The Prius is due to be available for the first time, here in Blighty (UK), from July. Due to the rear door handle issue I suspect this won’t happen. Toyota never intended to market the Prius here but a few months ago they changed their mind and decided to sell it as a PHEV in two versions, Design and Excel. I suspect, due to the above mentioned problem they have changed their mind again and decided to remove it from their product range especially as they have had to offer a free HomeCharge to get orders. This situation might explain why Toyota has removed it’s online Prius brochure. Call me a cynic … “Cynic”.
Checking, there's a broken link to the brochure PDF, with all the rest of the site including the pricelist still up. All-New Prius Plug-in | Plug-in Hybrid | Toyota UK
On the UK Toyota website there is an opportunity to ‘Stay in touch’ by giving one’s details and ticking the box of the model you are interested in. The list has 18 models including cars like the Yaris, Corolla and GR Supra BUT there is no Prius. Go figure!
I’ve had a PHEV Golf for four and a half years. I love the concept of a plug-in. The grunt, quietness and economy of the electric motor with the extra power and no range concerns with the addition of a ICE. As someone who does a lot of short journeys, with some longer ones, I find it perfect. BUT it’s a VW and the software is rubbish (trash) and unreliable with dozens of dealer visits in an attempt to sort. After all this time I am still having issues with numerous false warnings appearing on the dash. I promised myself that if Toyota produced a similar sized PHEV to the Golf I would get one, since Toyota has such a good reputation for reliability??? I was so pleased to find that after initially saying they weren’t going to bring the Prius PHEV to the UK that they changed their mind and that would be selling it here BUT neither the Prius brochure nor the ‘Stay in touch’ function is available online anymore. One month after opening the order book they offered a free HomeCharge including free installation which implies that the orders were very disappointing. Combined with the rear door switch fiasco I don’t think it will be arriving in July as they originally promised and I am wondering if they have changed their mind again and will not be selling the Prius here the UK and will be returning the deposits of the one or two that have ordered one. My dealer has failed to get back to me about this, which doesn’t inspire confidence in them or Toyota. Does anyone on this forum have any useful information on this matter?
Dealerships worldwide don't seem to know too much regarding exact timelines for a "real" fix or when they are allowed to deliver again - if in doubt don't wait. You can imagine that UK is probably currently at the bottom of the priority list for Toyota given it did not even get it yet. Did you try to write directly to Toyota UK with your concern?
I did message Toyota about my annoyance regarding ordering my Prius a month before the free HomeCharge offer saying it should be made available to me as I was willing to order one so early. To paraphrase the reply - “No, tough titty”. I did write a comment in the Toyota Newsletter UK questioning as to whether the Prius would ever arrive in the UK considering the rear door switch issue. They removed it. Not impressed.
