Ooh, maybe a little bitter.
I sometimes think we Americans tend to pamper our vehicles. Still, if it’s that close, making two trips is no hardship, and your muscles will be glad of the break as well.
Although I personally wouldn’t be worried about carrying that much on a short trip (I think I’ve got approximately the equivalent car), I wouldn’t take it at highway speed: In a sudden turn or stop, 900 lb of tiles is going to do a lot more damage to me as the driver than 3 of my friends crammed into the back would.
Also, remember that if you do any fast turns, you’ll probably let air out of your tires.
How much does it cost to have them deliver the tiles? Shifting 900 lbs several times is going to be a serious workout. Your back will thank you.
They wanted $125 to deliver them.
As it happens, my daughter came home from college with the RAV4 this weekend so I used that. The weight still exceeded the rated capacity but it was no problem at all. The car handled fine, and it was a two-mile trip on suburban roads.
My back is also fine 
Thanks to all who contributed and that’s my all’s-well-that-ends-well ending.
I know the job is done, but wanted to chime in with some science!
I have done a lot of hauling of brick, etc. in my Toyota Matrix with a similar loading capacity. And the moment I go over the 700lb total mark (including myself), my braking distance nearly doubled. Acceleration times went up by 50%, but was really the braking that was most compromised. I never approached the full weight limit as I really don’t feel that there was much give in that given already the enormous performance decrease.
I’ve rented the HD truck several times, and that’s never been my experience. I get the truck reserved, go shopping, load the truck, and then tell them “I’m leaving now,” and that’s when they start the clock for me. The clock stops when I arrive at the customer service desk with the key.
Interestingly, I don’t remember ever buying fuel for the truck, or being told to do so. I think the idea is that you probably can’t drive very far in an hour (especially if you’re going to take any time at all to offload your cargo), so you can’t use much gas (big-rigs get 6 MPG; I would guess the HD truck gets at least 10 MPG). I think maybe they are willing to cover the gas to facilitate rental of the truck on the theory that doing things this way helps them sell bulky items that people otherwise might not want to buy.
Mythbusters successfully hauled (video) a gigantic load of building materials on a tiny car. Note the support beams keeping the roof from collapsing. I can’t imagine that car was in great shape afterward.
As I said up-thread I just recently rented a box truck from HD. That’s my only experience with HD rental vehicles, but FWIW I too saw none of the shenanigans Duckster shared.
The rental was per day, not per hour. And yes, I was supposed to bring it back full of gas which I did. As they explained up front, the flat price included some small number of miles (30?) and excess miles were 50 cents per. Which excess they charged on my return.
The process was indistinguishable from renting a car at any brand name agency. Organized, computerized, and seemingly trustworthy. No BS.
Anyone who posted here probably knows this but 1/2 ton of ceramic tiles takes up surprisingly little space. I just laid them out in a single layer. There was enough space in there to load at least 5,000 pounds.
And somewhere in the poorer corners of the world, it’s been done. 
Surely in modern America it can’t be that rare for people to haul 900 pounds worth of humans in a midsize car. Four average men will almost do it. Would they sell cars with five seats if four men, or three fat people, are going to make the car unsafe to drive?
Good point, although four average men is within capacity.
The car seats five. U.S. male average weight is 195[sup]1[/sup]. Five of those would be 980 pounds.
- I guess the nation is overweight. I’m 5’10", which is a fraction of an inch over average height, and only 170, and my doctor tells me to watch my weight.
Honestly I wouldn’t worry too much about it, those little cars can take more of a beating than we think.
Back when I was in a different career, we had to make a trip out to South Dakota (about 500miles) since I owned a Prius and got good mileage I volunteered to drive.
We loaded up all our equipment (easily 800lb, probably more) myself (180lb), passenger (150lb)
Just about to take off, and we learn we have another passenger to take. No problem, we had space, here comes the biggest guy I’ve personally ever seen, weighing between 500 and 600 pounds.
Anyway, Prius handled it like a champ, no issues, and I drove it for another 7 years before a deer took it out of commission.
technically, yes, you can.
your suspension will need to be replaced after you’re done though.
I’ve had experience with someone who tried to use their corolla to move.
The car still drove, but it was never right again until they replaced the suspension.
That’s what you get for letting a deer drive.
Pounds are a little bigger than dollars, but gosh, they’re not so big that they don’t fit in a car.
That is a classic photo from the archives of those attempting to win a Darwin Award. The photo doesn’t even give an idea of the true damage to the car which included suspension, tires, internal punctures to the body, etc.
Make a few trips and don’t take a chance. Also remember that your acceleration and braking will suffer so drive CAREFULLY! If you somehow have an accident do you want the inertia of 900 lbs. of tile trying to find it’s way into the engine compartment?
Psst. See post #25. The OP got the job done a week ago.
Since the OP’s job is done, can I ask: what do you drive that you can’t even haul an 80-pound load in it?