if the trunk isnt large enough there is other enclosed volume in the car.

why not put your luggage in the back seat?

it must be a long road trip to not fit all the goods in the trunk. I have a civic hybrid and I think my wife and I could drive for about a month with what we could pack in the trunk. I am sure the civic trunk is smaller than the camry.

 

I've filled a Costco basket with stuff and managed to get pretty much all of it in the trunk. Just a couple of small fragile things went in the back seat. It's a bit of work to pack it in, but it fits.

Big suit cases might not pack as well. I think two bags would probably be better than one really big bag. We'll find out in April when we have a 4 person road trip planned.

I think that Toyota could have removed the spare and used the space for batteries and a can of flat fix. At least for me, I can't remember the last time I needed a spare.

 

Twuelfing - A quick response to why not use the backseat, two kids. But from the responses, it does seem that the space maybe small but not unusable and needs only to be managed.

 

And it helps to adopt this packing philosophy for trips away from home, even if you're not flying:

www.onebag.com

 

We have a bag that is ALWAYS over the airlines 50 pound limit (wife flies a lot so we don't get charged the overweight fee). When we flew to Kentucky for the Toyota Plant tour and to visit friends, we took the Camry to the airport and our extra large bag fit just fine in the trunk with space for our smaller carry on bags around it. I don't think I could get two of those extra larg bags on though.

 

If you stand them on end, you can get 5 or 6 medium size suit cases in the trunk.

For a long trip, I actually am considering a Camry trailer hitch and mounting my Van/SUV cargo pod on a small trailer. It would be low enough to minimally interfere with the slipstream of the car and light enough to only have a small impact on mileage.

http://www.sportutilitytrailers.com/...2TA-TS32SB.htm

If we only put pillows and odd shaped items in the pod, then we'd be talking about just 300 pounds total (the car is rated for 1,000). If you balance that properly, you could get to less than 50 pounds of tongue weight. Easily manageable.

 

Mr. Happy - Thanks for the website. Some very good ideas!

 

I got a Yakima "Sky Box" and immediatley gained 16 cu ft of additional space. I use it for skiing every weekend for 4 people's skis plus other gear to prevent water in the trunk space from melting snow. It works for luggage as well. I now feel comfortable taking my 2 sons and our dog on road trips.

 

It is? Maybe the non-hybrid Camry but the Camry Hybrid is not rated for towing anything. There have been several discussion on this board and others as to what exactly might happen if you put a hitch on a TCH. If the dealer was a dick they could possibly choose to not honor the warrantee especially as it applies to the drivetrain. Tread carefully or get a statement from your dealer or Toyota in the Sky. Preferably in writing.

 

We recently made a trip to Miami from Atlanta with our two dogs and the usual amount of luggage. Previously, we made the trip in our RX300. Obviously, we couldn't carry as much stuff as before, but we didn't miss anything while we stayed for about two weeks in Miami. We did change to soft luggage to maximize the space, and packed a bit smarter than before. The rear seats were flipped down for the dogs (one 65 lbs and the other 55 lbs) so we only used the trunk for luggage. It's true what they say about packing... Lay out everything you think you'll need and pack only 1/3 of it.

Now, if you have babies, strollers, and stuff, all bets are off.