My boss is looking to buy a new Toyota Prius. Apparently there is quite a waiting list, and if she buys it from a franchised Toyota dealer she will almost certainly have to pay top-whack. Does anyone know if it is possible to buy this model from a reliable broker, and does anyone have any idea as to what whe should be paying?
Cheers?
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In the USA waiting lists are long around 7 months, and according to some reports Toyota are switching to building more cars for the US market and less for the European market.
www.hybridcars.com/prius-waiting-list.html
There isn't really any advantage in this country to having a Hybrid because Diesel offers such good MPG. In the US they are an advantage because the Prius is an automatic transmission and Diesel cars are only sold by VW and Merc-B (and can't be sold in some states).
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"There isn't really any advantage in this country to having a Hybrid"
For the owner, maybe, but cars that run on electricity in towns must be a huge benefit to pedestrians. It seems a good compromise to me, although the level of complication involved is a bit off-putting at present.
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www.drivethedeal.com have them at very small discounts....
I know that it allows one to avoid the central London congestion charge but I've never actuall seen one out on the roads, so no need to pay more than list price I would say...
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Strangely enough my long term Prius II is not registered to avoid Ken's tax so if I took it into London I would have to pay.
HJ
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So does that mean that we can look forward to a long and detailed, warts and all, report at some time H.J.?
The Prius appears to be an interesting car, I had opportunity to have a look at one at Goodwood recently and certainly felt it would figure on my list of possibilities when next changing my car, so your comments after a long term test would be useful.
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"my long term Prius II is not registered to avoid Ken's tax"
Any particular reason, HJ, or is it just not your problem?
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What's the battery life reckoned to be and how much to replace them? Presumably this will knock the used value when they're due for replacement?
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It's because it's owned by Toyota and run by me, and I'm not on the V5. Makes me wonder how they organise it for leased cars, though.
HJ
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Hello HJ,
Yes, I too would welcome a report at some point on what you think of your Prius, since I have thoughts in that direction myself.
Hoping you will be able to oblige,
Many Thanks,
Galaxy
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I saw one heading southbound on the A1 near Peterborough on Saturday.
--
Matthew Kelly
No, not that one.
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I read v disappointing fuel economy in the 'What Car?' long term test; 43 mpg or something ie nowhere near the quoted 68 mpg; What are you getting HJ?
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I've averaged 50. MPG drops alarmingly at constant speed on the motorway because there is no regeneration. But driving regeneratively I can get 60mpg. One trick is to set the cruise to 40 and switch to electric in the M25 contra-flow. You only stay on the electric motor for 2 - 3 miles, but using no petrol at all helps push the average up.
HJ
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And how do you like it? If that's not pre-empting your report...
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