Pruis Discontinued

[FROSTYBALLS]

16 minutes ago, johalareewi said:

Just got an email from MrT announcing their new 30 model BEV range.

Announced in December 21 -

https://mag.toyota.co.uk/toyota-unveils-full-global-electric-vehicle-line-up/

[Mikw]

On 3/13/2022 at 9:42 PM, BhxTrev said:

Thanks Tony for that info. The Ioniq 5 wouldn’t appeal to me because of its shape. Maybe I’m a bit old fashioned?

I think the shape issue would dissapear after a while of owning it to be honest.

[TonyHSD]

9 hours ago, Mikw said:

I think the shape issue would dissapear after a while of owning it to be honest.

I think ioniq 5 is a beautifully  designed modern car different than others. 

[forkingabout]

There is nothing wrong with the shape of the current Prius - apart from it just screams TAXI

Both my work colleague ( when he had his Prius PHEV ) & my manager with his Prius + have had people attempt to flag them down thinking they where a Taxi.

Whenever a Prius or Prius + turns up at the local garage, its got a taxi plate on the back. 

[BhxTrev]

35 minutes ago, forkingabout said:

There is nothing wrong with the shape of the current Prius - apart from it just screams TAXI

Both my work colleague ( when he had his Prius PHEV ) & my manager with his Prius + have had people attempt to flag them down thinking they where a Taxi.

Whenever a Prius or Prius + turns up at the local garage, its got a taxi plate on the back. 

Hi Lee, you’re spot on. my previous Gen 4 Prius in silver was once mistaken for a taxi. I had pulled up outside a newsagents & while waiting for my wife, a lady came out of a nearby house, tapped my window & asked if I was her taxi she’d phoned for! 

I certainly consider the demise of the Prius in the UK, is mainly due to this stigma of being labelled a taxi & it put people off buying the car. Toyota rubbed this in by producing a Prius+, a seven seater version, which obviously appealed to the taxi trade.

Mind you, in defence of those Prius owners like me, taxi drivers generally only ever buy, usually second hand, reliable cars & the higher MPG for the size of the car makes it the ideal car for them. If the Prius is one of the cars of choice for taxi drivers, with the incredible punishing mileage they do, the Prius is certainly going to be a trouble free car for any normal private owner, which it has proved to be!

[TonyHSD]

Hahah, my car is first gen Auris these are rarely been used as taxi and even so I had many encounters like that, even people were opening rear door and attempted to get in, lol how ashamed they were feeling after realising it’s not a cab but private car, ahahahha , once a lady opened the door and see my shopping on the seat and said “ oh I am really sorry, I thought you are my Uber driver” hahahah 😂👍 Ok apology accepted, not the first and probably not the last time, since then I keep doors locked when coming into London. Sometimes I give lift to colleagues from the office, and all of them said that my car looks and sounds like Prius ⚡️🚗👍

[Catlover]

Just been to Chester, on the way I was watching for taxis...... I saw a Mondeo estate, Skoda Octavia, and Passat estate.  Alas, not one Prius.  To say you wouldn't buy a Prius because they are used as taxis is ridiculous.  It means you wouldn't buy a Modeo, Octavia nor Passat,  

[BhxTrev]

31 minutes ago, Catlover said:

Just been to Chester, on the way I was watching for taxis...... I saw a Mondeo estate, Skoda Octavia, and Passat estate.  Alas, not one Prius.  To say you wouldn't buy a Prius because they are used as taxis is ridiculous.  It means you wouldn't buy a Modeo, Octavia nor Passat,  

Hi Joe, I note that you’ve just been to Chester. It’s about the nearest English city from us & we frequently drive their if we’re after some large store special shopping. It’s also our nearest place in England where we can buy alcoholic drinks without the Welsh minimum pricing!

You’re spot on regarding there being plenty of other makes & models taxi drivers tend to use. Can’t say there are many taxis that are Prius cars where we live in Wales, in fact I can’t remember seeing even one in the last couple of years.

