Camry vs Prius as a family car

Personal taste aside....

From a practical standpoint, if you have 4 people or less, then the Prius is a good choice. The Camry has the edge for 5. Neither is a bad choice if you like the car.

 

Our family of four has had both, a 97 Camry and now 10 Prius. Seating arrangement is the same... however the Prius has a little more headroom in back. I don't know about the 12 Camry but if I were to do it again, I would go with the Prius. Same passenger room but much better fuel economy plus more cargo room.

 

a lot more cargo room and such with the prius... this is why my brother is willing to sell off this F450 for a prius. he can still haul things.. and fit lumber.. or load up the guys and go wherever he wants with minimal fuel usage.

i test drove a few camry's... great cars.. but they are bigger.. feel bigger.. and as sporty as it is... a prius is kinda more fun to drive in a "non adrenaline" provoking way.

 

IMHO you'd be better with Prius. Prius has slightly less interior room which shouldn't be a problem with your kids (we regularly fit 3 teens in the back), but double cargo space for those twin strollers. Cheaper and better MPG too. But don't take my word, take your family + stuff, go to dealer and check it out good luck

 

You are rightsizing. Why not just test drive both and see them in person. If you prefer more cargo capabilities and more MPG, Prius is the way to go.

 

Camry is more comfortable for passengers and probably drivers, too, but obviously much worse on gas and I think functional capacity (cargo) of the Prius is better.

 

I would say test drive both and see which you like. My uncle had a 09' Camry for a couple years before we got out 11' Prius. Camry is a bigger car, but the Prius has plenty of room in the back seat as well. We have 2 kids as well, and our mother in law fits in the back seat with both of them (she isn't a small lady). Granted our kids have out grown car seats. Just depends on which car you like.. I would of originally never considered the Prius but after test driving the Yaris, Camry, etc we wound up buying one. Land Cruiser to Prius is quite a move. To think I thought we made a big tansition going from the Magnum to the Prius.

 

We have two kids and traded in a Nissan Quest on the Prius but... our kids are much older. Don't know how much traveling you do but a dedicated DVD system (headphones for them while the front passengers can still listen to radio/sat/cd) is a godsend on trips of anything longer than 30 minutes. :rockon:

 

We stuffed a 36" TUBE tv into our Prius over the weekend, on it's way to the recycler. It was about 42" wide, weighed well over 100 lbs in my estimation. Put it in face down and there was a bulge out on the back that just snugged under the top of the hatch.

My son and I were just able to handle it. Of course when we got to the recyler's, there was a diminutive lady that took charge of it, in the parking lot. Tipped it onto a dolly and single handedly ran it up a ramp. :redface:

 

I assume you are talking about the Camry Hybrid vs. a Prius. You might want to take a very close look at the Prius v when they become available in November sometime. It just might be the answer for you. More room than the Prius, but smaller than the Camry.

I was originally very impressed with the Camry Hybrid, but now I am leaning to a Prius v.

 

Chtucker: can you clarify what Camry you're looking at, a 4 cylinder, V6 or hybrid? How much is price and "payback period" for the "hybrid premium", a consideration, if any?

You do know that the redesigned 2012 Camry should be available soon, if not now, right?. The '12 HyCam has numerous improvements over the previous gen such as a larger trunk, more power (200 hp now instead of 187), better mileage (41 mpg combined instead of 33) AND a lower starting price.

That said, all Camrys will get worse mileage than a regular Prius and have less cargo flexibility since they're not of hatchback design. The HyCam and V6 Camry should feel like rockets compared to the Prius.

 

Wow, tough call, we had discussion of 2011 vs. 2012 Prius at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-main-forum/98912-2011-2012-a.html#post1401821.

I briefly drove the '12 HyCam. at Green Drive Expo last month. I had a loaner HyCam in 08 (http://priuschat.com/forums/toyota-...-impressions-after-driving-hycam-62-miles.htm). One problem (still) w/the HyCam is that you only get a small trunk pass thru for large items. But, if you're taking two kids along, most of the rear seas obviously has to stay up.

Prius v will give more cargo room and has rear seats that slide forward and back. It also is slightly larger dimensionally than the regular Prius. http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-v-main-forum/94501-prius-v-spec-comparisons.html has a table comparing dimensions. You'll need to right click, save down the PNG and view it in something else to make it legible.

It is a bit disappointing that the Prius v w/much less power (and no doubt slower) has almost the same mileage as the '12 HyCam.

 

Interesting, last weekend our local dealer was advertising a new 11 HyCam for 1k LESS than a new 11 Prius2. Were I in the market I would have jumped all over that one.:focus:

 

strollers are only temporary; you'd be done with them in a bit. Your FJ should cover all your wilderness calls from that point on.

2012 vs 2011 is a tough call. Really depends on which trim you are buying (2,3,4) and what type of deals you can get. Here is summary of changes it is up to you if it worth extra. Exclusive: 2012 MY Prius - Changes and Additions | PriusChat

With respect to re-sale you sound like a type who keeps cars, and 8 years down the road diff btw '11 and '12 will be a couple hundred at best.

 

We have 2 children, 10 and 12 years old. I drive them to sports, school, week-long overnight camp, etc. with any and all gear in comfort and with more than enough room.They love the techy nature of the car. You can see the kind of gas mileage I enjoy!

One of the main considerations for our family is safety ratings, which hasn't been mentioned in this thread. The Prius has the maximum available crash ratings in all categories. Side-curtain air bags are important to me due to a wreck that I was involved in (fortunately, without the kids).

I am loving the cargo space - I have hauled everything from manure and boards to bunches of groceries and large boxes easily in the back. Love the fold-down seats when kids are not riding along. I drove an Avalon previously - it has a great trunk, but the Prius is way more adaptable to odd-shaped cargo. I like the hidden storage for security, so I don't miss the trunk.

I was showing my car recently to a mom with a Tahoe, and she was sad that she had bought the Tahoe without looking at the Prius when she saw how much space we have. (She listens to some comedian who talks about it being tiny). We have looked at the Camry in the past but didn't this time around, once we had researched and driven the Prius.

Test drive both, with car seats (and without toddlers), sit in the back seat yourself, and continue to do the thinking about what you will carry cargo-wise. Good luck!