5th generation Prius.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Topics merged.

[BhxTrev]

16 minutes ago, mysecondavensis said:

I  have been looking forward to seeing what Toyota would do for the fifth generation Prius.  They have introduced a very promising looking car but not import it into the UK.

I'll have to keep my Business Edition plus a lot longer which will save me even more money and be better for the environment, but this is likely to end my 20 year history as a Toyota customer. Sad!

Tony, I feel exactly the same as you though I have to agree with Frosty over the decisions being made because of low sales. Nevertheless, I shall like you hold on to my Prius longer than I’d planned & I guess my next car will be an ev but therefore, not a Toyota.
 

The crossover cars that seem to be promoted by Toyota don’t appeal to me. They seem large all body, bulky vehicles & what I’m after is a normal hatch back ev. VW, Nissan & Tesla seem to offer the kind of ev car I’d prefer & other companies are making similar vehicles, so   I do question why aren’t Toyota offering a similar ev?

[mysecondavensis]

In 2010 I did a lot of research on HSD and decided the technology of the Prius and its functionality was exactly what I wanted.  The gen 4 was a brilliant follow up.  I have no interest in other inferior hybrid technologies or other models from Toyota or Lexus. Thank you.

 

Edit.  I have contacted my dealer and Toyota GB to tell them of my disappointment -.  Now I can get used to loving my Prius into its old age!

[Yugguy1970]

I'm puzzled as to why the e-four and plugin drivetrains aren't making it into the 2023 Corolla.

[TonyHSD]

I made a joke with Toyota uk in their Facebook page about the new Prius and what they offer here, haha they even didn’t reply to me this time 😂👍

[Cyker]

It's just this bizarre blindspot they have with not understanding their customers.

The whole reason the Prius didn't sell well is because it had no USP and had the stigma of being a Prius. It was a very efficient but soul-destroyingly boring car, looked a bit crap (Except for the last one, which I quite like), the driving dynamics were non-existent and everyone thought you were a taxi. Most sane non-fanatical people bought the Auris instead because it did almost everything the Prius did without being a Prius.

The Corolla was just the nail in the coffin - It looks good, is just as efficient, has great driving dynamics and it's called a Corolla.

The improvements they've made to the new one make it much more attractive - It actually looks *good* for the first time, and that plus the improved handling and performance stats make it much more desirable. They could change the whole perception of the name Prius, as they have with the Yaris!

But no, they make the same mistake they made with the GR Yaris and underestimate its desirability to their customer base and instead try to sell hausfrauenpanzers and chelsea tractors in a market already flooded with hausfrauenpanzers and chelsea tractors.

 

[Cs233]

It is a huge own goal, when I replace the current vehicle in the next 18 months to 2 years will look to import one if not for sale here

[mysecondavensis]

My Prius would normally be replaced in 2024 for the new model.  There are reservations about the unattractive dash of the new Prius but usually the improvements in a new model overcome any reservations I have.  If gen 5 is not imported into UK I am looking at keeping mine for a lot longer until my needs change or a suitable desirable replacement is available.

My BE+ model is exactly the spec I wanted and has black trim and a light grey interior.  It has done 30,000 perfect miles.  We do about 2,500 miles of longer trips per year and the 630mile range means I rarely have to add fuel on a week away. The north of England and South coast round trips are easily accomplished.  No EV can do this. I don’t find it relaxing on holiday to be looking for somewhere to “charge” a car.

Apart from the pleasure of driving the Prius, the practicality is necessary too and ability to carry long loads.  The running costs inc insurance and servicing are very reasonable.  As an engineer who advocated for HUDs, rear facing cameras and speed control in cars many years ago I have a soft spot for the technology in the Prius.

[BhxTrev]

3 hours ago, mysecondavensis said:

My Prius would normally be replaced in 2024 for the new model.  There are reservations about the unattractive dash of the new Prius but usually the improvements in a new model overcome any reservations I have.  If gen 5 is not imported into UK I am looking at keeping mine for a lot longer until my needs change or a suitable desirable replacement is available.

 

My BE+ model is exactly the spec I wanted and has black trim and a light grey interior.  It has done 30,000 perfect miles.  We do about 2,500 miles of longer trips per year and the 630mile range means I rarely have to add fuel on a week away. The north of England and South coast round trips are easily accomplished.  No EV can do this. I don’t find it relaxing on holiday to be looking for somewhere to “charge” a car.

 

Apart from the pleasure of driving the Prius, the practicality is necessary too and ability to carry long loads.  The running costs inc insurance and servicing are very reasonable.  As an engineer who advocated for HUDs, rear facing cameras and speed control in cars many years ago I have a soft spot for the technology in the Prius.