As far as I know, the local most popular taxi firm around here hasn’t got a single Toyota let alone Prius car in their fleet. If you visit the Midlands & large cities, that’s where I see old Prius cars being used as taxis. It just amazes me that the Prius has been singled out as a taxi when so many German marques including Mercedes are also frequently used.

As I’ve mentioned before I firmly blame Toyota for this branding & marketing of the Prius clearly aimed at taxi drivers. Mind you, it has backfired spectacularly with Prius sales dropping through the floor.  Nobody was going to go out of their way to buy a car with the stigma that was bestowed on it even though as you know they are nevertheless really well made reliable cars that are great to drive.

I have to say that although I’ve no intention of changing my Prius for another couple of years, my next car will be an ev. I can’t imagine Toyota will have produced anything like what is being offered by other manufacturers & even if they did, they are so far behind in the race now that I’d be reluctant to buy their offering, especially as its likely to be branded the new taxi! 😂

 

[TonyHSD]

Prius is a big cities  taxi car, London, Paris, New York, Tokyo etc. In 2018 went with my car on European road trip England to Bulgaria, we and only few more  Prius / Auris were the hybrids on motorways, almost non, but once you enter large town centres in each country and the Prius was the dominant car🚗👍

[FROSTYBALLS]

At the end of the day, no manufacturer is going to ignore the taxi market. Unless they operate large fleets (eg. Addison Lee) taxi firms or taxi owners will use either their local dealers or specialist retailers who concentrate on this sector of the market. 

By us the Auris and Auris Touring Sport were as popular, if not more so than the Prius, for use as taxis, and now Corollas are moving into the same market. Having said that Avensis and Octavias/Superbs are also popular.

The advantage of the hybrid vehicles is the access they provide to clean air and low emissions zones in cities.

[BhxTrev]

1 hour ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

At the end of the day, no manufacturer is going to ignore the taxi market. Unless they operate large fleets (eg. Addison Lee) taxi firms or taxi owners will use either their local dealers or specialist retailers who concentrate on this sector of the market. 

By us the Auris and Auris Touring Sport were as popular, if not more so than the Prius, for use as taxis, and now Corollas are moving into the same market. Having said that Avensis and Octavias/Superbs are also popular.

The advantage of the hybrid vehicles is the access they provide to clean air and low emissions zones in cities.

Hi Frosty, I agree with your comment but I do think Toyota went out of there way to promote the car as a taxi, even to the extent of calling grades below the Excel ‘Business’ editions & producing a 7 seater Prius obviously aimed at the taxi market. I’ve enjoyed owning my Prius & I can’t fault it, but I do get sick of people referring to my car as a taxi. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

4 minutes ago, BhxTrev said:

even to the extent of calling grades below the Excel ‘Business’ editions & producing a 7 seater Prius obviously aimed at the taxi market

They used the same grades for the Auris and Avensis though, and, in Europe, the Prius Plus was just the hybrid alternative to the Verso.

[CPN]

3 hours ago, Catlover said:

Just been to Chester, on the way I was watching for taxis...... I saw a Mondeo estate, Skoda Octavia, and Passat estate.  Alas, not one Prius.  To say you wouldn't buy a Prius because they are used as taxis is ridiculous.  It means you wouldn't buy a Modeo, Octavia nor Passat,  

Indeed Joe but I think the point he was making is that London is awash with them! (Prius Taxis - and he's right!)

[CPN]

2 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

The advantage of the hybrid vehicles is the access they provide to clean air and low emissions zones in cities.

That is a very good point Mike and probably the most relevant one to this discussion actually...

[TonyHSD]

Never been a problem for me that my car is mistaken for a taxi , I even found it’s funny 😄. What have happened with Prius to become an taxi icon this will happen soon to Tesla model 3, it seems getting very  popular within the trade and for a good reasons similar to Prius, eco, efficiency, reliability, comfort and ease of use. Basically the cars that been mass used as taxis are the one that are most reliable and efficient, otherwise drivers won’t be driving them. 👍

[Catlover]

1 hour ago, CPN said:

Indeed Joe but I think the point he was making is that London is awash with them! (Prius Taxis - and he's right!)

