What size rental car do we need and for how long?

[FedBaby]

We're flying to my family for x-mas. Arriving at an airport 2 hours away from where they live (to get the direct flight).

We're going to be two adults (thin, 5'6" approx. each), Graco SnugRide, and Cosco Scenera FF. We'd love to have the SngRide base with us for ease of use, but if we can't we can't.

My mom has a newer prius (2010).

1) can we fit everyone plus my mom in the prius?
2) I don't want to have her pick us up at the airport 2 hrs away and not have everything (incl. luggage) fit, so should we get a rental car for her to pick us up with (otherwise one-way is WAY too expensive. So we have her do a one day round trip rental car) and if so, how big do we need to be on the safe side?

I think we would all fit in DH's Passat Station wagon, but I don't think you can specifically rent those...

[legaleagle]

Don't know about fitting everyone in the prius but if you're just renting a car for one day I'd go with a minivan for ease of quick loading.

[hoodlims]

Agree with PP! We are renting one for our drive to the families' homes this holiday season. Don't forget, you will have luggage and possibly presents to drag around too.
I doubt you'd all fit into the Prius.

[Simon]

If you do a one-day round trip, then someone has to drive it back to the airport, no? Sounds like a PITA.

But, Prius have very small trunk space. How many bags are you bringing? Any strollers? Will you ever need to drive again after you arrive?

Have her measure across the backseat so you know the width of the seat (or look up the specs online). Then, have her look to see if the center has a bump or there are wings on the edges of the backseats, anything from the door that sticks into the space. All of those will compromise if/how you will fit and the fit of the seats in the car. From her measurement you can subtract the width of the Scenera and the Snugride (base or seat) and estimate whether you can fit an adult in between or on one side. Have you ever checked to see if the two seats puzzle well together?

We did adult plus two car seats (one booster, one RA) for a 2-3 hour drive in a Camry, for the sake of comparison (I think it has a wider backseat than a Prius but I don't know for sure). Hip space was okay because the base of the car seat was high enough for me to slide under, but shoulder space was tight. I know our trunk is larger but we also had major luggage back there so it worked okay.

I would think most "Full Size" rental cars could fit the luggage plus all 5 of you.