Upgrading To A Gen Iii

[Chippy01]

After much thinking, I decided it was time to move up from my Gen II to a Gen III Prius.

I found a nice '09 T4 with only 30,000 miles up on it, and as an added bonus the service record shows that it's been serviced by my local Toyota dealer.

I must have read every report, both good and bad about the Gen III, before actually taking an extended test drive in one. Anyway, time will tell if I made the right choice, but I think I have. With luck I'll be picking it up this coming wednesday or thursday.

One thing that I did notice in all my reading, was the absence of any recalls. There were a few for my Gen II, but I've seen nothing for the Gen III.

Have there been any recalls for the Gen III or have I missed something?

[timberwolf]

Of the top of my head, only the very public brake recall springs to mind, but I don't follow the Gen 3 issues closely.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8505402.stm

Toyota have their own blog, so you could also try searching that one. Also you could ring Customer Relations, or simply ask your local dealer.

http://blog.toyota.co.uk/?s=Prius+Recall&submit=Submit

[Chris Dance]

I have 2011 Gen 3 T spirit. Never had a recall on it. Had to have a new fuel inlet manifold recently due to cold start knocking, that was done on warranty. Other than that no problems. I do not regret changing from Gen 2 to gen 3. I think early gen 3s had dash rattle problems.

[ian rooke]

Hi the gen 3 was recalled for a retune of the ABS one thing to look for is paint damage cause by bird lime ate through my bonnet paint in less than 3 days left the lacquer undamaged and crazed the paint underneath other than that a first class car

[Opifex]

Check the remaining guarantee. The standard guarantee on a Gen III before June 2010 was three years and has therefore expired. After June it was 5 years so will have at least two years left.

[Chippy01]

Thanks for the replies all.

A software update was probably done for the ABS, but I'll be checking with my service manager when I get the car.

[kithmo]

Check the remaining guarantee. The standard guarantee on a Gen III before June 2010 was three years and has therefore expired. After June it was 5 years so will have at least two years left.

In his case that's irrelevant, cos if he's buying an 09, it's 4 years old and the dealer will probably put 12 months on it anyway.

[johalareewi]

+1

An 09 gen3 will have no original warranty left [edit: will have some hybrid warranty left if under 60000 miles] but if buying used from Mr T, it will have 1 year toyota extended warranty which will also cover the hybrid parts and HV Battery and will be unlimted mileage. This can be further extended later.

The gen3 ABS brake tweak recall wasn't an official recall but a semi-official recall (we didn't get an M+S voucher) ;)

There are also some TSBs for rattles, engine mis-starts, fluff in the HV Battery vent, etc. but are only needed if you get the problem.

[Phlipper]

Hi, I'm in the process of buying a Gen 3 09 too. Should have it by the end of May. There was a recall for the Gen 3 prior to 2010 but if you're buying from Toyota it 'should' be rectified before it leaves the dealer - so says my sales lady! ;) Be interested to see what you think of yours as we're buying at the same time :) Test drove ours at the weekend and it drove very well, no dash rattle at all. Coming from a BMW X3 I was very impressed with the Prius.

[barrycoll]

As someone who has just had the good fortune to buy a 2013 T Spirit, I can endorse all the comments on the Gen 3....I have migrated from a 2.0 Golf Diesel Auto, and must say that the new car does change ones outlook on driving.

The fuel economy on this 2013 seems ridiculously good, and may or may not be confirmed when I fill up this week, but the Trip A is suggesting 67 mpg, and a nightmare 2 hours on the M25 left me with 77mpg.....just a pity the car doesn't come with Audi fixtures and fittings!

cheers barrycoll

[johalareewi]

.....just a pity the car doesn't come with Audi fixtures and fittings!

They have Lexus for that.

[barrycoll]

true Alan...........but a new T Spirit is sold at top of the range Audi A3 prices.....and the A3 is the equivalent of the C200 quality wise

is it all in the Prius engineering, or is there some profiteering here?

cheers barrycoll

[Chippy01]

Hi, I'm in the process of buying a Gen 3 09 too. Should have it by the end of May. There was a recall for the Gen 3 prior to 2010 but if you're buying from Toyota it 'should' be rectified before it leaves the dealer - so says my sales lady! ;) Be interested to see what you think of yours as we're buying at the same time :) Test drove ours at the weekend and it drove very well, no dash rattle at all. Coming from a BMW X3 I was very impressed with the Prius.

Best of mileage with your purchase.

I found a link (but lost it again) from Toyota UK, that if you enter your reg or VIN, it'll scan it's database to see if any recalls are outstanding on any particular Toyota. Mine came back as no issues or recalls needed.

I picked up my 'new' T4 this morning.

First impressions was that it felt a lot more stable on the road compared to my old G2 T-Spirit, and there were no dash rattles that I could detect.

I also got a 12 month guarantee, it's taxed until December, and the nice salesman filled the tank for me when I left.

Happy Dayzzzz.!!!!

[Phlipper]

Congrats on your new purchase; let us know how you get on over the next few weeks.

Was this the link? http://www.toyota.co.uk/cgi-bin/toyota/bv/frame_start.jsp?id=Owners-Info-Recall

I tried it but says it can't find my car; weird. As I'm buying from a Toyota dealer I'm not too concerned.

[Chippy01]

Yep, that looks like it alright. Strange that it can't find your car.

[Phlipper]

Yeah, I've just emailed the dealer to see if they can supply the VIN to enter on that site before I purchase. Better safe than sorry.

[johalareewi]

There should be a sticker inside the drivers door frame if the gen3 recall has been done.

Edit:

I must be going mad.

I am pretty sure the dealer put a sticker on the car when the recall was done but can I find it???

Anyway, don't worry if the recall hasn't been done or the website doesn't know.

All it did was slightly change the way the ABS handles potholes.