5th generation Prius.

[Cs233]

Some initial information indicates the base Gen 5 Prius will be around 28kUSD this is cheaper than the Corolla here. Base Corolla in US is also less than 23kUSD. UK buyers are being completely fleeced when it comes to prices 

[Cyker]

Well nothing new there; I remember when I was a kid, games that were $20 there would be £20 here despite the massive difference in exchange rate!

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Cannot really compare US prices with UK/Europe. Manufacturers/importers tend to set prices according to the individual market, and US prices have been lower than UK/Europe for years.

Non-hybrid Corollas start from $21,550.

Specs and models also differ. Around 70% of Toyota models sold in the US are built in there - including the Corolla, Camry, Rav4, Highlander, Sienna, Tundra, Tacoma, Sequoia, etc.

[TonyHSD]

Should I buy a new Prius from abroad and take a p,… with Toyota driving pass their dealers or visiting for service parts?! 😂👌👍

[AisinW]

USA specs Toyota and Honda are often bare basic and years ago even available without AC.  USA MSRP price is also without Tax and delivery  charge. Tax depends on the states 8-12% and delivery fee is few thousands dollars. Whatever the price you see online, we roughly add about 15% extra out of dealer price.

They often add Scam type charges like stripe/stiker $200, sealant/protection=wax coating for $300+, etc. The best way to avoid it is ordering car and asked not to put anything before dealership get the car on their lot. Emails the sale manager and skip the salesman.  

The 5th gen Prius in Europe will be plugin only 220 HP and similar MPG as the 4th gen. 2.0 L engines combined with newest Electric Motor is very potent.

 

[FreddoChoc]

https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/motors/2022/1117/1336726-the-end-of-the-road-for-toyotas-full-hybrid-prius/

The last paragraph mentions - The Prius plug-in is due to arrive in Ireland in the middle of next year.

 

[AisinW]

In my opinion, EV is disposable, too expensive to buy, too expensive to run if we do not have cheap electricity like in Germnay (33 cents per kWh at home),67 cents /kWh fast charging.  70 km range plugins is just enough for most commuter in Europe and additional 900 Km is something that EV will not reach at that price range for the next 10 years.  Besides that, it is not disposable, still can run if one of the Battery module fail just like Prius 2nd gen I had before.  

The price is not cheap anymore, above $35k vs $25k (in 2010) but still acceptable compared to disposable toilet paper cars like Renault Zoe and most VW, Benz, and BMW. 

[Cs233]

I know at least 8 people that have emailed Toyota UK, not sure if it is closed ears though. This Prius looks great so much nicer than the Corolla

[Harters]

11 hours ago, Cs233 said:

I know at least 8 people that have emailed Toyota UK, not sure if it is closed ears though. This Prius looks great so much nicer than the Corolla

I have too, but don't think it will do any good. Got a standard reply. 

Don't understand why Ireland is getting the plug-in version. Do they have a much higher demand than us?

[adidev]

It is interesting, what is happening at Toyota HQ. I'm a very happy Prius+ owner. I intended to keep it as long as possible, but with the new govt announcement (UK), I started to look for fully electric. Personally, I like BZ4X, shame the boot space is smaller to what I have now, but, I guess, it's a trade off for the batteries. At the same time, I read that Toyota isn't really interested in EV market. The BZ4X range scandal left me even more puzzled. I always considered Toyota's hybrid system as the best and was expecting the same from EV. Perhaps, it's because they want to retain being a reliable car after 10 years and hundreds of thousands miles. When the Prius 2023 was announced, I won't lie, I was disappointed that it's another hybrid. Nothing actually was a "wow" factor, when I read about it - looks okay, extra EV range - not as much as I would think, it was just like rally? I know there are guys like the sporty look and extra umph. After being a big Toyota fan, I'm slowly losing interest. I think the new road tax is one of the factors why Toyota is not interested selling the new Prius in the UK. I heard opinions that people would rather buy a cheaper ICE car and pay higher road tax as this is less complicated and less initial cost.

[TonyHSD]

36 minutes ago, adidev said:

It is interesting, what is happening at Toyota HQ. I'm a very happy Prius+ owner. I intended to keep it as long as possible, but with the new govt announcement (UK), I started to look for fully electric. Personally, I like BZ4X, shame the boot space is smaller to what I have now, but, I guess, it's a trade off for the batteries. At the same time, I read that Toyota isn't really interested in EV market. The BZ4X range scandal left me even more puzzled. I always considered Toyota's hybrid system as the best and was expecting the same from EV. Perhaps, it's because they want to retain being a reliable car after 10 years and hundreds of thousands miles. When the Prius 2023 was announced, I won't lie, I was disappointed that it's another hybrid. Nothing actually was a "wow" factor, when I read about it - looks okay, extra EV range - not as much as I would think, it was just like rally? I know there are guys like the sporty look and extra umph. After being a big Toyota fan, I'm slowly losing interest. I think the new road tax is one of the factors why Toyota is not interested selling the new Prius in the UK. I heard opinions that people would rather buy a cheaper ICE car and pay higher road tax as this is less complicated and less initial cost.

I agree with you. 
Toyota seems has no interest of making evs and I don’t blame them. 
However they still do the best hybrids and the tech is available in all their cars. If anyone looking for a bev there are plenty good ones starting from £25500 MG4 EV . Plenty of choice now, so even if Toyota doesn’t offer any bev it’s not a big deal. And tbh their bz4x is not a competitive car, perhaps anything else in its class seems better. Electric cars hasn’t got most of troublesome components that ice cars has therefore they are all more reliable. No need to stick to Toyota to have a reliable long lasting car. If you want ice or hybrid, then Toyota/ Lexus are the best no doubt about it. 👍

[Cyker]

It's not that they don't have any interest in making EVs, but rather they don't have interest in making them *now*.