 

Henry you’ve more or less summed up my feelings about the Prius. My car is 12 months older than yours & since completely retiring I’m not doing much mileage in my car now. Last time it was serviced in August this year I’d done about 4,000 miles since the previous service. This is mainly due to the fact that I tend to walk a lot more to keep active in retirement. I’ve done just over 44k miles in total in my Prius & I really can’t see any reason to change at the moment. I might have considered the new Prius Gen5 but it won’t be available in the UK so that’s a non starter!

[Devon Aygo]

It seems both dealer and customers alike are unhappy with Toyota GB's decision not to offer new Prius, if you really want it, bombard Toyota make them sit up and listen:

https://www.toyota.co.uk/help-centre/#/iframe/https%3A%2F%2Fforms.toyota.co.uk%2Fcontact-us

agustin.martin@tgb.toyota.co.uk

[BhxTrev]

1 hour ago, Devon Aygo said:

It seems both dealer and customers alike are unhappy with Toyota GB's decision not to offer new Prius, if you really want it, bombard Toyota make them sit up and listen:

https://www.toyota.co.uk/help-centre/#/iframe/https%3A%2F%2Fforms.toyota.co.uk%2Fcontact-us

agustin.martin@tgb.toyota.co.uk

Hi Lee, thanks for your links & concerns but I for one have no intention of going cap in hand & begging Toyota to allow imports of the Prius. If they have no intention to export the new Prius to the UK, fair enough. After many years of buying their marque I’ll be moving away because they’ve got nothing else I’m interested in, so I shall be buying some other make. I’m quite disgusted but no way mate am I going implore them to send us their new Prius. I’m the customer & it’s a big market out there. Sorry but there you are!

[Cyker]

Well the point is they don't think there is demand for it here, due to terrible sales of the previous ones, so it's understandable they wouldn't want to waste money trying to bring the new one here.

The only way they will is if there is demand, and the only way they will know there is demand is if people who will actually buy it tell them!

[BhxTrev]

25 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Well the point is they don't think there is demand for it here, due to terrible sales of the previous ones, so it's understandable they wouldn't want to waste money trying to bring the new one here.

The only way they will is if there is demand, and the only way they will know there is demand is if people who will actually buy it tell them!

Cyker, that’s their decision not that of a lot us on this forum. Like I said there’s absolutely nothing that Toyota offer me if they don’t export the new Prius to the UK. It amazes me because the cars they produce for their own market drive on the left so I’d have thought it would be natural to export ALL of their cars to the UK. However, they’ve taken that tack so as I said before I’ll be looking elsewhere when I change my Prius. So much for many years of loyalty to Toyota, it means absolutely nothing!

[Cyker]

It is their decision, based on the perfectly logical premise that nobody bought them, so if nobody lets them know there is demand, they'll continue to operate on this premise.

I don't really care as I'd never buy one - It looks cool but doesn't fit my usecase at all - but for anyone who it would be the perfect car for would be remiss if they didn't show Toyota there is demand.

But yeah I also don't get why they don't just use the same models from japan - The japanese Mk4 Yaris is much better than the euro-spec one (IMHO... well not really IMHO, it's objectively better - It (can) have a 360 degree camera, AWD and self-parking!) and I don't know why they made a slightly different model for the euro-spec one (I think they're saying we're fat - One of the differences is the euro-spec one is wider than the JDM spec one  ); I know the regs don't match exactly so some modifications would be needed, but even so!

I assume there are some sort of trade barriers or something as it's always been this way - The JDM cars have always seem to be better than the export ones in terms of spec, features, quality etc.

 

[TonyHSD]

People generally buy whatever is available around or locally. They stopped buying Prius because other new Toyota hybrids were available, some people liked previous generations Prius some didn’t, and offering more models with same tech means and good and bad. Cannibalism has happened and Corolla has ate some of the Prius sales but Toyota didn’t loose anything. They should offer at least the plug in hybrid in uk as simply alternative to rav4 phev, definitely a market for that car. I am not crying for that Prius because I have no plans to buy one but also because of the steering wheel and dashboard. As long as  There are Corolla available and previous Prius as used cars, I am covered, Toyota take decisions and they will either win or loose. We loose nothing. 

[forkingabout]

Unfortunately the Prius just screams TAXI & that isn't an image Toyota UK wants to aspire to.

A work colleague owned a 4th gen white Prius plug in & my manager currently has a Prius +

Both have had people ask if there a taxi / attempt to flag them down.

Toyota UK make decisions & sometimes there dumb, seeing as the new Prius is 5th gen hybrid tech plus it's TNGA so technically the staff in the workshop won't be that out of there depth with it. Shame Toyota can't just allow determined UK customers to order a Prius - maybe have a single UK spec available with decent level of equipment to factory order. Have a couple of demo only vehicles dotted around the country & move them about the dealer network occasionally.

