Hi all, I’m a new member of the forum from the UK. Soon I’m going to be ordering a Prius PHV (UK name for the Prime), but before I do I’ve got some questions I’ve been hoping to get answers to. First - maintainance of the vehicle. Sellers at the real ship have openly admitted to me that very, very few PHVs have been sold in the UK and this makes me worry about future hardware support. If the car turns out to be a dud in the country, will they still supply parts for it? I don’t wanna be 8 years into ownership and find out I can’t buy a replacement battery when I need it! The infotainment system - we don’t get the fancy huge touchscreen system here you guys get over the pond, instead we get the Toyota Touch 2 system. What are people’s opinions on this? How does it compare to Apple CarPlay? My current car has CarPlay and I really like it. I know the Toyota system won’t be as good, but I’m at least hoping it’ll be bearable when compared. UK owners - do any of you exist out there? I’ve not seen many of you on the road! That all aside, I’m getting my test drive next week and I can’t wait! I’ve already test driven the normal Prius and I loved it... and everyone I’ve spoken to said the PHV is even better. Order will hopefully be going in shortly after for a May/June delivery. Thanks all!
Welcome to PriusChat! @GT4Prius has one and @Ferrarilover is thinking about it. Otherwise, we just have European members like @E-GINO, @Heikki Finland, @alpilotx and @WimN
Mine is order but I was able to test drive it for 3 days and spent far to much time sitting in one or reading the brochure. I went for the Excel version in the end. I will be keeping it for 4 years and so do expect parts etc to be a problem. So much of the car is based on the normal Prius it should be ok is my assumption. In terms of the infotainment it is perfectly fine for me. I have a Citroen at the moment at that system is poor (very slow to respond and you can’t easily control my iPhone music with it) The Toyota system at least allowed me to easily navigate through my music, playlists and podcasts without an issue so I was happy. The 8 inch screen appeared to be much better than the 7 inch screen. I have only seen one out in the wild so far after looking for about 9 months. iPhone ?
welcome! we do have u/k members with the old plug in, hopefully they will chime in with parts experiences. i don't think any batteries have been replaced yet though, as it is only 6 years old max. all the best!
I'm leaning towards the Excel version too, though the reduced cost of the Business Edition may tempt me away... You mentioned 7" vs 8" screen... is there a difference in screen size between the Excel and the Business Edition+? I know the Excel has leather seats, parking sensors and the better speakers but I didn't read anything about a difference in the screen! Either way, when I go for my final test drive I'll make sure they let me pair my phone so I can get a play with the system. Thanks for the welcome all!
The normal UK Prius has a 7” screen while all PHVs have the 8”. This is the same 8” that is in the CHR. My car is a company car and so the cost difference wasn’t too bad and it is miles cheaper than my current car in either spec. The parking sensors are important to me (I have become dependent on them I guess) so it was a simple choice. I have gone for the flat white though as I couldn’t justify the extra cost of the paint! iPhone ?
please don't anyone shoot me for using the forums improperly. Just wanted to say hello to FyeUK. I'm in the UK too and I'm getting my PHEV next week. Dealer I bought it from agreed that 99% of the Prius' they sell are not the plug-in. I've never seen them on the roads either but I like the idea of doing something different. I test drove one last year and thought it was great. We *tried* to by a Leaf but our Nissan dealer was useless, the PHEV was cheaper and gave us a lot more flexibility. I too would prefer Carplay. I can't remember if I liked the Infotainment / Nav system I know that the system on my 2011 Verso-S is awful esp the Bluetooth phone connectivity which hardly ever works. I'm hoping the new Touch 2 is an improvement! Graham
Another UK prospective PiP owner here! I currently own the "baby Prius" (Yaris Hybrid in the UK, Excel spec with all the major options). I've seen 1 PiP so far.
Welcome Here the PiP usually refers to the first generation plugin Prius. We refer to the new one as the Prius Prime or just Prime because that is the North American model name. If you say PiP here you may get wrong confusing responses. I know Toyota UK has chosen the name Plug-in Prius. Unfortunately confusing here though.
Thanks! Ahh - sorry for that! I can't edit my post, but I'm looking at the Prime (in the UK, the two versions are Business Edition and Excel). I'm looking at the Business Edition (I think the US equivalent is the Premium).
I have just got my PHV a red Business Edition my 3rd plug in. First was a gen 2 with plug in kit, then 2012 plugin, wow they have improved so much!