Jap Toyota Prius - any reason not to?

Gumbo

Lads,

My father in law is just about to pull the trigger on a 2014 Prius.
It’s a Jap import and will be used to replace his 2008 Octavia 1.9 tdi as his taxi.

Is there anything that I should look out for on the Jap. Weston (JDM).

I’m no stranger to Jap cars but my own usually revolve around Evo’s and Tyoe R’s etc so with the Prius I’m a bit lost.

The dealer has mentioned he can swap out the large screen radio but will that mean a loss of features such as reverse camera etc?

Outkast_IRE

For use as a Taxi ? . Just be wary of the seats, i know a few drivers who changed for the Prius and found the seats were killing their back.

Soarer

Would he not be better off getting a slightly older Irish/UK model? Heard about possible insurance issues too.

n97 mini

I'd agree about the back thing. Dunno about the Euro model Vs the Japanese model, but the seats in our 2010 were tough going on a long journey. There is lumbar support but it wasn't in the right place (and didn't work right either).

1874

Id wondered about buying secondhand hybrids including Jap import hybrids,
Im guessing a 2014 is going to be ok, and a petrol jap import we got was nicer all round and inside than an equivalent Irish spec car, but much dearer.
Looking at hybrids, battery wear and life was something that concerned me,
I think it could be a simple enough fix to renew a hybrids batteries, but Im not sure if the replacement batteries or other parts are available here.
Ive found some websites in the past looking up how to check and replace batteries/cells but it was U.S.A orientated and while Im sure the batteries are the same, Im not certain about the availability.

Is there not a loss for a taxi driving a petrol? Id have thought diesel would still be preferable.

Gumbo

Soarer wrote: »

Would he not be better off getting a slightly older Irish/UK model? Heard about possible insurance issues too.

No not really due to our 10 year taxi rule.
For every year older he buys, is a year less he can work the car.

Anyway, he loved it. Deposit paid and collecting next week.

1874

Is that 10year rule in effect? I heard about it when it was to be introduced, but I thought a backlash to say it didnt make sense prevailed

mgbgt1978

The 10 year old rule still remains.

Any taxi you see over 10 years old will have been licenced by it's driver prior to the regulation coming into effect....but will not be allowed continue as a Taxi after it's 15th 'Birthday'. And must be NCT'ed and Licence renewed very 6 months.

The next Car purchased by that Driver will then join the 10 year old rule.

colm_mcm

I’d find the seats very unsupportive but otherwise the Prius makes a great taxi. I have seen some JDM mk2 priuss with 2013 plates. I couldn’t live with the infotainment being in Japanese. If it doesn’t have a touchscreen though it’s less of an issue.

Gumbo

1874 wrote: »

Is that 10year rule in effect? I heard about it when it was to be introduced, but I thought a backlash to say it didnt make sense prevailed

Yes has been in force for some time now. But, because of the fuss kicked up, existing owners could extend it to 15 years once they didn’t change cars. For example, my cousin has an 04 E60 525d as a taxi. Immaculate and cleaner than most private cars and he can use this until 2019 but then his new car will fall into the 10 year cycle.

colm_mcm wrote: »

I’d find the seats very unsupportive but otherwise the Prius makes a great taxi. I have seen some JDM mk2 priuss with 2013 plates. I couldn’t live with the infotainment being in Japanese. If it doesn’t have a touchscreen though it’s less of an issue.

Part of the deal is that the Jap touch screen is removed and he got a brand new Bluetooth single dim radio put in its place. Yes he will loose some steering wheel controls etc but he drives with the radio off anyway. I will keep the Jap radio should he ever want to sell and we have the oem part or if it can be co figured to work.

Not sure if his is 2nd or 3rd generation though. It’s a 2014 Car. Bought from a dealer in Rush who sells to taxi drivers regularly so 2 year warranty applies even as a taxi which which is a big benefit as most garages wouldn’t offer the warranty once they knew it was going to be a taxi.

The dealer is also arranging for the NCT and swapping out the privacy glass as they too are banned on taxis

thierry14

Sounds a good deal

How much roughly do these go for?

colm_mcm

Will he still have climate control functionality?

1.5 is mk2 and 1.8 is mk3

Gumbo

thierry14 wrote: »

Sounds a good deal

How much roughly do these go for?

Got it for €13,500
21k miles.
One owner from new.
NCT
Serviced
2 year warranty

colm_mcm wrote: »

Will he still have climate control functionality?

