Prius for the family

[gljacks]

I am thinking about purchasing a 2008 prius for a family of four. I have a 5 y.o. girl and 7 y.o. boy, both happy active kids with the usual stuff (bikes, backpacks, skateboards, friends) My husband is a contractor with trucks so I do have access if I need to do "large load" trips with the kids (surf boards, extra bikes, etc.... We live in a beach community) Wondering if families of the same size and active life style are enjoying their prius and if they've had to add extra racks, etc. Any input is much appreciated..thanks!

[sea-horsea]

it depends on how much you will be driving the Prius and etc....I don't see a reason for getting a Prius if you don't drive much lets say a few hundred miles per month...but if you are buying the prius because of environmental reasons.....its totally cool for a family of 4...the back seats can do the 60/40 split when fold down for extra cargo space....

[chogan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LmJ @ Oct 2 2007, 01:06 AM) [snapback]520160[/snapback]</div>

I am thinking about purchasing a 2008 prius for a family of four. I have a 5 y.o. girl and 7 y.o. boy, both happy active kids with the usual stuff (bikes, backpacks, skateboards, friends) My husband is a contractor with trucks so I do have access if I need to do "large load" trips with the kids (surf boards, extra bikes, etc.... We live in a beach community) Wondering if families of the same size and active life style are enjoying their prius and if they've had to add extra racks, etc. Any input is much appreciated..thanks!
[/b]

Our kids were 5 and 10 when we got our Prius two years ago, and it has worked well for us.

If you're going to drive a car, you can't beat the hatchback for utility. It lets you carry a surprisingly large amount of stuff. Our family of four has taken weekend tent camping trips, with cooler and barbeque grill, using the Prius. We've packed (tightly) for two weeks at the beach, using the Prius.

You can get three kids in the back seat, but not three adults. Or two adults and one very small child.

In our model, at least, I don't think there's any way to turn off the front passenger airbag, short of disconnecting the sensors. But ... that looks to be out-of-date for the 2008, so not relevant to you. You should check that rather than take my word for it.

Tried a hitch-mounted bike rack and didn't like it -- seemed too flexible -- so went with a Thule strap-on rack for the back, which is awkward with the hatchback. Others have had more luck with hitch-mounted racks. At least one regular poster here (darelldd) has roof racks.

My wife adds that if you don't drive a minivan/SUV, you don't get tagged to play chauffeur.

I'll add that my kids love the car. Stealth (all-electric) mode is just -- cool. For kids of all ages.

And, depending on where you're coming from, it gives you a chance to teach your kids not to be wasteful. My kids don't think SUVs are cool, they think they're an inefficient way for one person to drive around town, aka, "there's nothing dumber than a Hummer". Keeps them straight about the difference between people who need trucks and people who merely want trucks.

[efusco]

You are the family this car was built for. We've got 3 kids in car seats/booster seats (8 y/o boys and 3 y/o daughter)....I've been driving it for 4 years and it works great. Certainly with a load of humans it's not an ideal car for a surfing trip, but you'll be pleasantly surprised by the amount of cargo space you have in the hatch. When you look at how much gas you'll burn in the truck vs the Prius you'll start finding stuff you really don't need to take anyway just so the prius will work.

[sub3marathonman]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(chogan @ Oct 2 2007, 06:44 AM) [snapback]520199[/snapback]</div>

In our model, at least, I don't think there's any way to turn off the front passenger airbag, short of disconnecting the sensors. But ... that looks to be out-of-date for the 2008, so not relevant to you. You should check that rather than take my word for it.
[/b]

There is only one legal way to turn off the front passenger airbag. If your back seat is filled with children who must ride in a booster seat/infant seat, and you have another child who must ride in a booster seat/infant seat, you can petition the DOT for a waiver. You will then have to take a course to educate you about this situation, and then you can get a licensed mechanic to put a switch for the front passenger airbag.

