Here You Go Guys - Enjoy Hybrid "Debate" in the UK

It may come loaded but as a buyer, I'd rather they unload the options that I don't want and lower the price. I didn't buy a Prius for taking it on vacation, I need a Prius to go to work. KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) works best.

However, Toyota is not going to do that. They load the PiP up to make it more attractive so that sales man could claim that buyers are getting a good value. It's only good value if they would give me something I really need. Like do I really need heated seats? NO, cold seats actually help me lose some weight. Do I need NAV system? NO, I'm going to work most of the time, I know where I'm going. Also, my smart phone has GPS that I could use. Do I need solar roof? NO, I'd rather park in shades because sun light is actually bad for the paint.

 

In the U.S. anyway, the solar roof is not an option on the PiP.

 

prius_in_pa strikes again.. what is this, his 3rd user account now?

Frankly, its hard for me imagine what goes on in his head that would make him go through the effort of creating multiple IDs and then coming to priuschat daily/hourly to bash a car he has clearly said multiple times is not the right car for him.

 

The heated seats really help minimize the need for using the heater/fan. Maybe you don't want it for you but your wife will want it.

If the battery dies after 150K miles you have likely already gotten a good value out of the car. But more likely the battery will just be degraded in capacity. At this point you have four options.
1) live with it...even with a degraded capacity it will still far exceed the battery in a regular Prius, which at 150K miles will still get better mpg than a regular Prius
2) get the battery reworked, identifying the worse cells and replacing just those
3) get a battery from a newer, damaged PIP
4) Buy a new replacement battery (probably a poor choice)

Mike

 

Jnet's argument was used to compare Prius to a stripped down Corolla. Nothing new here, move on.

 

Never need the heated seats. This is something that someone would want, not need. Besides, on a very cold day, I use a 700 watt space heater to heat the entire cabin before I leave. Passengers also have 12v electric blanket available. With the entire cabin pre-heated, it's better than heated seats.

 

Mike...thanks for the info. I'm not saying you're wrong but I'm saying the battery will be my problem once it's off warranty. It's basically unknown what is going to happen. I don't get to charge my battery enough to make it worth it for me to take that risk. If I could charge the PiP battery 2 to 3 times a day, then I would definitely say it's worth it. It's just basic accounting, if you're going to buy an expensive equipment, don't let it sit around doing nothing. I need to recover my investment as soon as I can. But in order for me to maximize the use, I will have to keep charging the battery but I don't have access to charging stations outside of my house. Many people are in the same situation I'm in.

 

Good catch Tracksyde. It's at least his 3rd go at this. I think some of us suspected this for a while, but now there is definitive proof. Kinda entertaining, though.

 

Your calculation lacks the resale value of the two cars, a bit unknown but must be taken into account IMO.
In Israel, a car is loosing 36-38% of its value as new in 3 years, so your GBP 11000 is actually about GBP 4000 for 3 years cycle.

 

The depreciation on the PIP in the UK isn't anything to write home about. You can pick one up for £20,000, which is a drop of £8,000 in 1 year. Saying that, there were only 2 second hand cars for sale nationally. Hardly a big seller.

 

I always drive my car to the ground. Resale value will always be zero

 

I figured you would!

 

...its hard to imagine PiP Li battery death being any worse NiMH battery death in standard Prii. I mean NiMH death is quite rare but when it happens it's sudden death with no warning.

Of course in CARB states (not me) we get 10-yr 150k miles battery warranty thats a ton of kilometers in UK lets just say >225000 kM warranty some states get.

 

We're still miles over here. I think it's the UK and US who still use them officially, but that aside the warranty on the newest Prius is 100,000 5 years for the car with the hybrid system getting 8 years. Not as good as the CA warranty, though one would hope that Toyota would build it to last (though some gen3 experience indicates it might not).

 

Thank goodness!!

 

Mine was £19k for a one year old car with 15k on the clock. But I don't think many of the ones advertised were true resales, mine was a dealer reg car that had been used by an employee and for demonstrations as most listed by Toyota at present probably are.

 

The difference is the price. The Li battery in the PiP is much more expensive. Besides, I'd buying something that I can only charge once a day and when I'm away, I won't be able to charge. Why would anyone buy something expensive and not able to use it frequently. PiP isn't a toy to me.

 

You took the words out of my mouth. I would buy a PiP or any plug-ins if the price was right.

 

Troy, you are right. But why stop at just the (maybe) $5000 cost for the PIP battery? Why buy a $25K car and then go on a vacation without it. Isn't this 5 times as bad? Stay home and drive that expensive car.

Mike