Prius back seat/comfort questions for adults and babies...

Somewhere in these posts are dimensions for the interior, including the cargo area. The lower ceiling in the back intrudes into the cargo area and I doubt you would get two dog crates in there, although you could carry two small dogs without crates.
The rear seat offers more leg room than I have seen in any car since the 50's, in my price range anyway. I am 6ft 2in tall. Headroom in the back for tall folks like me is tight, although not uncomfortable. I have never ridden in the back seat of a Prius, but the seats seem comfortable enough just sitting in them. I think the interior would be large enough for two adults and a child in the back seat, but pretty tight for three adults in back. My sister has a 2004 Camry; her car is signifcantly wider in back than mine, but I have more legroom in back. Depdending on the girth of the third adult, you might get two baby seats and an adult in back.
You could probably make do with the Prius for a while, but it sounds like your family is getting bigger and the car, of course, isn't. You might end up in a Sienna after all; not a bad second choice given your needs.
During my lunch hour, I'll go down and measure the back seat and the cargo deck area of my Prius and post results, in case you can't find the info. You can also try a Google search on "2004 Prius interior dimensions"; seems to me I remember seeing such info on the web.
Bob
p.s. given the huge demand for the Prius, you could keep your spot on the waiting list and, when you get the car, try it . If you don't like it you can easily sell it for what you paid for it.

 

Re: Prius back seat/comfort questions for adults and babies.

Rent one from Enterprise for a day or week. Or post your location. You might be near someone on the board with a Prius and they would be happy to let you look through it more closely.

I think not unless you are talking a drive to the local restaraunt, rather than a 3 hour trip. My neighbor has 2 in car seats and a small! 10 Y/O, it was a squeeze. Car seats are just too bulky.

Rent one Realistically, if this is your only vehicle, it isn't a prime choice with very young children and the junk you need to carry if you travel somewhere plus 2 dogs in crates. I imagine the crates would fit in the back but you get 16.1 cu ft (I presume that means packed to the rear glass and the storage bin over the spare). How big are the crates? 12x12x24" maybe? You won't be able to pack stuff all around them thus smothering the poor dogs. Of course, while the kids are small, the crates might fit on the floor under their feet If you don't do the portable crib, double stroller plus baby backpack thing, you might be fine.

Frankly, with all Prii having traction control and some models with VSC, I doubt AWD will be any advantage in an emergency situation. It's main value is in slow starts on slippery surfaces since you have 4 drive wheels instead of two. We see more 4x4s off the road in the winter than we do 2WD. The drivers seem to have some inaccurate "I've got 4x4 so I won't slide" mentality.

 

Re: Thanks!

Mike:
The dimensions of the rear cargo deck:
From the forward most part of the deck where it meets the rear seat, to the bottom of the trunk lid: 35 inches
The height of the trunk, straight vertical from the inside roofline, touching the rear seat back, to the floor: 23 inches
From that point on the floor to the rear hatch: 26 inches. The rear seat back slopes towards the hatch, obviously, so the distance from the hatch to the base of the rear seat is longer than the distance from the hatch to the top of the rear seat; about five inches difference.
At the rear of the cargo area,the distance from the floor to the hatch, vertically: 17inches.
At the hatch sill, the cargo area is 38 inches wide.
I work with AutoCad. I drew out the dimensions of the cargo area then made a box the size of your crates. You can fit one box into the cargo area, but not both, unless you fold down half of the split rear seat. Since you planned to carry two kids and an adult in the back seat at the same time you were carrying the two crates it looks like you'll have to go with the Sienna. You can draw out these measurements yourself using graph paper just to cross check what I did.
Hope this helps you decide.
Bob

 

i think you need something at least the size of a highlander, if not the sienna. the prius is fine for 2 adults in the back but there is NO WAY anything bigger than a chihuahua carrier is going behind that (well, that's a slight exaggeration but with my back seats up for seating, a small portable cooler and my golf shoes in their box pretty much take up the cargo area)

we had a van until i bought this prius. i only felt i could because our kids are now 17 and 19 and have their own cars. because it's not just the kids and their car seats and the dogs. for the next few years, add in diaper bags, a bag of toys or other kiddie entertainment, possibly even a portable playpen or other such amenities.

then it's soccer/baseball/whatever time, and you need to be able to bring everybody along plus their stuff.

if we still had to do that, we would still have at least one larger car. i realize this post gave no specifics, but still i think it's practical info.

 

I'm 6'2" tall, and I cannot even get into the back seat. My head bashes into the roof of the car before my back hits the seat cushion.