Toyota tend to plan well in advance and their whole plan for EVs culminated in them bringing out their first EVs in the latter 2030's; The plan for 'now' involved hybridizing their entire fleet, which they are well on the way with, and ploughing money from that into funding R&D into hydrogen and Battery research, as they recognized very early on the only thing holding EVs back was the power source.

The idea was, by the late 2030's they would have nailed Battery tech, most likely solid-state batteries, and could make EVs more generally usable, as much so as current ICE vehicles, and unlike current EVs which are only usable in certain use-cases and still fall well short of the utility of ICE cars in many areas.

This was all because 2040 was the original ICE cut-off date that the world had more or less agreed on, but then later this was brought forward to 2030 and I think it caught Toyota out and they're still butthurt over being screwed over like that, as it's really messed up their plans. The problem is the R&D they've ploughed into more advanced hybrids won't have enough time to be recouped before they transition to EVs, which means they may not be able to advance Battery tech to where they want in time.

 

[TonyHSD]

And the latest models like Prius and the up coming chr looks like unborn bev transformed into a hybrids 🫢😉

[FROSTYBALLS]

6 hours ago, adidev said:

I think the new road tax is one of the factors why Toyota is not interested selling the new Prius in the UK.

The major factor must be that sales of the previous Prius, Prius PHEV and Prius+ fell off a cliff in the last two years. New registrations in the UK for the three models combined for 2021 and 2022 together, only came to around 4,700.

[Cs233]

The older Prius was slow and not the best looking car in the world, the latest one looks great has the performance to match but Toyota UK seem to lack the commercial common sense to realise that it is a very different beast this time. They should give it a go, much better looking than the rather boring Corolla in my opinion. Just don't understand Toyota UK decisions they say SUVs and crossovers are the in thing in the UK but then fail to offer even the Corolla Cross?! Not sure they understand the local market.

[Cyker]

That's the feeling I get too. Like, I could really have done with the heated seats and steering wheel right now in my Yaris, that the Euro-spec ones get, but Toyota UK apparently think it's not needed in the UK!!!

 

[Ancient Nerd]

13 hours ago, Cyker said:

That's the feeling I get too. Like, I could really have done with the heated seats and steering wheel right now in my Yaris, that the Euro-spec ones get, but Toyota UK apparently think it's not needed in the UK!!!

 

They are presumably fitted to the base models in Southern Europe😂

[davidif]

14 hours ago, Cs233 said:

The older Prius was slow and not the best looking car in the world, the latest one looks great has the performance to match but Toyota UK seem to lack the commercial common sense to realise that it is a very different beast this time. They should give it a go, much better looking than the rather boring Corolla in my opinion. Just don't understand Toyota UK decisions they say SUVs and crossovers are the in thing in the UK but then fail to offer even the Corolla Cross?! Not sure they understand the local market.

I think that the Corolla in both hatch and estate are anything but boring looking and their conservative good looks probably contributed to the drop off in sales of the Prius with its more challenging looks.

[Cs233]

It is down to personal preference of course but I do not like the Corolla, like the durable hybrid drivetrain but not the car and styling. Within the next 12-18 months I was hoping to downsize from my current Lexus ES to a new Prius but not willing to replace it with a Corolla. Personal opinion of course but I also think the Gen 4 Prius that has been discontinued in general had better build quality than the Corolla.

[Harters]

Thought I would have a look on Toyota.ie site and look what I saw 🤨

Apparently the US can order them now.

Probably a minefield I know, but I am definitely going to investigate whether it would be feasible to import one when they are released.  Probably the biggest issue would be warranty and whether or not UK dealers would want to touch it as they would not have the training and possibly new equipment needed to maintain it.  Think I have just answered my own question 😆

Such a shame 😕

 

[Cs233]

For those interested some test drives of the new Prius are now on YouTube, here is one:

 

What a fantastic car, lots of other test drives starting to appear as well. This is non plugin and 0-60 is 7.5 seconds, the plugin will likely be around 1 second faster. Far superior to the Corolla in my opinion

[Harters]

Yes I’ve watched a few already and it’s a crying shame we’re not getting it!

Very refreshing to see people so excited about a Prius 👍

[davidif]

58 minutes ago, Cs233 said:

For those interested some test drives of the new Prius are now on YouTube, here is one:

 

What a fantastic car, lots of other test drives starting to appear as well. This is non plugin and 0-60 is 7.5 seconds, the plugin will likely be around 1 second faster. Far superior to the Corolla in my opinion

I would like to have a close look at one although it would seem that this will have to wait until I am next in the US or maybe mainland Europe.

I certainly wouldn't make any judgement as to whether it is 'far superior to the Corolla' without actually seeing one!

[Cs233]

In the eyes of Toyota it sits above the Corolla in the range, Prius has always sat above the Corolla it is mentioned in the test drive video 

[Cyker]

Indeed; The Prius has always been the flagship hybrid - Tends to be more efficient and slightly better appointed inside than the more 'common' car.

I don't know what's happened to the Toyota design department lately, but whatever's changed has been a change for the better! Their cars have never looked so consistently good!  

I used to lament their design choices, as clearly someone in Toyota could design an understated but good looking car as proven by the original GT86, which really stood out compared to the blander or just plain ugly/busy/trying-too-hard designs of their previous cars, and it's good that they've noticed the positive response to that and brought that to the rest of their models; They've got a much better balance of a good looking design but without over-doing it as some of their attempts in the past have!