Tired of hearing the Prius is tiny!

Hello Shellie:

Thanks for that information! I usually only use my minivan for trips like this!

Did you happen to notice if the rear suspension was "bottoming out" when you were driving home? And was the car significantly tilted down in the back? I wouldn't think so, because mulch is usually not very heavy unless it gets water logged.

Best wishes,

 

I agree with you Shellie.
I actually was one of those people a few years ago. My wife needed a new car and we figured we would take a Prius for a test drive.
Wow, was I surprised.
I have carried 8' 2x4s and 2x6s, an 8 foot lamp and many other items most people would be shocked at.
Heck, I should start taking bets with non-prius owners as to how much stuff I can fit in the car

 

I just moved a full size dresser in the back and could even close the hatch. Amazing!

 

Last fall we had a project using vinyl siding that came in sheets 2 feet wide by 10 feet long. I folded all the seats down including the passenger seat and used a blanket to protect the dash. I'm sure people in the parking lot were amazed when I put a stack of these 2x10 sheets into the car and closed the back!

 

Heck, the interior space is one reason I bought the Prius. I wanted something that could make the runs to the Home Depot and also do well on gas for my long commute.

 

That's the beauty of hatchback design....but most people used to think only SUVs can haul stuff.

 

Many, many people think of the Prius as a very small car. After all, it is pretty small on the outside!

I thought about comparing the Prius to other cars people think of not as "small" but "nice." The end result was a thread I refer to as my Bread Box thread, named 2010 Prius: Better than Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, Acura? Yep! The name was supposed to get attention!

I provided numerical comparisons among these vehicles, looking at spaciousness (or lack thereof), while also noting MPGs. (I don't want to start up any discussions here of how a Mercedes C Class is so much better in terms of seats, handling, or whatever -- the thread contains that!! I just wanted to point out the fact that interior space numbers are listed in that thread.)

There also is Tideland's thread entitled Official Cargo Capacity -- aptly named and addresses size issues in the upcoming 2010.

Info in these two threads may help you when you are talking with friends about your Prius really is quite spacious inside.

 

The Prius is the largest car I ever owned.

I always smiled whenever I parked my Geo Metro between two SUVs.

 

At 175" long, the Prius is similar in exterior size to compact cars like the Corolla and Civic.

It owes its mid-size interior capacity to the hatchback design.

It would hold even more if it were box shaped like a station wagon or, better yet, a mini-van.

Cars have grown in size. It's like an inexorable, unfortunate law of car manufacturing and marketing.

Case in point: At 175" long, which is now considered "compact", the Prius is the exact same length as the original Dodge and Plymouth mini-vans.

 

I like to say that the Prius violates the laws of physics: it's larger on the inside than it is on the outside.

 

I used my prius to take all of my stuff (and my roommate's stuff) back home from college. It comfortably fit both of us and all of our stuff (2 girls entire collection of clothes, shoes, etc.... yikes!) I always shock people with that

 

Prius is just one of the samples which defy this law.
Go look at Honda FIT and Nisssan VERSA too.....

 

When we were shopping for a new car last year, one of the things I used to check interior space was my golf bag (in addition to putting driver's seat all the way back and then sitting behind it). With the cubbies on either side of the cargo area, I can fit my clubs straight across the back of the Prius; try doing that in an Audi A6 (it doesn't work in ours) or other "larger" cars. It's great not having to put the clubs in diagonally...

 

Shellie,

You might use some old blankets to keep the interior looking fresh and new, that brick up against that fine Japanese plastic makes me worried. I use mine as a 46mpg truck all the time.

 

Five bales of hay.

(Sorry, I can't remember what that's from.)

 

Amazing! Where did you find a garden shop that sells stuff in such clean packages? :_>

 

Try searching for a thread responding to Texas Governor Rick Perry's claim something like "you can't throw a bale of hay into a Prius".

 

Don't obsess about the small size of your Prius. It's how it runs that's important.
;-)