AWD except for the Sienna AWD. The CUVS and crossovers are just that when separating light duty, part time people hauling from the big SUVs. They have heavy duty engine cooling, extra transmission cooling, bigger brakes for better stopping with a load, an extra drive shaft, differential and axles along with stronger wheel hubs all designed to handle more weight and stress. So with all the extras they will not get the economy of a van with it's front wheels pulling it around. With a van you are paying allot, sometimes more than a better engineered crossover as the van is limited to different tasks.

It was the Sequoia that is only mid-pack ranking of 65.. Not all Toyota's are as great as you say they are this proves it.

The minivan is only limited with off-road capability, looks, and towing. Most people rarely do those things. proav didn't sound like he wanted to off-road. A van does everything else better than an SUV.

I don't think all Toyotas are good. In fact, the ones they haven't redesigned in 6+ years are old and behind everyone else. Most of them are boring, but reliable and comfortable, and that's fine for many people, especially for those that don't care about driving dynamics. Almost all of their body on frame products are way behind the Americans in everything but reliability. And for most people it matters if the engine starts when you turn the key.

Even Toyota says the Sienna AWD is designed for light Offroad duty. But neither Sienna or RAV4 AWD send more than 50% of the power to the rear wheels.

http://toyotanews.pressroom.toyota.com/releases/toyota+sienna+rav+4+awd+cures+winter+blues.htm

Isn't 50:50 the best torque distribution you can get? Having a more even torque distribution gives better traction. The 4Runner, a well-respected off-road SUV, has 53:47 under lowest traction conditions. 47% to the rear. Body on frame trucks are usually RWD if not 4WD, so that's why no more than 50% goes to the rear. RWD fairs the worst in snow.