[Yugguy1970]

For what's it worth I've emailed Toyota, only took a few minutes of my time and you never know.

It's interesting that down the years Japanese makers have never been very keen on officially giving us jdm spec vehicles.

Like Honda made a 215bhp version of the ep3 type r civic, manufactured in Swindon, but didn't actually sell it in the UK.

[mysecondavensis]

[Harters]

3 hours ago, Yugguy1970 said:

For what's it worth I've emailed Toyota, only took a few minutes of my time and you never know.

It's interesting that down the years Japanese makers have never been very keen on officially giving us jdm spec vehicles.

Like Honda made a 215bhp version of the ep3 type r civic, manufactured in Swindon, but didn't actually sell it in the UK.

I did the same thing and got a reply the next day, reply below:

"I understand your disappointment in the new Prius not coming to the UK. 

The new mode Prius we feel represents something fundamentally different to its predecessor, which doesn't A-line with current UK consumer needs. We are aware of the popularity of the Prius especially in the private hire market, we are still able to cater for operators who continue to require our reliable hybrid technology, with the UK built Corolla Touring Sports estate.

We know the Prius has a loyal following, so we do appreciate you taking the time to email us to voice your concern."

No idea why they mention private hire as I did not mention that I was a private hire driver (which I am not), I am a cash buying person who happens to love his Gen 4 and would love to have the chance the buy the Gen 5, but I guess there is not chance of that happening 😕

Crying shame, especially as it is getting such rave reviews, some from people who would never even considered a Prius in the past, but would now just from its looks alone!

[Cyker]

Don't be disheartened - This is their semi-standard response to things; You are just the tip of the proverbial ice-berg; If enough people pester them they'll eventually change their tune.

I had a similar e-mail back when I e-mailed them about their trend of removing the spare wheel from their newer cars - doesn't align with customer's needs, environment, fuel efficiency etc blah blah but I think they've had so much flak for that it seems to have been reversed as most of their current vehicles now have spare wheels again!

 

[TonyHSD]

I don’t think this generation Prius will be a successful car for the following reasons and also not coming to uk not a big deal too.  
Firstly the times for Prius as a package are over. Currently the Battery electric cars are getting promoted and largely sold to the public, similar to diesel vehicles back in early 2000’s, everyone can see it’s a Tesla time not a Toyota.
People with money either buy Tesla or other expensive bev or sports cars. Prius has no place under the sun anymore, simply because the difference between Corolla and Prius is minimal. There are also other models that adds on to the cannibalism that happens within the Toyota brand and it’s to be expected. Only the phev variant of Prius 5 is interesting but coming to uk will cost minimum £40k, if not even more, money that no one would like to pay for it.
Potential buyers can get full ev (bz4x, Tesla 3, I’d 3/4, Hyundai 5 etc) for that price and Toyota are well aware of.
This is the reason why we will not have a Prius officially imported here, no matter how many letters they will receive. 
And yes , why would you need a Prius when there are excellent Corolla, Yaris, Ch-r, RAV4 etc? If you really need a phev and you need ev range, just buy an electric car. There are plenty to choose and they are not bad, plus more and more are coming. 
Prius is no more, and that from one of the biggest Prius fans  👍

[johalareewi]

Will new prius be available in Ireland?

[BhxTrev]

Just paid Toyota for the next two years toyota breakdown cover. The documents arrived today but there were no credit card size cards with details in case I break down, that I found useful to put into my wallet & it doesn’t seem that this cover is really Toyota but just the AA that Toyota have negotiated a decent deal with. I know that the breakdown warranty was always backed by the AA but it seems now that Toyota are trying to arms length themselves from the service.
 

Together with Toyota not exporting the new Prius to the UK & what I now perceive to be a watering down of their breakdown service, I’m beginning to wonder if Toyota are serious about their future trade & development in the UK. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

3 minutes ago, BhxTrev said:

it doesn’t seem that this cover is really Toyota but just the AA that Toyota have negotiated a decent deal with.

Toyota Breakdown Assistance has been contracted to the AA, and before them the RAC, since at least the mid-90's. 

Most manufacturers have similar arrangements. Going back to 2004, when we had Mazdas, the Mazda breakdown assistance, although in Mazda branded vehicles, was provided by Mondial Assistance. 

Similar story with manufacturer branded insurance.

[Cyker]

Yeah, it does seem like Toyota have shifted more of the admin and stuff over to the AA, but it's still worth it as with the AA you'd have to keep ringing them up every year to make the lower the price or they double it hoping you'll just pay it. Just not having to go through that hassle alone makes it worth it for me!

I do wonder what it would have been like if they still used the RAC sometimes, as when they switched to the AA quite a few forum members were concerned the quality of service would be hit...