The Davy 
2005 Toyota Prius Hatchback 4dr Hatchback (1.5L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
.... But it's practical for god's sake!!!
 Practicality is the name of the Prius's game. This was never more true than with this generation of the quintessential hybrid we all know (and love?). I drove this car for 4 years after my father darn near drove it into the ground, and still sold it for a grand with a gash in the side and 286,000 miles. We had to replace the hybrid battery once, near the half-life of the car, and the Toyota dealership was never exactly wallet-friendly for any general part replacements (I own a Kia now and have been treated like a saint in their stores comparatively). Let's start under the hood: everyone knows there is NO reason to drive the Prius for fun... but I'm here to dispute that claim. The CVT and electric torque make it feel much peppier than it is, especially in city driving. The other great thing about it being a TOYOTA continuously variable unit is that you NEVER feel any transmission hiccups. It didn't age a day over the span of 12 years. I could say more about Toyota's reliability, but I'd rather move onto the complaints I might file, that will have Toyota loyalists bashing my door down for sure. INTERIOR: It is so darn loud. The engine drones (and I'm not even a CVT hater, personally), you hear ALL the wind, and you hear ALL the road. I get that it is built to be a machine of efficiency, but I can't be the only one who wants to be able to have a front seat-back seat conversation without the necessitation of a megaphone. The materials are more of the same. "Keep it light!" shouts Toyota. "It'll help fuel economy!" Well, sure I was still getting 38-42 MPG by the time I gave it up, and I know hybrid technology was newer and more expensive in 2005, but by golly if I don't end up with fragmented elbow joints from simply resting my elbows on the center armrest and the door panel. Yeesh. That being said, just TRY to scratch that plastic on the door panel. You can't do it. So good for Toyota on that one, I suppose. The seats have no vertical adjustors, so even my 5'6 frame was wedged tight between the seat and the ceiling no matter what kind of sorcery I tried to work with the horizontal positioning, bearing in mind that I also had to keep the IMPOSSIBLY stout steering wheel column at (very short) arm's length, since there was no telescoping to be had. BUT, the seats are very comfortable if you ignore the feeling of the ceiling liner involuntarily restyling your hair. This car was more abused than used in the time that my family owned it. Two kids essentially grew up in this car, spilling ranch dressing and cheeto dust and various other multicolored foods onto the beige interior fabrics. It may or may not have had a frustrated foot jammed down onto the pedal a few times. This is a car that CAN stand up to the abuse. The sheet metal is definitely thin, but the paint must have been zealously applied, since it seems you could not make a CHIP in that stuff if you were to drop a boulder on the car. And considering the reliability track record, the car could probably drive away from said boulder drop. The instrumentation inside is silly, and no matter how long you live with the car, you will never get used to looking at a digital speedometer that also happens to offset toward the CENTER of the car (so the passenger can critique your speed as well?), or the fact that you must toggle through the touch screen interface just to adjust the air conditioning. You can pack for seven different camping trips at once in a car with this much storage space. The rear seats fold nearly flush with the floor of the trunk, making for a maddeningly convenient hatchback plateau. Legroom in the back is adequate, except in the center, especially when the potentially groin-intrusive cupholders are in use. Headroom goes on for days and visibility is such that it feels as though you're driving a greenhouse. Buy this car and love it. Drive it like a go-kart or like a U-Haul. There should be no middle ground.