When shopping for a car, one must not only know makes and models, but nowadays, one must know trims and trim levels.  Hopefully with a little help from your automotive friends on the World Wide Web, you’ll be able to get what you need, even if it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense numerically or alphabetically.

First, the Toyota Prius for 2016 continues to be a great car for just about every lifestyle on the planet. It’s a hybrid all the way around, and as it has mature into its ‘tween years, it is more comfortable, more stylish, has more vitality and is not short on anything – a big change for cars that offer economy and ecology and not much else.

The Toyota Prius is all new for 2016, and the Four-Touring is the top-of-the-line trim. Bells and whistles include 17-inch alloy wheels, double wishbone rear suspension (a big deal for those of you who know what that is), pre-collision warning system with pedestrian detection, automatic high beams, leatherette seats with unique stitching and full-speed adaptive cruise control – and a bunch of other cool stuff.

For an extra $1.7K, you can add the Premium Convenience Package, which adds JBL 10-speaker audio, Toyota’s Entune app suite, a split-screen display when in reverse, and Intelligent Park Assist. Sure, many a night I’ll take even average-intelligence park assist. Your base price on this top trim is $30,000; I would look down the food chain to see if the ‘Three’ trims, starting at $26,250, might work just fine for you.

Miles per gallon is 52 on the Four Touring. That is beyond impressive, but that’s what Toyota has been able to do with this all-new Prius. Not only is it more economical and practical, it is now also more sleek and stylish.  Just look at its new body and you might not recognize it as a Prius. The styling and the stats speak for themselves, and they speak highly.

(Hold onto your seats, buzz and girlz, because soon the Toyota Prius Prime should be on dealer lots, and this will be a plug-in hybrid. Sounds promising all the way around.  Click here to read more.)

One of the new trends in automotive design is to put all the dashboard information right in the center of the dashboard, as opposed to right behind the steering wheel so the driver can see more easily.  I’m not opposed to new designs, and indeed, having all your car information (speedometer, tachometer, etc.) right dab smack in the center off it all does look sharp.  My concern, however, is that the driver effectively has to take her eyes off the road to look at the speedometer. Yes, this was true even when all the information was right there behind the wheel. As always, caution is advised.

As we head into the uncharted territory of Trumplandia, nothing is certain ,but I feel pretty confident that prices of gasoline and other commodities will rise. As such, buying a car that can stretch your dollar is something that should be on your to-do list…

…along with building that nuclear bomb shelter you’ve been putting off for 50 years.