We have two children, one five and one just over a year, so with four people the Prius has been fantastic. We can even have the stroller in the hatchback area. It does get crowded if you buy groceries without having first removed the stroller, but we've never had any problems. And it has been a real benefit because we could sit in the car with the A/C on using battery power while one person runs into the store for two minutes. I couldn't sit there and burn gasoline in a regular vehicle, everybody would have to get out and go into the store.

[O-Mel-Prius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LmJ @ Oct 2 2007, 01:06 AM) [snapback]520160[/snapback]</div>

I am thinking about purchasing a 2008 prius for a family of four. I have a 5 y.o. girl and 7 y.o. boy, both happy active kids with the usual stuff (bikes, backpacks, skateboards, friends) My husband is a contractor with trucks so I do have access if I need to do "large load" trips with the kids (surf boards, extra bikes, etc.... We live in a beach community) Wondering if families of the same size and active life style are enjoying their prius and if they've had to add extra racks, etc. Any input is much appreciated..thanks!
[/b]

Hello LmJ,
I just brought the Prius in Sept 5, 2007, We have found the Prius to work well for our family.
We are family 5, but now a family 4, I have 1 off in college plus a medium size dog.
My boys are 2 teenage boys and my husband also has a truck.
The hatch back area is the dog space.
I have used put down the back seat to pick up one of boys with his bike. Then my other son needed to be picked up and I used back seat spilt to fit him in with the bike and 2 boys.
We took a weekend in NH and we drove both the car and truck.
We used the truck to trailer our boat and one boy in each car. Talked via cell phone, it's working for us.
Melody

[RinMI]

I am a father of two and drummer for my church's praise band; earlier this summer I was able to take my g/f and kids to a performance in a nearby town. My 5 piece set including the seat, all hardware, sticks, and cymbals fit behind the rear seats and I could still close the hatch without having to take the heads off of the drums. Don't forget that you have a fairly spacious area under the cargo floor (all hardware, drum throne, sticks, and cymbals were put there) that can accomodate a lot and keep it from prying eyes without using the tonneau cover.

[hyo silver]

Welcome to PriusChat, LmJ. I hope you'll find this a friendly and informative site.

The Prius is perfect for a family of four, very practical and generally reliable. I have two (mostly) grown children, and there's plenty of room. We were maybe a little cramped during a cross-country camping trip, but everything fit with no external racks. (We left the bikes and canoe home for that trip. And we usually leave the car home when we go for bike rides.)

The hardest part for you now is deciding on the options!

[tofupriusgirl]

Not a tear was shed when we ditched the mini-van for a Prius. Granted, I have only been an owner for 3 days but so far I LOVE it. We do lots of errands here and often visit family out of town. Everyone tried talking us out of it basically due to carpooling in the future. I have no desire to carpool and I am not going to buy a big, oversized, gas guzzling vehicle for something I may do 10% of the time. I am just happy I can take 1 other child if needed. We have 2 in carseats and during the test drive I sat in-between them in the backseat. By far, it was the most comfortable out of any test drive. We test drove the Rav4 and Camry and I was practically feeling deformed in those backseats! Rear legroom & side curtain airbags are a huge bonus too. Plus it's way more fun for mom to drive.

Just be prepared if you run your idea by friends or family that don't really have a clue about the Prius they are going to think you are nuts! People are just conditioned these days to believe bigger is always better (homes, cars, plates of food! etc ). Do a search here an on PriusOnline and you will find lots of positive posts of people using it for a family vehicle. One person even posted a pic of 3 carseats in the backseat!

Good luck!

[zenMachine]

We have 11 yr-old twins and a 2-yr old still in child seat. The three of them fit in the back perfectly fine. The hatch area is spacious. And my wife has also adapted by packing less stuff on trips: bring only the necessities; buy things when we get there, etc.

Of course, the "premium" JBL system is pretty horrid (by my ears) so I first had to upgrade that. But once that was done it's a real pleasure to take the car on long trips. I have a portable DVD player that gets plugged into the stereo system to add "surround sound" effects. The kids really like that!

For heavy-duty camping trips, we take the SUV to tow our bikes, canoe, tent, and all that good stuff.