Which wagon do I want?

Requirements:

Reliable

Luxury'ish

Not German (see requirement #1)

High 30/Low 40 MPG

Bonus points for style.

Requirements have basically landed me on a CT200h, which I'm not opposed to. A loaded Prius V might work as well, though the wife loathes our current Prius C. I have a strong dislike for the TSX wagons as they have the fugly "beak" grill. The third gen Fit can be had with leather and a sunroof I hear...maybe that will work? Just want to see what options I haven't considered.

Not many modern choices. 

How big is the Prius V? 

Right off the bat the high 30s/low 40s requirement basically limits you to hybrids.

The CT200h is not even much of a hatchback, let alone a wagon. Try one before you commit. They are much smaller inside than you'd think, and feel cheaper than the Prius in some strange ways (switchgear, etc). I wanted one until I drove a few. IIRC the plain Prius actually has more interior and cargo space despite the teardrop shape.

Of the given options the Prius V is the only one that checks all the boxes. They are very different than the Prius C so I would not let the dislike of the C hold too much sway.

Fits are great cars, definitely a hatchback but a very flexible one, however they are dismal for freeway driving if you do a lot of that (the reason I sold mine). They will also definitely not do high 30s/low 40s MPG, my record for a tank during 2 years of ownership was 35MPG, typically came in around 30-32.

The TSX is the only driver's car of the bunch, and you can always install a Euro market or JDM grill if you hate the beak. However they will also never do high 30s/low 40s MPG, more like high 20s/low 30s, and they drink premium.

Left-field contender would be the Kia Niro hybrid, however I've heard a lot about problems with their DCT trans as they start to get up there in mileage, I believe a class-action lawsuit is underway for the Niro and Hyundai Ioniq.

I seem to be an outlier for the Fit. I have a 2018 (with the cvt) with 50,000 miles on it and I have averaged right about 40 mpg for mixed driving the whole time.

A TSX is never going to touch 30 mpg, let alone 40, and they take 93 octane gas.  Wagons are automatic only.

The ct200 is a good car.  I owned one for 5 years, an F sport.  It was pretty luxurious compared to any Prius that I ever was in and handled 10x better.

Zero reliability issues.

The hatch is small no denying that. The rear seats are not very comfy.

I found it reasonably quick in city driving, but dog slow at highway speeds with a grumbly engine.  Mileage was excellent.

In reply to Aspen :

I've driven several CT's before. The interior did feel a little cramped, but definitely more space than my Prius C. My Prius is glacially slow, I can only imagine saddling the same drivetrain with more weight and having to live with it. 

I'm with Matthew in the Fit camp...my first gen Fit would pull down 38-39 on the highway. 

If I relax the MPG requirement to low 30s, does that pull any other interesting contenders into the mix? My lifetime avg in the Prius C is 45.1MPG, I know nothing interesting is going to come close to that...

VW Alltrack or Sportwagen will do low 30s. It's definitely German although ours has been reliable so far at about 65k.

In reply to calteg :

I'm not sure how you guys are doing it! I don't know if it's the E10 gas we're stuck with or if the manual 2nd gens took a huge mileage hit but I never cleared 35MPG, even when strictly staying below 70MPH.

That said, even if the MPGs were better, I didn't like the Fit as a freeway car. Just too buzzy and loud.

I knocked down 42 mpg in a recent hwy trip in my 17 Fit. I average 36-38 driving around town.

In reply to pointofdeparture :

For the 3rd gen, top gear highway cruising with the CVT is 50% taller gearing than the manual. Top plus Final is 3.36 for the manual, and the CVT is 2.22.

In reply to matthewmcl (Forum Supporter) :

That is indeed a pretty big difference, totally explains it.

yupididit said:

How big is the Prius V? 

I cross shopped it with the Mazda 5

It won't hit the mpg but the Buick Regal wagon, Tour X, is a real wagon. 

2.0L turbo rated for 29 mpg hyw

In reply to calteg :

Go to fueleconomy.gov and play with the Power Search function 

In reply to calteg :

If new equals style, you might be a candidate for the Ford Maverick hybrid with a cargo topper

What about the Mustang Mach-E? It's wagon-ish, luxury-ish and stylish. 

It has more cargo space with the seats up or down than the Fit.

In reply to calteg :

The prius C has less power than the ct200/prius, enough to make a little difference.  The extra weight in the ct gives a much stiffer chassis, better suspension and bigger wheels, plus sound deadening, electric seats, sunroof and better stereo.  Sadly no heated steering wheel.

I would advise against the CT. It's quite miserable on long trips: very uncomfortable and cramped back seat, and the rear hatch won't hold much in the way of luggage, it's very small. Also, if anyone has to sit in the back, the front seat passenger has to slide the seat uncomfortably far forward to accommodate the person in the back.

The Prius C should have never existed. It was a solution to a problem no one had.

Part of my issue is you're mixing small hatchbacks with wagons. If you have a hard no German stance and an exceedingly high mpg requirement you are stuck with very few options. 

That being said YMMV. I have done longer drives in my 2013 Fit. It is a city car. Yes it can complete interstate journeys, but you will feel it during and at the end. I returned 30mpg typically. Which considering the compromises wasn't worth it to me.

I drove a CT250h for a few months this year. It's not a wagon and has less cargo space than a Prius. The seats are more comfortable than Prius and wow the sound system is actually I've of the best I've heard from the factory.

We own a 2011 VW Sportwagon TDI and it just needs diesel and oil changes. 40+ mpg and it's real wagon sized.

John Welsh said:

It won't hit the mpg but the Buick Regal wagon, Tour X, is a real wagon. 

2.0L turbo rated for 29 mpg hyw

I came to sugest this as well. 

clutchsmoke said:

The Prius C should have never existed. It was a solution to a problem no one had.

We'll have to disagree pretty strongly on that one. The Prius C makes a lot more sense if you think of it as a SmartCar/Toyota IQ/Fiat500 competitor. It has a usable backseat, much better mpg, much better cargo room, and can still be crammed into small downtown parking spaces.

In reply to John Welsh:

When I think "stylish wagon", honestly I think E30 wagon, which is out for a multitude of reasons. I think the V90 is pretty handsome as well, but it's pretty far out of my budget

Well if the Buick is in play, look at V60s as well.

I like those, but am frightened off by the typical GM Mark of Excellence quality.

If you are talking new cars you could lease any German car and then dump it when the lease is up. They will be under warranty during the ownership duration.

If you are looking used, any Jetta wagon with the 2.5 five cylinder will be the opposite of typical VW reliability. Ours has been bulletproof and currently shows 168,000 miles. The diesels are also pretty good, if you're into that sort of thing.