Who needs a truck, the Prius will haul it all!

Case in point:



Yes, that's a workbench in the back of my Prius that I picked up at an estate sale. The guy I bought the workbench from said, "it's not going to fit in a car." I told him that I wasn't so sure, and I went ahead and took some measurements. Needless to say, there was no need to rent/borrow a pickup truck to bring my workbench home

 

First time I sat down in a Prius I looked around and asked the salesman....do those seats fold down?
I knew immediately I could sell my pickup and use a Prius to haul most everything I need.
Last weekend I hauled a few bags of mulch and some pine straw.

 

Nice home and yard Ron. Every haul a sheet of plywood, even cut in half (4x4)? I keep meaning to measure and then forget.

Edit: Never mind, won't fit.

 

My son and I hauled our old water heater off in ours a couple of weeks ago in mine. Drained it real good, wrapped it up in a tarp. No problem fitting in with the seats down and it was one of those tall thin ones. I have always had at least one hatchback type vehicle. I will also admit that a Prius handles that job well.

Nice yard in the pics. I've been working on mine as well.

 

THE BEST TRUCK I HAVE EVER OWNED.
150 k miles and no break downs 40 mpg average as a work truck and it can haul 3100 pounds on the roof and another 1000 pounds inside the car. the rack extends 6 ft by 18 feet so 8x 20 welded wire works nicely on top. so does 30 foot beams and kitchen cabinets and tons of other crap. hands down best car ever. I still use my diesel sprinter van to haul the 18000 pound dump trailer. but after 10 years the truck only gets about 1000 miles a year and the prius is being used 20k per year now.

 

Here are mine pics.

 

So true. I'm in Canada and it's the same. Every joe blow that calls himself a contractor drives a full-sized pickup. The ones that are truly hauling stuff, for sure, that's legit. But the guys that drives from site to site, making phone calls all day, and hires the hands that actually does the work? Why are you rolling around in a Tundra?

 

Composted and bagged? Having grown up on a ranch, I consider that almost cheating.

I did some hauling for dad last week. Lots of fresh manure. Most it began the trips still in the cattle, not yet emitted. Fortunately, the other guy, the one actually getting paid, shoveled it out of the truck bed afterwards.

Trucks still have a purpose.

 

This sounds like the best place to post my question. New to this whole chat thing so forgive me if I'm not doing this correctly. I need to carry a wheelchair occasionally on a carrier attached to the back. Wondering and waiting for reply from Toyota about whether this voids the warrants. But then I got thinking that since I'm not pulling a trailer therefore straining the engine, the set up is no different than carrying cargo like you did or two adult passengers, right? Thanks.

 

Well done Ron. I love gardening esp veges and fruit bushes and trees. Just bought a Prius 2, loving the gas mileage, but I need to carry an electric wheelchair occasionally and want to buy one of those carriers that attach to the back of the car. Since I won't be pulling anything stressing the engine, isn't this pretty much the same as having stuff inside the car. The total weight for the wheelchair and carrier would only be about 200lbs. Concerned about toyota warranty.

 

"Carrier attached to the back" as in a hitch? If so the official Toyota answer will be "No". But as you can see here, it is up to you to do what Toyota says or what the car can actually do. Dragging around a few hundred extra pounds no matter where will "strain the engine" more than not hauling the extra weight. One of the bigger annoyances will be the big drag effect on the back now. It is no longer as slippery so your fuel economy will tank.

 

Any chance for pictures of your set-up?

 

Thanks for responding. Guess I'll have to take my chances since the Prius is my only vehicle.

 

tons of people here have hitches for bikes, trailers and etc. no worries, sleep well.

 

200 pounds cargo reasonably distributed inside would be no problem at all, but that much (plus the carrier and mounting hardware) behind the rear bumper is likely to have signficant effects on handling and stability.

 

If it's severely cantilevered cargo box I would concur but if it's a trailer it's more of a tugging & less of a leverage concern.