Enough space for a family?

We travel with four adults, plus climbing and camping gear. The Prius holds a lot.

Tom

 

If a Mini Cooper will hold 20, I'd say the Prius should be just fine. It's much bigger

 

We used to go on road trips in our Lincoln Navigator. My wife, I, our 4 year old, and our 2 year old. It of course has gobs of space. We've gone on two road trips in the Prius and it has fit us fine. HOWEVER, both times we didn't bring our double stroller. We've been trying to make a Disney Land run (which will require the stroller). My wife swears that we won't be able to bring the double stroller and everything else. I have tons of confidence the Prius will fit it all. Since I know what I always bring I was thinking a dry run. I told her though for the amount of $$$ saved in fuel we could NOT bring the double stroller, buy one from Walmart when we get there, TOSS it out after we're done with it (or more appropriately donate it) and still save money taking the Prius. Or renting one at Disney Land.

On the two road trips we did do we have the following:
1 super large suitcase
1 garment bag
1 large laptop case
a second laptop, although not in a case
1 medium camera bag
2 small kids size suitcases
1 wicker container that we keep baby diaper supplies for the 2 year old
Various assortment of jackets throw on top (both were winter trips).

I've found in the Prius that you can store as much misc stuff under the rear floor as possible to maximize space. In addition with two kids there's actually room in between them if needed (we didn't need it).

Oh yeah, we use Britax car seats which are probably the largest carseats made. They fit better in the Prius than the Navigator as the Prius has more rear seat legroom.

Mike

 

Skip the SUV and get a second Prius.
As Dr. Fusco said, soft luggage is a plus, as is using more small pieces rather than 1 or 2 large ones. Pack intelligently and make use of the space in the car.

Look for baby/kid items that fold to small size. When our kids were little, we had a folding crib that at best went down to 3.5 feet x 3 feet x 6 inches, plus the separate mattress. I rented an apartment last spring in Barcelona for a week and they had to take out the portable crib that had been set up for the prior people. This thing was full size when open and folded to about 3.5 feet x 1 foot x 1 foot. The bottom of the mattress was the outside of the 'carrying case' as it wrapped around the folded frame. Which do you think is easier to transport?

We have taken our 2 girls to horse camp. 4 people in the car and everything they needed for 2 weeks at camp. OK, not everything, the camp provides the horses and tack
But EACH girl had:

• a non stuffing sleeping bag
• pillow
• sheets
• personal items (sunscreen, insect repellent, toiletries, etc)
• 5 types of footwear
• helmets
• beach and bath towels
• clothes for 2 weeks (no laundry service)
• books, cards and writing supplies (have to ASK for care packages )

I'm sure I forgot a few things but it all fit in the back of the car at the height of the rear seat back, with the exception of their pillows.

Think first, pack smart and if you still can't get it all in, get a car top carrier for the occasional 'big' trip. The money you save in fuel the rest of the year over the SUV will pay for the carrier really quickly.

 

We can not fit a sideXside jogging stroller in ous but other than that it is suprising how much cargo room there really is. We are going to get a box so that should help tons as well.

 

How big is big? It is about 3.5 feet wide (side to side) and about the same (I think) front to back but the rear seats angle back so there is a bit more distance at the floor level than at the top of the seat. And do you need an SUV sized stroller

 

---------------------------------
buy the second Prius...if all of your family and gear won't fit into one Prius for the trip take both cars...you would probably still come out cheaper in the long run doing this for one or two trips per year because you would be saving gas all of the rest of the year...

 

Stoller may be a problem. I have a Chico travel system, it barely fit in the trunk after folding the handler. I suggest you bring your stroller to the showroom and try to fit it.

 

Our solution:

 

IMO if you are just in the "thinking about kids" phase, you are a long way from "needing" a big Family Truckster. Unless you get a system stroller there really isn't much you need to schlep around for an infant, so you are still several years away from needing a lot of cargo capacity for a kid. With the money you save on gas you can also buy a second Pack & Play to keep at Grandma's house.

We just had our second (#1 is 2.5 yrs old) and the Prius is working fine. I hated to give up my Maclaren as a primary stroller but even our new Sit 'N Stand fits fine for day trips, and its every bit as big as most stroller systems (pic1). I recommend a Snap N Go as a car seat carrier and then move to an umbrella stroller when (s)he is big enough. If we know we need cargo space to haul stuff we leave the monster stroller at home and Baby Bjorn the baby.

2 Car seats fit fine, even directly behind the seats. With the driver seat all the way back it barely touches the infant seat (pic2). With 1 child, of course, the seat will be in the center giving you even more wiggle room. When people justify their SUVs because they have kids I answer that they don't need more space, they need less stuff. Travel light.

 

Glad those pics helped. I thought I would pile on 1 more to show that even with the monster stroller there is still plenty of space for the daily grind. Pictured along with the stroller is ~$125 worth of groceries (yes I DO recycle all those plastic bags). Not pictured is the diaper bag, wifes purse, the shoes she bought etc.

 

I have the same stroller. You can put it on it's edge and you can pack even more junk around it. That's the stroller that I'm confident I can fit in with my large suit case, garment bag, and misc other stuff. I also have the same Britax and I have an additional Britax Booster. I mention the Britax because it's the largest car seat made and typically doesn't fit in small cars. It fits in the Prius with plenty of room to spare.... even with the seat all the way back.

Mike

 

That's a Britax Roundabout and it is indeed pretty big but the Marathon is even bigger. My 2 yr old is huge and has almost outgrown it and I'll be happy to downsize to a seatbelt booster.

This is one reason we moved up to a Prius from our Matrix. The back seat has more legroom, which is significant with child seats. I think they are wider as well. Basically on par with most mid sized sedans.

Thanks for the tip on putting it on it's side. I'll have to try that. We've only been using it for a couple weeks so I'm still working out all the tricks.

 

Thanks for this great thread and all the pics. It really gave me confidence that a Prius can shuttle a baby around. Whew.

 

We kept a Maclaren Volo in our Prius hatch with a TON of room to spare up until about 2 years ago. The Prius also fits all types of carseats really well. We had a Jetta when my son was first born and you could barely fit a carseat in that thing. The Prius is much roomier.