technically i'm not a prius owner since my wife is the primary driver of ours but... we are considering having our first child and are a bit worried about the room in our prius. my brothers both have a child(ren) and drive big SUV's as their long trip vehicles. i am amazed at how full their trucks are when they go places. what experiences have ya'll had with kids and space, and how did you get around them? searched a bit for roof rack boxes and i'm some what inclined to go that route... gracias!
Our friend has a baby and borrowed her mom's Prius for a while to make sure it worked out with a kid. She felt it would be adequate. You can always put one of the back seats down for longer stuff and leave the other up to anchor the baby seat. There's also some storage under the back deck for diaper bags, etc. We have our first baby on the way and thought about if it would work and decided it would be okay, but your mileage may vary (no pun intended)
3 kids, 4 1/2 years in the Prius, plenty of room if you're smart about how you pack...you can't do the SUV-size stroller, but most others fit fine. We travel a lot and sometimes have to drive 3 hours or more to the airport and the Prius has always been the vehicle of choice and held all our stuff with intelligent packing.
Unless you have more people than can actually be seated in the Prius, you'll be fine. I think people think they NEED an SUV these days....but then what did families do before SUVs? I have friends who just had a baby, and got a new car, they would have bought a Prius but couldn't afford it, ended up with a Hyundai that is the same size as my Prius and it works great for them.
Took a road trip from Oregon to Calgary last year with a 7 month old and it worked out nicely. We spent a couple of weeks driving around Alberta in our prius and it was fantastic. Intelligent packing is the key and I found that much of the stuff I would have packed if I had a larger car/suv wasn't really needed anyway. The compartment under the hatch floor was a good spot for diapers and babyfood... -momanz
We have two kids and a 2002 Prius, so we have even less cargo storage than you, and no fold-down seats, but this is our only car, and we use it for everything from daily commuting to trips to the lumber yard to camping trips and long road trips. We went camping last summer with an SUV-driving friend, and I noticed one distinct difference: she just piled her camping gear in the back willy-nilly, but I have to pack the trunk carefully so everything fits. I had to learn how to stack things vertically to make use of the extra height in this trunk. We had lots more stuff than she did, but I fit it into a much smaller vehicle. I also found it essential to get a roof rack. I've carried all kinds of things home from the home improvement store: lumber, 4x8 sheets of plywood and drywall, box spring and mattress, etc. We also have a cargo box (one of the long skinny ones) that we use for camping. Our huge canvas tent rolls up and straps to the rack next to the cargo box. The cargo box holds bulky-yet-light things like sleeping bags, lawn chairs, and tarps. The trunk carries the cooler, suitcases, and other gear. A trunk-mounted bike rack carries bicycles. Of course, you lose a little gas mileage with stuff on the outside, but it's still way better than an SUV's gas mileage! Douglas
We travel with 2 kids in the back...4 years old and 10 months old...not a problem at all...we use a smaller stroller and pack as smart as we can...all in all...not a problem at all -Matt
I convert my Prius from hauling the U.S. Mail to hauling two kids (5 & 7) in about two minutes. Yes, there is not as much room for other stuff in the back, but traveling light and packing smart takes care of that. I do have a hitch and hitch mounted bike rack. I suppose a "hitch hauler" thingie could be used if you keep the load light enough. (Note the Poor Man's Seat Covers in the pic below)
