Right hand drive conversion on a Prius v (lowercase v)

Looking good Scott. See you and the buggy tomorrow.
Postalthings needs some competition though.

Two days on route 4 in the 90's with the AC going full blast and I'm at 28MPG

 

Without AC? well I won't say it... LOL

I increased my 28 average slightly today.

What did you get on the drive home?

 

No experience with them personally, but did a bbb online check and came back nothing, (usually a good sign.) Could check with them once in a while. I didn't see a v available as of now...

www.sbtjapan.com

 

You can't get them titled in the US, Toyota would have to do a crash test series I think it's five cars and that ain't happening.
You can only bring in cars that have been tested older Accord wagons, cherokees a few others. Or they have to be 25 years old.

 

RHD UK model
a lot less messy ;0)

 

driver airbag unnecessary?

 

Why not? Isn't it just the same car? How much does the crash test cost and how many postal workers are there that would want an economical RHD car? Surely the old Jeeps are now well past their prime.

 

I did the research a while ago. It's US government rules, no way around them. Doesn't matter if the vehicle is a mirror image of a LH that has been tested. There are a bunch of subtle LH vs RH issues that need to be dealt with even after the crash tests are done. Only shops with a current authorization letter for each exact model can import RH vehicles, alter them to match US specs, and get them titled.
The only real exception is vehicles more than 25 years old.
From the USPS web site;

213,881 — number of vehicles — the largest civilian fleet in the world
1.2 billion — number of miles driven each year by letter carriers and truck drivers
LLVs;
Grumman LLV - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They were first delivered in 1987 the newest ones were delivered in 1994.
Rural Carriers that aren't assigned LLV's drive whatever they can afford to buy and maintain, to get the job done.
The post office basically has a don't ask, don't tell policy regarding POVs (privately owned vehicles).

 

I thought this was true too, but on the Monroney for our '10 CTS-V it says not crash test rated. 1st model year for the CTS-V is '09...

 

I know some years ago US and UK air bags were different sizes.

 

I think you're still right. Aren't the US ones bigger to allow for the drivers not wearing a seat belt and that they're more likely to have a erm, fuller figure. Saying that, I think (or is that fear) that we're catching them up on that latter part.

Or maybe it's just some European cars that have the smaller airbags and 'world' cars such as the Prius have the full size version? Only one way to check and I don't intend finding out.

 

Sure wish I could have talked to you before you installed the RHD. We have 2 Prius v's on mail routes in our office. All we did was remove the center console and install pedal extenders on the left side (about $150). Works and drives like a dream and the car is still 100% functional for family (less a couple of drink holders and a little storage space). Personally there's no way I would be without my airbags, on or off the route.

I'm driving most days between 5 and 6 hours with my leg over the center to reach the pedals on the left. With the pedal extenders it's a piece of cake and quite comfortable. I covered the center area with foam rubber and a piece of vinyl over that to match the interior color, and it looks great. The lower glove box stays closed with all my junk in it, and the upper glove box works great for a huge handful of DPS letters at a time. For normal driving the pedal extenders cause me to have the left seat farther back than normal but not overly so - not enough that another driver notices anything different. Normal driving I'm making between 47 and 52 MPG. Route w/o air conditioning is 38 MPG and 33 MPG with air in these hot 90+ degree days.

 

I have a Prius C, would this work for me? and how do I go about doing this? I am scheduled to go to postal things to do the conversion next week, but am not happy about losing the buttons on my steering wheel that access the dashboard.