After lurking here for a few days, I am in the market for a hybrid for my wife. Looking for some help in thinking through the options.

Relevant facts:

a) Nearly 100% around town driving (errands, etc; no commute)
b) 200 miles +/- per week
c) Needs room for two car seats (one rear facing)
d) Needs head- and leg room for 6'4" husband (me)
e) Needs room in the trunk for a sizeable double stroller

I'd prefer to see if we can meet these needs with either a Prius or a Civic as they seem to get the best mileage.

Any helpful comments appreciated. Great board.

Hi,
The Camry is a very nice vehicle and so too is the FEH. The are large enough that when the little ones out-grow the child seats, everyone will still fit.

Bob Wilson

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I think you will be surprised by the interior room of the Prius. The cargo space is also pretty good and should fit your needs.


To get the best economy out of these short trips you will need to learn how to run the HSD system to go in electric only for small distances. This will make a big difference in your econmy for short distance trips. Once the ICE is warmed up you either accelrate slowly and only use the electric motor or punch it and get up to speed quickly and take foot of the accelorater till it shuts of the ICe and then glide (no charge) by lightly applying accelorator or push it a little more to maintain speed with electric motor. Takes a bit of getting used to, but will make a big difference in gas mileage while still getting there at the same time.

You should be OK driving the Prius. I'm 6'4" too, and I have more than enough leg and head room. My only complaint about driving comfort: the seat bottom could provide a little more thigh support (it's not vertically adjustable). But I've taken trips as long as 300 miles, and with regular breaks I've done fine. Other tall drivers have reported some discomfort, especially on long trips. I can't say whether it's better or worse than the Civic; I never test-drove the latter.

As Bob mentions, the Camry is an option and will be a more comfortable and roomier ride, but for more money and lower fuel economy.

Rear seat room in the Prius is ample. One of the reasons I chose the Prius over the Civic is for that. My teenaged daughters inherited my height (one is 6' and the other 5' 10"), and they fit in the back seat with no problem. I think your children will be fine, in their car seats now and when they outgrow them later

As bulldog suggests, the cargo space is good, but I don't know how large your stroller is. The only advice I can give is to try it on the dealer's lot. The hatchback is great and it's surprising how much cargo you can carry with the rear seats folded down, but that of course is not an option for you.

Also as bulldog suggests, with a little study, practice, and application of "hypermiling" techniques, you should substantially improve your fuel economy as time goes on. I suggest you search the topic here and on the other Prius or Civic Hybrid forums.

Jim

Lifetime fuel mileage:

After learning how to hypermile:

Thanks, fellows. We're headed to the Toyota dealer this evening to compare the Prius and the Camry. Later in the week we'll hit Honda. No local dealer seems to have an Escape.

I'm going to assume that 2 car seats = plenty of other kid stuff to tote.
If that's true - the Camry Hybrid trunk may not suit your needs. Its small.

When I bought mine, there were only 2 concerns:

1) if my mother-in-law's "cadillac" (wheeling walker with basket and seat) would make it into the trunk, it does.

2) would my 6'3" spouse have enough head and leg room - he does.

I still remember how sad I was to sell my Fiat Spyder 2 seater when I couldn't squeeze the baby's car seat onto the rear bench. Bought my first sedan then, 1979 Honda Accord.

Good luck in your search!
~rule

Update: We checked out the Prius and the Camry Hybrid this afternoon.

Disclaimer: I have a Ford Excursion, and my wife has a 6 cylinder Passat. Pretty large and pretty zippy, respectively. Meaning that the below is colored by our experiences with these and similar cars. Please don't think I'm evil because I have a four ton truck.

Observations:

• New Camry body style is 10x more appealing than that of any previous generation.
• Camry seemed quite underpowered indeed. However, this is not a muscle car but a (fairly) high mileage vehicle.
• Interior room is about what I'd expect from a mid-sized sedan. About the same size as my Passat, really. Or so it seems.
• Barely enough headroom.

• Prius is really cool looking, inside and out.
• Headroom slightly LESS than that of the Camry. Too low.
• Like the hatchback, but cargo area is pretty small.
• Can't see out the slit in the back very well.

All in all, we're going to keep looking. Hondas are next. Then the Ford Escape Hybrid.

One thing you'll likely notice is that Civic's trunk is not very large either - in fact - it has approximately the same cargo volume as the Camry Hybrid.

Other than that, the Camry should be more accommodating of drivers with with "larger frames" as it is a larger vehicle anyway -more comparable to the cabin volume of the Passat.

Cheers;

MSantos

Checked out the Hondas today: both the Civic and the Accord.

Net: we're going to keep our existing vehicles. The Accord offers little gas mileage improvement over the Passat; the Civic is too small for two adults, one toddler, one infant and all the associated gear.

Maybe next generation.

One of the thing I found really convinient about the MMH/FEH is the seat is about the right height to make putting in a car seat or a toddler and belting them up, or better yet, a heavy infant carrier very easy without bending, or lifting too much. Good cargo room too, and without the kids, loads of cargo room for a small SUV. Your 200 miles/wk sounds like my wife's commute, and she's getting 24-25mpg (AWD).