Hi All, The new Toyota Prius is just launched to Dubai where I am living. You people my be wondering why on earth do I need a Prius where the fuel is so cheap (.48 cents). Even then I have decided to go ahead to buy a new prius 2016. Here in Dubai, the dealer is giving 5 years unlimited milage warranty for the car and 8 years unlimited milage warrenty for the hybrid system (provided we need to maintain through authorized dealer only). The warranty seems to be great and its definitely piece of mind. Even then, considering the hot summers here, i am actually worried about the durability of Hybrid battery and how it can perform in such Hot summers. The day time temperature during summer here will be between 40 & 50 degree celsius which will last for 3 to 4 months. Can the hybrid perform well? Will the battery die soon because of the very hot weather? I would like to have your expert opinions. This is the first time any manufacturer selling Hybrid cars here in UAE. Thanks in advance for your help. Nidheesh
If it lives in an air conditioned garage and you use its air conditioner when out and about, heat shouldn't be a killing factor, heat soak--sitting in hot air does effect the traction battery, but if you keep it cool, cool.
welcome! agree with above. but if you plan to keep it longer than 8 years, you may have to deal with the cost of a new battery at some point. might be worth asking how much, installed. gen4 is a whole new battery.
Thanks... the battery will have to be replaced after 8 years or so even if its not exposed to any extream conditions, right? My only concer is that will i be a frequest visiter to the service centre repairing my hybrid system battery, considering the extream temperature here. One more thing, can we maintain the prius outside authorizes dealers? Is this reccomanded? Thanks
the first 120,000 miles of maintenance are just oil, filters and etc., repairs not covered by warranty are often easily done by any qualified mechanic. some things are best left to the dealer. the battery either works, or it doesn't. there are no toyota authorized repairs to it. 40-50 degrees c = 100-120f or so, that's pretty warm. we do have something similar in the southwest without major problems. again, parking in the sun all day seems to be the worst thing for it. the battery has been known to last 2-300,000 miles under the right conditions.
Probably not - many PRIUS batteries are still going after much more than 8 years. One thing I'd consider doing is ensuring that there is good airflow around the front of the back seat cushion - there are 2 vents which circulate air around the battery. Also, I'd keep the air-conditioner on "all of car" rather than "driver priority" to cool the entire car rather than just the driver. The car actually works more economically in summer than winter. Before I bought it, I'd take it for a test-drive to ensure that the air-conditioner is strong enough in your heat - thought I imagine your climate is "cooler" now than mid-summer. We haven't had a summer yet here since I bought mine. To cool the car quickly, though, I change it from driver priority and send air to both face and feet (and there are feet outlets in the back seat, not face-level) so it gets maximum air-flow from vents. I also take it from ECO mode for both the A/C and the drive mode. Window tint, putting a sunshade inside front and back windows when parked will help keep the car cooler. And I suspect WHITE paint will be cooler.
Hopefully the people in living in the hot, dry climates in the U.S. can chime in (like @HTMLSpinnr) . I would use an authorised Toyota dealer only to maintain the warranty that you said was available. After the warranty expires (8 years), then you can go elsewhere if you wish. Technically you can get the regular service (oil change) done anywhere but it depends on your country's laws. In the US, as long as you keep receipts and records of the maintenance being done on the car, the manufacturer cannot deny the warranty due to "negligence of maintenance". It may be different in the UAE.
Check battery performance on a hot day, too. If the engine likes to run continuously, your fuel-economy will suffer as battery output will be limited. I noticed this after 3 Arizona summers when my fuel economy started to decline year over year. Take a look at my lifetime graph here:
40-50 C is 104-122 Fahrenheit just in case anyone else wondered. I know battery powered and hybrid cars in Phoenix seem to complain about issues more than anywhere with their hot desert Sunny daily climate. I think they run around 110F or 44C daily during the summer months. I bought mine and I'm in florida but keep my car in my garage to keep the sun off of it and knew I would need to do this to keep the batteries cooler and help keep them lasting long.
The other thing to keep in mind - TOYOTA wouldn't have released it if they hadn't tested it. I'd be surprised if PRIUS was less suited than the diverse range of cars sold in Dubai.
Yes, there any many alternatives available in this market. Now there are no fixed price for fuel in UAE any more. The prices will go up as the crude price increases. Moreover Toyota is the most trusted brand here in UAE with 5 years unlimited mileage warranty.
Actually, Bob in the UK has managed to get his 11 year old Prius to 435,000 miles last year, on the original battery AND with just routine servicing too. Source: Bob Old and his 435,000-mile hybrid - Toyota
Apparently, over the years there have been reports of Toyota testing various models including the Prius in Death Valley in the USA, which would be as hot as the UAE in the summer. I understand the concern, but one would hope that if Toyota have decided to sell a Prius for the first time in the Dubai, they would have done enough of their own tests to feel confident that the car is suitable for use in that particular market.
You can rest assured that Toyota did sufficient stress testing of Prius to simulate Mideast life, and get data for failure rates of components, esp the HV Battery. Failure rates will help them determine warranty duration. And Toyota has likely determined 8years/unlimited miles to be the service life of the car/parts in that region of the world. I wonder why there is no mileage limit? Maybe a UAE government demand? Wonder what the average mileage driven per year is out there? Now if only Samsung had done some stress testing of the Note 7, prior to product launch.
There are many manufactures offering 5 year unlimited milage warrenty for 5 years (Toyota, Nissan, Honda& Lexus) . Prius has got extra 3 more yeat warrenty for its hybrid system. At the same time brands like Ford and renault are giving only 5 year or 1-150000 KM warrenty. Here in Dubai, Toyota has got the highest resale value.
TOYOTA is inconsistent around the world - here in Australia, they have 6 month/10,000km services mandated - lowest in the entire world, and worst of their fleet of cars. It's about greedy dealer$ putting the pre$$ure on them to have them $erviced more often. No wonder they're not selling many here. At one stage they were making CAMRY here for export as well as local market - we thought it odd that ours only had 3 yr warranty whereas the export models in many markets got 5 yrs. And less frequent service requirements.
Depends on price and how they can market the car. If they extend the warranty, they can charge a bit more to cover any costs. If the market allows for a higher MSRP, then they can attack on the warranty front (like what Hyundai and Mitsubishi do in North America). Here, Mitsubishi offers a 5 year/100,000km new car warranty and a 10 year/160,000km powertrain warranty. The standard here for non-luxury vehicles is 3 year/60,000km new car warranty and 5 year/100,000km powertrain warranty (Add a year and 20,000km for luxury brands like Lexus, BMW, Audi, MB, Infiniti, Jaguar etc)