So people nationwide have made up there mind not to buy a certain model, Prius, because London is awash with them. My view is that it was a funny shape. Actually it was a shape ahead of its time for a production model. Became unpopular because of its shape. Apart from that, going back to taxis, you dont see many Gen4 taxis, especially "up north" and that probably is because the boot is a bit more shallow than the very popular taxi Gen3.

Whatever the real reason may be, i certainly glad I got one, its as if it is the car I been waiting for all through my 57 years of driving......why have you been so slow Toyota!

[AJones]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

 What have happened with Prius to become an taxi icon this will happen soon to Tesla model 3,

Used Model 3 are still very expensive, the MG5 looks a more likely taxi favourite, decent sized Battery, estate with plenty of luggage space for airport runs and it's more reasonably priced at around the cost a new hybrid. 

2 hours ago, BhxTrev said:

I do think Toyota went out of there way to promote the car as a taxi, even to the extent of calling grades below the Excel ‘Business’ editions

I'd assumed the 'Business' grade was targeted at company car drivers, rather than taxi drivers because they used it with other models like the smaller Auris hatchback, but yes it does position the car as more of a working vehicle than something for leisure or domestic use.

I suspect it was more that its features of relaxed driving with the automatic transmission combined with the fuel economy, space and reliability make it attractive as a taxi, which then works against it because a lot of new car buyers put as much focus on the image and desirability of a new car, and a car which is seen as a working vehicle struggles with that.

[BhxTrev]

2 hours ago, Catlover said:

So people nationwide have made up there mind not to buy a certain model, Prius, because London is awash with them. My view is that it was a funny shape. Actually it was a shape ahead of its time for a production model. Became unpopular because of its shape. Apart from that, going back to taxis, you dont see many Gen4 taxis, especially "up north" and that probably is because the boot is a bit more shallow than the very popular taxi Gen3.

Whatever the real reason may be, i certainly glad I got one, its as if it is the car I been waiting for all through my 57 years of driving......why have you been so slow Toyota!

Hi Joe, relating to an earlier comment I made, I referred to my previous Gen4 being a taxi choice, I meant my previous Gen3. Must be my age!

However, as I’ve said before taxi drivers tend to buy second hand vehicles & since it seems the low sales of our Gen4 Prius have made them rather scarce on our roads, I reckon there won’t as a consequence, be many Gen4 taxis to behold in the future. In fact I’ve only seen one Gen4 taxi unlike the Gen3 that virtually all seemed to be sold on to become taxis. 

[Catlover]

18 minutes ago, BhxTrev said:

Hi Joe, relating to an earlier comment I made, I referred to my previous Gen4 being a taxi choice, I meant my previous Gen3. Must be my age!

However, as I’ve said before taxi drivers tend to buy second hand vehicles & since it seems the low sales of our Gen4 Prius have made them rather scarce on our roads, I reckon there won’t as a consequence, be many Gen4 taxis to behold in the future. In fact I’ve only seen one Gen4 taxi unlike the Gen3 that virtually all seemed to be sold on to become taxis. 

With my Gen3 Prius, Trevor, I did it the other way round, it was a taxi from 55k to 105k then I bought it. Doesn’t bother me at all if a car is favourite with taxi drivers or not. 

[BhxTrev]

38 minutes ago, Catlover said:

With my Gen3 Prius, Trevor, I did it the other way round, it was a taxi from 55k to 105k then I bought it. Doesn’t bother me at all if a car is favourite with taxi drivers or not. 

Joe, just as a matter of interest, how many miles were on the Gen3 Prius when you changed it for your Gen4? My Toyota garage were telling me they have a Prius with over 300,000 miles on the clock, that comes in for service & it’s still going okay. They also told me that they have never had a Prius with a failed hybrid Battery. As I mentioned my 2016 Prius, which I bought from new, has only done about 42,000 miles & it’s driving really well. You can see why I’m happy to hold on to the car for at least another couple of years! 

