About the Prius - has it had the timing belt replaced yet? That is at least $1000 and usually happens around 100,000 miles (for every car). Has it had any recall items fixed? Toyota was massively fined for lying about the accelerator problems while fixing them without informing customers during regular service checks. Make sure it was done.
I would still go with a cheaper car with lower mileage, say 50,000 - 80,000 that is a reliable model like a Civic, Corolla or Camry. There are so many of them out there that you should have many options.