Does anyone know the total capacity of the Prius with all seats down? The specs say the "luggage capacity" is 16.1cf which implys this is the space behind the rear seats. I can find no mention of this topic when I do a search but it might be that I haven't stumbled upon the correct key words.
Can't give you exact cubic feet, but some of the real convincing factors for me had to do with interior space in various modes. With the back seats folded down it's over 6 feet from the rear hatch lip to the back of the front-seat center armrest [and thus the backs of the front seats]. That amount of linear space is rare to find in most SUVs, let alone smallish wagons -- it was always annoyingly less, like 5'6" or whatever. There's a gap just behind the front seat backs but I mitigated this by cutting a piece of plywood I can drop into the rear bed that hangs over that gap to close the space, and spreads heavy loads out over the battery pack. . Also if you remembered to drop the passenger front-seat back down and tuck it under the rear seatback, you get over *eight* feet of linear space from rear lip to dash with a respectable cross-section. This is absolutely cavernous for a car this size -- you won't get a 4x8 sheet of plywood in there, but I have loaded narrow theater setpieces [8' high flats] and such into there with room left over. . Take a tape measure to some items you commonly expect to carry, and then crawl all over a Prius and fiddle with the seats and you'll very likely find a way you can get those items in. . _H*
Thanks Hobbit -- very helpful since I don't pick up my '06 Prius until Jan 1. I am interested in this not for myself, but to convice someone that the Prius might meet their needs instead of a SUV they now think they need to haul their tools and parts to various business within their three New England state territory. The Honda CR-V, for instance, has a "cargo volume" of 72 cf with the seats down, which i suspect is not practically larger for tools and parts than the Prius with the seats down.
Just for the record, we're planning to sell our CR-V (which we've loved 'til gas prices went sky-high) and instead get a Prius. In driving a colleague's the other day, and seeing how many ways space can be created, and the volume of true room inside, I suspect the Prius actually could fit more stuff easier! I can get my bike inside my CR-V, and I think getting it into the Prius would be easier (though I'll get a back bike rack eventually). For us, the "hidden" storage areas of the Prius are a real plus, too, to hide things we don't want to have easily found, etc. So, from a CR-V owner to a potential one, I'd suggest they follow the advice given: measure your stuff and test!
