I was in a similar dilemma with similar preferences a couple years ago. You have good tastes!
I went with a 4th generation Prius (2016-2022 I think) when I found a 2021 with 37k miles for 17k. It was more than what I wanted to spend but honestly I couldn’t be happier.
I’m averaging 62 mpg with city driving, best is 72.1 mpg, and 46 mpg when I drive 300 miles to see my family at 90 mph. This generation is averaging over 350k miles on the battery in NYC taxis and doesn’t have favorable catalytic converters to steal either. Steering wheel media controls, tons of space for camping, comfy enough on bumps, I even got gently rear-ended and the bumper absorbed it all…no damage at all! Just had to pop a sensor back in place.
This will last you forever, cheap to maintain, cheap to run, cheap to insure, aaaaaand nobody will steal it lol.
Hey, I appreciate your thorough response to my points! Seems like I came to the right place. Prius is a solid contender. I'll look at these in particular.
I've been wondering what happened to those bumpers that used to be on older cars (80s/90s?), just give me a bumper car hahah.