1.5 is mk2 and 1.8 is mk3

Yeah the climate control functions are physical buttons on the dash.

RandomAccess

I think from recollection of taxi journeys that the energy transfer screen remains in Japanese which might be bothersome to some.

colm_mcm

Ah yeah, if it’s physical buttons, it’s a mk3.

thierry14

kceire wrote: »

Got it for €13,500
21k miles.
One owner from new.
NCT
Serviced
2 year warranty



Yeah the climate control functions are physical buttons on the dash.

Thats an excellent price

Very shrewd

liam7831

Not to be negative best of luck to your father with the new car, but how can you really believe any mileage on jap imports as clocking by second hand dealers over there before export happens quite a bit

1874

liam7831 wrote: »

Not to be negative best of luck to your father with the new car, but how can you really believe any mileage on jap imports as clocking by second hand dealers over there before export happens quite a bit

I have wondered in the past is this some kind of myth, most jap import cars I have looked at are usually very clean for their age and appeared to reflect the mileage on the odometer compared to the wear,
we got an older jap import car, but it was really very clean, whether any kms had been knocked off, I couldnt say (Im sure it can be checked and probably easily before purchase, but as Id be reluctant for anyone to start plugging into my cars ODB port, I can see why I might be declined myself), but compared to the same age Irish car, they were still better condition, better looking trim and spec.

Gumbo

liam7831 wrote: »

Not to be negative best of luck to your father with the new car, but how can you really believe any mileage on jap imports as clocking by second hand dealers over there before export happens quite a bit

Some will have service history. Some have the auction certificates and some you find a few bits and pieces inside them that tie in with the mileage.

But mostly, you have to base your opinion on condition. It’s not my first Jap import to say the least so I’m happy that the mileage is there or there abouts. It’s in better nick than my 141 Leaf.

zilog_jones

n97 mini wrote: »

I'd agree about the back thing. Dunno about the Euro model Vs the Japanese model, but the seats in our 2010 were tough going on a long journey. There is lumbar support but it wasn't in the right place (and didn't work right either).

There was a facelift in 2012 - I know there were changes to the interior, but I wonder if the seats were changed at all? I have a post-facelift model with half synthetic leather seats and adjustable lumbar support, and find it fine on long journeys. Been up to Belfast from Cork a few times.

1874 wrote: »

Looking at hybrids, battery wear and life was something that concerned me,
I think it could be a simple enough fix to renew a hybrids batteries, but Im not sure if the replacement batteries or other parts are available here.

There is certainly a lack of hybrid specialists in this country - I'm not aware of any. So if you want to fix a failed traction battery, it's either a DIY job, or take it to a Toyota dealer where they'll replace the whole thing for €2.5k+.

But the reality is that they're very unlikely to cause trouble until they're over 10 years and >200k miles.

Is there not a loss for a taxi driving a petrol? Id have thought diesel would still be preferable.

I'd imagine hybrids make a lot of sense for taxi drivers, especially in cities. Diesels are not efficient when sitting around idling, or at low speeds in heavy traffic - and that kind of driving is bound to cause DPF trouble.

kceire wrote: »

Part of the deal is that the Jap touch screen is removed and he got a brand new Bluetooth single dim radio put in its place. Yes he will loose some steering wheel controls etc but he drives with the radio off anyway. I will keep the Jap radio should he ever want to sell and we have the oem part or if it can be co figured to work.

You should be able to get cables to connect the steering controls to any aftermarket stereo. If you had a double-DIN headunit with colour screen, you can get adaptors for the reverse camera too (loads of this stuff on eBay).

Not sure if his is 2nd or 3rd generation though. It’s a 2014 Car

2nd generation ended production in 2009. 3rd gen facelift in December 2011 (for JDM) - some minor interior and exterior changes, mainly with the lights.

I've seen Japanese imports in the UK where they managed to change the instrument cluster to English, though I don't know how this was done. It's not something that can normally be set by a user anyway. Fuel consumption in km/l would probably be the most annoying aspect.

n97 mini

zilog_jones wrote: »

There was a facelift in 2012 - I know there were changes to the interior, but I wonder if the seats were changed at all? I have a post-facelift model with half synthetic leather seats and adjustable lumbar support, and find it fine on long journeys. Been up to Belfast from Cork a few times.

Ours was the top spec, so full leather. One odd thing I found was the seats were slightly too wide for my arse and I'd slide sideways on the seat in corners. Not much, probably only 1cm. Never had it in any other car.