[Catlover]

8 hours ago, BhxTrev said:

Joe, just as a matter of interest, how many miles were on the Gen3 Prius when you changed it for your Gen4? My Toyota garage were telling me they have a Prius with over 300,000 miles on the clock, that comes in for service & it’s still going okay. They also told me that they have never had a Prius with a failed hybrid battery. As I mentioned my 2016 Prius, which I bought from new, has only done about 42,000 miles & it’s driving really well. You can see why I’m happy to hold on to the car for at least another couple of years! 

Trevor, I bought the Gen3, a 2010 model, in January 2018. A private buy from a retiring private hire driver. It had 105,000 when I bought it, I loved it so much I traded it in for my current Gen4 in June 2018 with just under 110,000 miles. The private hire driver had done 50,000 in the two years he was using it, all service and repair receipts in his possession.                  
The Auris hybrid, also 2010 model, I bought end of July 2017 (now the wife’s car) was my first hybrid. I really wanted a Prius but in my mind I couldn’t justify the extra £1.5k-£2k wanted for similar age Prius.  I loved the hybrid concept so much I decided I must have a Prius. Hence 6 months later I got my first Prius, as above.              
On the lead up to buying the Auris I did a lot of research which led me to US sites. There I learned of Prius with 200k+ and even 300k+ miles, and no major hybrid Battery problems. It is on those sites I also picked up good hybrid driving techniques. So I knew that treated well a Prius can do lots of miles without major problems, not that I am likely to achieve very high mileage.
 

[BhxTrev]

2 hours ago, Catlover said:

Trevor, I bought the Gen3, a 2010 model, in January 2018. A private buy from a retiring private hire driver. It had 105,000 when I bought it, I loved it so much I traded it in for my current Gen4 in June 2018 with just under 110,000 miles. The private hire driver had done 50,000 in the two years he was using it, all service and repair receipts in his possession.                  
The Auris hybrid, also 2010 model, I bought end of July 2017 (now the wife’s car) was my first hybrid. I really wanted a Prius but in my mind I couldn’t justify the extra £1.5k-£2k wanted for similar age Prius.  I loved the hybrid concept so much I decided I must have a Prius. Hence 6 months later I got my first Prius, as above.              
On the lead up to buying the Auris I did a lot of research which led me to US sites. There I learned of Prius with 200k+ and even 300k+ miles, and no major hybrid battery problems. It is on those sites I also picked up good hybrid driving techniques. So I knew that treated well a Prius can do lots of miles without major problems, not that I am likely to achieve very high mileage.
 

Joe, Thank you for that info.

[davidif]

19 hours ago, Catlover said:

So people nationwide have made up there mind not to buy a certain model, Prius, because London is awash with them. My view is that it was a funny shape. Actually it was a shape ahead of its time for a production model. Became unpopular because of its shape. Apart from that, going back to taxis, you dont see many Gen4 taxis, especially "up north" and that probably is because the boot is a bit more shallow than the very popular taxi Gen3.

Whatever the real reason may be, i certainly glad I got one, its as if it is the car I been waiting for all through my 57 years of driving......why have you been so slow Toyota!

Its certainly not just London that's awash with them, loads in Birmingham too!

[Catlover]

10 minutes ago, davidif said:

Its certainly not just London that's awash with them, loads in Birmingham too!

Still wouldnt deter me from buying a car I like, proves it must be reliable, can get it repaired when needed, comfy for 4 people and good luggage space.  

That meets a lot of people requirements.

[davidif]

5 minutes ago, Catlover said:

Still wouldnt deter me from buying a car I like, proves it must be reliable, can get it repaired when needed, comfy for 4 people and good luggage space.  

That meets a lot of people requirements.

Joe, I agree entirely and certainly if I needed a bit more space it would be on my list.