I do this (edit: build furniture) for a living. I have a roof rack on my Civic for getting lumber, and I occasionally rent a cargo van for deliveries.

Be aware that nominal lengths are usually approximate. I busted a windshield in the Civic because I knew I could fit a ten footer. Turns out my ten foot board was 10' 2" and when I was wiggling it to get the back end in the trunk, I wiggled it into the windshield wrong :-(

I had that happen.

I knew I had successfully put in a 10' piece of plastic conduit before. I tried it again, wiggled a little too hard, and crack. The 1" conduit is not as flexy as 1/2" and that was enough to cause a problem. I use a towel on the windshield end now.

I have transported a bunch of lumber with two Civic sedans, mid-1990s and mid-2010s. Small cars with seats that fold down, kind of like the Prius in that respect.

If possible, I get the store to cut the stock down beforehand. Works for 4x8 sheets of ply, for example. To fit in my car, it kind of needs to be less than 36" wide and not much more than 8' long, but specifics vary.

If I need basically a full sheet (4'x8' or 5'x5'), I put a blanket on my car roof, put the wood up top, and use 2 moderate-duty ratcheting straps (less than $20) to hold it down. No problem.

If it's long stuff (for my car, ~10') then I either put it up top, or let it hang out the back with a red flag on it. You can optionally get an accessory for your car to hold the trunk lid partway open so it does not sway up and down throughout the trip home. Keep the driver's window down a bit so you don't pull exhaust into the car.

Another solution that I've used to avoid delays getting pieces cut down is to take a saw with me. A basic $25 Japanese-style pull saw will do a great job on mouldings (and is just a good tool in general), and a hacksaw works for thinner metal. Some people take a battery-powered circular saw -- again, not a bad tool to have anyway, especially if you're bought in to a given battery-powered system (e.g., Bosch, Makita).

I live in a city, and this means I often have to take surface streets on the way home. I favor closer lumberyards for that reason.

Home depot will rent you a pickup for an hour for $20. And you can drive it to pick up at stores that aren't Home Depot.

There's also the idea of making friends with someone who has a larger vehicle. Minivans work almost just as well and are more commonly available.

A Prius is one of the best compact cars you can have for this purpose, it can easily fit 8' lumber that's 2' wide, stacked 2' thick. In mine (2008), I drop the back seats, slide the front passenger seat forward and tip it all the way back, both extremely easy.

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm convinced with the right strapping and padding, and driving at low speeds on a non-windy day, you could also strap full 4x8 sheets on the roof.

You'd be surprised how many mom and pop places will deliver. And like others have said, for anything else, there's always the rental truck or a U-Haul.

If you want nice furniture, listen to all the other comments here. If you want the joys and sorrows of woodworking, look into making boxes.

We're not talking about apple crates here. Some people make some very nice boxes. You can start simple and get more complex, but even the simple projects require precision and care. You can involve all sorts of advanced woodworking techniques like inlay, homemade veneers, marquetry, hidden joints, it's an endless list. You can't really buy nice boxes like you can build, unlike furniture. And you end up with nice gifts, especially for people who appreciate fine craftsmanship.

8' (or even 10', depending on your model) studs can probably fit inside the vehicle if you fold down the rear seats and use a towel to protect your dash. If you have a sunroof, it's even possible to transport a few 12' boards by sliding them up through the sunroof and out over the hood/bonnet (again, with a towel to protect the roof). It looks ridiculous, requires taking slower backroads and is probably best done when there is little/no traffic but it is doable.

You can drop the back seats and fit wood from the end of the dash to the back of the trunk. I put a movers cloth on the back of the seats to prevent it from getting messed up. You can use a hand towel on the dash to prevent it from getting scratched.

But you cant really fit a 4x8 sheet into the back of the car, truck rentals might work out. But honestly if you have a buddy with a truck, just ask, and if they say yeah, fill up the tank for them when your done with it.

I had a 2003 Pontiac Vibe, a hatchback, and the best feature, next to the variable valve timing, was the hatch glass lifted up apart from the hatch. All I had to do was lift the glass and slide in long lengths of lumber. Brilliant design feature that I remember from my family's obligatory station wagons from the 70s and 80s. I still love wagons...

If you have a Home Depot nearby, they rent trucks for like $19 for the first 75 minutes. Go for a wood run, rent the truck for an hour, buy enough to make it worth it, and return it.

From what I've seen though, wood isn't cheap to have delivered. They can cut it for you in the store, but obviously a prius still isn't best to ship it in.

Maybe find a friend with a truck or light trailer that you can borrow every couple of months?

Transporting the full sheets of plywood can be really hard. But I have a hatchback and that's the only thing I have had really a lot of trouble with. I have had 16' long pieces of trim hanging out of the back of my car. As long as it isn't dragging on the ground you can still get it home! Now getting those 16' pieces down in to my basement was the real challenge...

I had the same problem and what I do is cut the big 4x8 panel in to 4 equal size pieces. 99% of initial woodworking projects are small. You are rarely making big giant dining tables and every car fits 1x4 panel.

My local lumber yard offers free delivery.

Also, I have fallen in love with the fold down rear seat on my Civic. You can fit surprisingly large objects in the car with the seat folded down.

Near me we have U-Haul (not sure if they're a national company) and you can rent a truck for $20 and then it's something like $1 a mile.

if you have a smaller vehicle, just stick to smaller sizes. At HD (or any large box hardware store) you can have them cut large stuff down.

The biggest things I put in my SUV are large plywood panels and long dimensional lumber. Those can be strapped to the roof if you have a top rack.