Advice on purchasing a Toyota Prius Hybrid Japanese import

Wheelerdealer

I’m looking to buy a 2012-2014 Toyota Prius Hybrid 1.8, there are only a couple of Irish Models available grossly overpriced and with high mileage. I’ve been in several Japanese Imports as taxis and they swear by them. I know the insurance is slightly higher I use business class insurance. I don’t know why?Any recommendations or advise on buying a Japanese Import also looking at the Honda Insight.Thanks

garrettod

Hi,

Funny, that's one thing that I've also noticed, they are a popular car with Taxi drivers, and again, anything I've heard from Taxi drivers has been positive.

BarryM

Ask a taxi driver what to do?

Gumbo

Wheelerdealer wrote: »

I’m looking to buy a 2012-2014 Toyota Prius Hybrid 1.8, there are only a couple of Irish Models available grossly overpriced and with high mileage. I’ve been in several Japanese Imports as taxis and they swear by them. I know the insurance is slightly higher I use business class insurance. I don’t know why?Any recommendations or advise on buying a Japanese Import also looking at the Honda Insight.Thanks

My father in law has one 2 years.
He loves it.
He went from a 1.9tdi Octavia to the prius, a 132 reg. He bought from a dealer in Rush that specialises in them and brings alot in for the taxi industry.

The insurance thing stems back to the JDM scene and the lack of immobilisers on the cars and in theory the parts can be harder to source and hence, more expensive.

corks finest

kceire wrote: »

My father in law has one 2 years.
He loves it.
He went from a 1.9tdi Octavia to the prius, a 132 reg. He bought from a dealer in Rush that specialises in them and brings alot in for the taxi industry.

The insurance thing stems back to the JDM scene and the lack of immobilisers on the cars and in theory the parts can be harder to source and hence, more expensive.

If u want serious bang for your buck- 14 insight ,,,but go for the highest spec,sat nav,paddle,sensors,lane assist,etc etc

unkel

kceire wrote: »

My father in law has one 2 years.
He loves it.

He still should have bought a Leaf. He would have loved that even more and his wallet would agree

grogi

kceire wrote: »

My father in law has one 2 years.
He loves it.
He went from a 1.9tdi Octavia to the prius, a 132 reg. He bought from a dealer in Rush that specialises in them and brings alot in for the taxi industry.

The insurance thing stems back to the JDM scene and the lack of immobilisers on the cars and in theory the parts can be harder to source and hence, more expensive.

With this rate of imports, it actually might be easier to get second hand parts for Japan import than domestic one...

zilog_jones

I don't think parts are a problem for this Prius, it's pretty much the exact same car sold there as it is here. There's only one engine/powertrain configuration.

One big difference: Toyota Ireland will maintain the hybrid system warranty up to 15 years with an Irish or UK hybrid (with annual checks) - they will not do this for a Japanese import, and any diagnostics for a JDM car will be on a "best effort" basis.

And anyone who says you can't get a history check on Japanese imports is not keeping up with the times
https://carvx.jp/

eagerv

There is pretty good value in Irish/Uk models at the moment, especially if the health check has been kept up..


Says he with an Irish Mark 2 for sale at the moment...(Co Wexford):):):)

joinme

kceire wrote: »

My father in law has one 2 years.
He loves it.
He went from a 1.9tdi Octavia to the prius, a 132 reg. He bought from a dealer in Rush that specialises in them and brings alot in for the taxi industry.

The insurance thing stems back to the JDM scene and the lack of immobilisers on the cars and in theory the parts can be harder to source and hence, more expensive.

Do you know if the dealer in Rush onky does japanese imports or does he do Irish/UK models?

Gumbo

unkel wrote: »

He still should have bought a Leaf. He would have loved that even more and his wallet would agree

I agree.
He works about 3 hours a day and drives like miss daisy, but I didn’t want to get involved in the charging side of things.

Plus he likes his nights away and will often drive to them.

corks finest

joinme wrote: »

Do you know if the dealer in Rush onky does japanese imports or does he do Irish/UK models?

Also check Declan Gill Santry,loads of Japs,decent skin also

D13exile

kceire wrote: »

My father in law has one 2 years.
He loves it.
He went from a 1.9tdi Octavia to the prius, a 132 reg. He bought from a dealer in Rush that specialises in them and brings alot in for the taxi industry.

The insurance thing stems back to the JDM scene and the lack of immobilisers on the cars and in theory the parts can be harder to source and hence, more expensive.

My mate bought his Prius from the guy in Rush. Immaculate car inside and out. However the stereo had to be changed as it didn’t have the ability to tune in Irish stations. The car didn’t come with parking sensors or a working Sat nav. He found a guy on donedeal who fitted a rear reversing camera for him. It’s a good car but not Irish spec.

zilog_jones

Irish/UK spec gen 3 Prius mostly won't have parking sensors either, but they do have cameras. Satnav is as good as useless on them anyway - no live traffic in Ireland, no free updates after 3 years, and slow clunky interface. Just get a decent dash/windscreen mount and use Google Maps or Waze on your phone.

FM radio is a common issue with Japanese imports, you can get expanders but it's still not as good as getting replacing it with something that does it properly.

kceire wrote: »

He works about 3 hours a day and drives like miss daisy...

You saying he crashes his car regularly? It's Driving Miss Daisy, she got a chauffeur!