The best thing that fits your budget and requirements is an 8th Gen PKDM Civic, preferably a VTi Oriel Prosmatec 1.8L . You didn't have a good experience with the Prius as you already described and so I'll advice against hybrids although I have faced absolutely no issues with my Civic hybrid since I bought it last year. I only get it maintained from Honda Center and have a tune up done every 20,000KMs. Car still drops water through the exhaust when I start it in the morning and have driven it to Murree twice and upto Monal countless times with no power issues and with 4-5 people on board. I always put 60% hi-octane in the car to prevent knocking and change the engine oil at 3000KMs or sometimes earlier. Its driven daily for about 100-200KMs. What was the mileage at which your Prius started causing these issues? My Civic gives me 16-18 KPL in the city with the AC turned on at full capacity and has never felt underpowered although its only a 1.3L 110 HP car. At 100 KM/h, its only at 1400-1500 RPM if I keep cruise control off.
The Civic can easily accommodate 4 adults and will not feel underpowered on any sort of incline. I've driven my friend's 8th Gen Civic and its a great car. The auto gets you around 8-10 KPL in city with mixed AC usage while a manual will get you 9-10. On the highway, you'll get almost 14 from the auto and maybe 15 from the manual but that depends on how you drive it. Bear in mind that the Prius was a hybrid and so you can't expect great mileage figures from normal petrol cars. Expect to get half as much mileage that you used to get from your Prius.
The Civic also has ample ground clearance and doesn't scrape at all plus it comes with an immobilizer so you'll have peace of mind while taking it to Peshawar. You can easily get a 2012 Civic VTi Oriel Prosmatec for around 16-17 these days with around 40-50k on the clock, maybe less. For 19-20 lacs, you can get the 9th Gen Civic. There are many for sale here on PW.
I'll advice against buying a Mercedes Benz for daily use here in Pakistan. Old or new doesn't matter, our local mechanics can't even disengage their parking brakes let alone repair it properly, you'll see many Mercs with broken parking brake levers (because even the owner didn't know to use it properly). I have a W204 and believe me, its a real PITA to maintain if you don't know which mechanic to go to and what to get done if something happens although nothing's happened with my car since I've only driven it 3000KMs in the last 2 years. If you're getting a Merc, get the W203 with the M271 engine that came with the facelift in 2006-7. Its more reliable and a bit easier to maintain than the previous engines. I'll advice against diesel Mercs because they require low sulfur content diesel while we get high sulfur content diesel here, you'll end up with big problems if you don't keep maintenance done on time. Plus, if something does go wrong, don't expect it to be done in 50k. A simple transmission fluid change costs almost 40k from Shahnawaz excluding labor and GST. Finding an old Merc without a reversed odometer is also very difficult. There was a W202 on sale here on PW. It had a carsure report which said that its at 95% condition, original paint blah blah and when I went to see it, damn was it done for. The clearcoat was pealing from places I'd never thought possible. It kept turning off every 10 seconds and had more rust than an old iron gate lol. It was so loud, you had to shout to talk to someone sitting next to you. The demand was also sky high for that car, 14 lacs. Since then, I never trusted the carsure report PW offers.
For an SUV, get a Vigo. The Vezel is not a proper SUV in my opinion, I mean it can't even climb mild inclines. I drove a Vezel with the Z package and orange interior 3 days ago and believe me, its an utter waste of money. If you're spending 33-36 lacs on a car, why not get a good Merc with maintenance history and good options? You can get a 2010-12 Prius from 18-20 with very good options but then again, its a hybrid. Its very economical, my friend get 22KPL from his 3rd Gen Prius that has done 94000KMs.
In my opinion, don't get a Corolla. It doesn't have an immobilizer. Get the new one that does have an immobilizer and keep it stock. A Corolla never looked with any bodykit to be honest.
Hope this answers your query to some extent.
Good luck with your search.