 

Re: Hmmm

 

Mike,

Sounds like we've got very similar situations. Like you, we were on the fence between the Toyota Sienna and Prius, preferring the Prius but knowing kid hauling space was a major factor.

With that in mind, my wife brought the kids and car seats (one booster and a front-facing) along to test drives of both the Sienna and the Prius. Since my wife always seems to get the "pleasure" of riding in the back with the kids when a 3rd adult is in the car, she made a point of riding in the back with the kids during the test drives. We were looking at the 8-passenger Sienna, which obviously has tons of space is a great all-around vehicle.

We were worried about the Prius being eliminated by the "3-in-back" test, but it fared better than expected. It was a little tight, but she fit -- not too much tighter than our Nissan Maxima. As others have said, the rear legroom is exceptional, but the sloping roofline makes rear headroom no place for a 6+footer. (I'm 6'4" and could never sit back there.) We don't have dogs to haul as you do, but often haul lots of stuff and were pleased with the hatchback room.

Availability was going to be the deciding factor, and we would have probably have bought a Sienna if dealers had the color/model we wanted. (they're in somewhat short supply, too). So when we we were lucky enough to find a relatively short wait list for the Prius, we decided to sacrifice some comfort and hauling room for the Prius' gas mileage, enviro-friendliness and cool factor. I figure we can live with be a little cramped until the the ideal solution comes along (maybe hybrid Sienna in a few years..)

Good luck to you in your decision.

 

i had 3 teenage girls in the back with band instruments and backpacks and gymbags and there was no storage problem. ( there were no tubas...)

but in your case. the car is plenty big enough for 4 people and two dogs. BUT where you gonna put the luggage?? unless you decide on a roof rack, you wont have room for the luggage.

i definitely would recommend a bigger car. but keep in mind, as Bob mentioned, bigger is not better and most SUV's fare FAR WORSE than the Prius is nearly every kind of collision.

 

Re: Prius back seat/comfort questions for adults and babies.

 

Thanks, that even helps me out! :mrgreen:

 

My son who is about 6'5" and over 250 pounds sits in the back seat regularly without complaints. The back of my seat shows signs of his blue jeans rubbing against it. I have put an Alpha-Omega car seat and a Graco booster in the back seat with my Daughter (kid's mom) squeezed in the middle. It is fine for very short distances but not recommended. I don't think it would work with the Britx seats--it doesn't work in my other daughter's Passat.

 

Re: Hmmm

OK, for the sake of arguement, I am going to try EVERYTHING possible to have the Prius fit your needs First, if your wife does end up in the back with 2 car seats, I hope she is a lot closer to 100 pounds than 200

How about a soft sided crate? I have one for the cat and have seen all sizes. They may not have the weight bearing needed to carry a Corgi (I don't know) but they can squeeze where the dogs aren't. If the crates are just for sleeping and car travel and the dogs can walk everywhere, this could work. Also, depending on how tall you are (ie. how far back the driver's seat is) and how tall your wife is, you might easily have 1 dog on the rear floor (as I suggested before, maybe someone could measure) with your wife and daughter in the back. Also consider cargo and Corgi could ride the shotgun seat/floor since your wife is in back. When you originally posted 1 adult in the back, I assumed 3 adults , 2 kids and 2 crates.

Mileage hit, sure. As bad as the Sienna, not hardly I don't have one (yet, 'cause I have no Prius) but I think an external carrier, such as the ones that mount in the eCoastal hitch, are pretty easy to mount/dismount. I wouldn't worry about that.

AHA! A solution. Trade in the "current" daughter for a more mellow model You will find (at least we did) that as they get older, and get to face front, they deal better with the car seats. Also, by the time #2 comes along, #1 will be interesting and Mom can sit up front, at least most of the time.

Just don't have twins, that will screw my whole plan here ;-)
As I said, Enterprise Rent a Car has them here and people in other areas have said Enterprise has them. Must be one near you? My neighbor is renting from Enterprise as he is currently working far enough from his office that his employer pays for either mileage or rental. I think most of the time, it is a single person car.

 

Me too.

 

hmmm i would think that putting a young child in the 3rd row would force stops for child care things that inevitably come up at the most inoportune times

 

I this home Newf must be free to roam, spread slime and hair everywhere. Sasha fits nicely in the rear with one or two seats down so she can annoy the folks in the front and get bones at the bank. The Prius is officially approved by the reining Empress of the Universe as satiable Giant breed car. Crates, Crates, we don't need no stinking crates. Big Dogs rule.