I have long admired the space inside my 2005, but these last two weekends have made me realize how handy it is with the seats folded down. Last weekend my wife bought two swivel patio chairs. My son had the pickup, so I went to the store in the Prius and to my surprise the two chairs fit in nicely - and the cargo tie down straps supplied from the factory worked great to hold the hatchback slightly open for the drive home. Great cargo straps and built in tie down loops in the back of the Prius. This past weekend, we went to get mulch. Put a large moving pad (blanket) in the back of the Prius to cover the whole area and keep it clean and I was surprised again to be able to put 20 large bags of much (2 cu ft) easliy in the back and be able to shut the hatch. I could have fit a couple more bags. Really a great car and very useful space, I love it!
I Love it. I fit so much stuff in there its not even funny. The best part is when I go biking and people ask how can I fit my bike in there? It's a station wagon for pete sakes!!! LOL
My REASON I was able to get a Prius. Bass Violin, Amplifier, Stool. P A System and ANOTHER MUSICIAN! All fit nicely, Unbelievable!!!! Steve
I have fit so much in there, I thought it would burst. It's something else. You can put the front seat flat down, and with the rear seat down, you have tons of space.
That would be the TARDIS car. A möbius would only have one surface and as such wouldn't have an "inside" or an "outside". I suspect that Toyota hired someone who specializes in transdimensional engineering to ensure that the Prius would be dimensionally transcendental.
I've gotten a 6' aluminum ladder in with the hatch closed, and both front seats useable. Also two molded plastic Adirondack chars + Ottoman. (Ladder and chairs were separate trips)
Recently, we bought a small wicker patio set from CostCo... it has two chairs, two ottomans, cushions for the seat and back as well as the ottomans, and a table with a glass top. It's packaged in a huge box. People looked at us like we were nuts as we wheeled that big box out to the Prius in the parking lot. I just proceeded to open the box and put each piece into the car, fitting it in like a big Tetris puzzle. I noticed that a CostCo guy was watching me, and as I got the last piece in, he came over... he looked impressed as he offered to take away the big cardboard box. But I just said 'thanks', smiled, folded up the box and stuffed that in the car, too. We even fit both people and a dog (who all sat in the front)...
PriuStorm--that's a great story. I love imagining the whole thing playing out. One of the reasons I got my Prius was the cargo capacity. I traded in a 1997 4Runner, which I purchased in part so I could haul large cartons containing artwork to be shipped and art materials. When I started thinking about the Prius, I was at first worried about the carrying capacity, until I went to the dealer with a tape measure and actually checked out the dimensions. The Prius will hold an amazing amount of cargo. I'm impressed with the report of 20 2cf bags of mulch--the 4Runner could hold 30, but only with it packed to the ceiling, so I usually limited the load to 20-25 bags. I'll certainly admit that the 4Runner would hold more than the Prius, but the Prius will hold plenty, and most of the time, the 4Runner was empty--and using 16-18 mpg of premium.
I'll add my tale of cargo capacity: Three years ago my wife and I went to the garden center in our brand new Prius. We were shopping for bamboo. By folding the seats down and putting down a large blanket, we were able to buy three large potted bamboo cultures - the pots were about 14 inches across the top and about as tall and the bamboo was approximately 8 feet tall. All three were placed laying down with the pots at the back hatch and the tips of the plants just touching the radio controls on the front dash from between the seats. We even put a few bags of mulch into the rear seat foot wells. Needless to say, we caused a few folks to scratch their heads in confusion watching those huge plants disappear into such a small car.
Thanks for sharing, snakeman! I'm a gardener who has had fun putting small trees inside my Jeep, and I'm looking forward to the same flexibility when I get my Prius.
When I bought the car in Oct '04 it was purchase just because it was a hatchback, when there was a dearth hatchback cars on the market. We need it to transport my wife's entire show booth including four 6.5' poles. Her entire booth with poles fits into the interior of the car without anything carried on the roof.
