Anyone in the UK fancy swapping their 15" wheels for my 17" wheels...?!

can't believe no one's taken you up on that offer !!
.

 

Have you thought about whether it would affect depreciation on your car - when you go to sell it with "odd" wheels, it may be more difficult to sell?

 

There's a conversation going on at the moment in PriusChat [called "2016 Prius Four Touring....Whoah! Those aren't alloys!"] regarding the legality of swapping 17" > 15", apparently illegal in Germany. Whether it's an EU edict or Germany, I'm not sure - though didn't I hear that UK left the EU?

It could be worth talking to TOYOTA first too. There's always the possibility that there are other changes in manufacture of a car with 17" wheels (or 15") - some of which may not be published, but only in technical information. Possibly alignment differences, amount of steering limit to give clearance for wider tires, changes to turning circle, power steering assist rates, even different components to account for differing weights and stresses (shock absorber, spring rates).

 

DON'T DO IT. The 17s are worth so much more money and they look way better than the 15s.

If you need to do such a drastic thing, go buy a used set off Ebay or something and keep the 17s.....just in case you change your mind later.

 

On the flip side... Would anyone know if the stock 15" alloy wheels from a 2016 will fit my 2013 with straight up?

 

Darn. If I were in your country, I'd swap you in a heartbeat.

 

Don't forget to inform your insurance company, it will affect your policy, as it's classed as a modification.

 

Good thought - It could be a good idea to ask them first. I had a friend who modified his car (exhaust, wheels, tyres etc) and (I suspect also because of his age) his insurance company cancelled his policy when he advised them.

While you're going from wider to narrower, insurance companies have a narrow view sometimes.

 

Not sure switching in the UK is that big an issue, I got the Business Edition + which normally comes with the 17" wheels and specifically asked for them to be changed to the 15" as tax wise I would save an additional £480 a year.

Imagine though some calibration alterations would need to be made for the size difference and I would suspect your insurance might drop.

 

How does that work? Is there a separate mpg rating for the 17" wheels, and accordingly a different tax status? That's quite a bite, btw.

 

In the U.K. If you have a company car or a car purchased through salary sacrifice you are charged company car tax, this is based on the CO2 emissions of the car. The 15" wheels take the CO2 level into a lower tax threshold, 70g/km versus 76g/km. The tax difference between the two rates is an additional 4%.

 

Do as they do in South Africa -- just re-badge the vehicle into a lower tax status!

 

That wouldn't wash in the UK because the manufacturers dealership submitted the precise vehicle specifications direct to our Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency DVLA and insurers have direct access to that info. Therefore any un-notified deviation from those specifications could void your mandatory driving insurance. Everything here is computerised and shared freely between garages, DVLA, insurers and police, so there is very little wriggle room.

 

Interesting.

 

That particular Big Brother has yet to arrive in ZA...

 

George Orwell saw this coming well before 1984!

 

I'm sure I read that the turning circle with 17" wheels is approx 2 feet more than with 15" wheels. Something to consider, as I don't find the turning circle to be that great to start with even on 15" wheels.

 

That's the case with 3rd gen. I'm forever ending up a bit diagonal in parallel parking spots.