New Prius Gen 3 Owner

[zam.zx]

Hi i just wanted to say hello on this forum as i have just purchased my first hybrid. I have been lurking around here for a couple of months reading up on the gen 3 and have finally purchased one a few weeks ago. I will be using it as a taxi and it will be the first hybrid hackney carriage in worcester. I am coming from a skoda superb diesel so things are going to be considerably different and....quieter.

I searched high and low for the perfect spec as i am a sucker for tech. So she is a 2011 11 plate pearl white t spirit with the safety pack and technology pack. Im sure most on here know what this means but for those who dont it is a very very highly specced model including radar cruise, pcs pre collision system, leather heated seats, led dusk sensing headlights with washers, water repellent glass, electrochromatic mirror.......and so on. As you can imagine i had an absolute nightmare trying to find this spec. When i saw it advertised even the chap selling it had no clue it was fully loaded as his description mentioned nothing but my keen eye identified the model straight away.

I had to buy a car that was less than 3 years old due to council rules....i did have an issue convincing the council to allow the use of this vehicle as a taxi, they did not initially want to plate the vehicle as they had an issue with the car being too quiet!!!! Really!!!

Anyway it will be plated in the next couple of weeks and i will be doing approx 30-40k a year 99% of city driving. Mileage currently is 60k.

I will keep everyone informed of everything including mileage updates and any problems (hopefully none touch wood).

Here she is

[valmiki]

Nice....well done on finding such a high-spec model, I tried when I was looking and quickly gave up!

[Chris Dance]

Car looks great and it has a safety pack. i wish I had the safety pack. Happy motoring.

[zam.zx]

It did take a lot of searching to get this spec.I only found two in the 2 months I was searching and the other one was grey....not a colour I'm too fond on,and it was 2 grand more.

[Duffryn]

Sounds as if Worcester Council need to get into the 21st century too.

Nice car, good luck with it.

[johalareewi]

Welcome. We have gen3 taxi drivers posting here and they have discovered a few things that you should be aware of. Search for posts by Grumpy Cabbie.

One that can affect taxi drivers more than most is the HV Battery cooling vent by the offside rear passenger door. Make sure this doesn't get covered up and check for fluff build up.

Enjoy.

[theoilburner]

Nice one. I look forward to yours being the first of many hybrid taxis round Worcs! :)

[Parts-King]

I seem to remember Grumpie Cabbie having issues with the Prius not having a full size spare wheel??? Maybe do a search on it

I spoke to a council senior purchasing officer a while back about Prius, he thought they were fantastic but did not think the council could afford to install the charging points........................yes I know, you could not make it up eh? He thought all Prius were plug in.........and he was a senior vehicle purchaser

Kingo

[zam.zx]

I have been doing some research and have read grumpie cabbies posts. He did have quite a few problems with his prius. I am hoping none of those will affect mine. I do also beleive Grumpy had a bad one, i mean why do i keep seeing gen 3's with starship miles and no problems all around the world? A close freind of mine has had his for a couple of years now and has done nearly 150k miles as a taxi with no problems......

......well theres only one way to find out.....get it licensed and start working........

[johalareewi]

Mr GC was the first gen3 taxi so hit all the gen3 issues first (wrong oil, wrong tyres, etc.). Thanks to his trailblazing we know what to look out for.

I don't think he had a bad gen3, he had a very early one and like all brand new models, there are teething problems and things to find out. In effect he (and other early gen3 owners) were beta testing the gen3 for Toyota.

[johalareewi]

I seem to remember Grumpie Cabbie having issues with the Prius not having a full size spare wheel???

A lot of councils require Taxis to have a full size spare wheel (or they did YMMV).

These days many new cars don't have a full sized spare wheel anymore (or even a spare wheel at all).

So it is a bit of a nonsense to rigidly enforce the rule.

Especially when you consider that if a Taxi has to use its spare wheel, it no longer has a spare and therefore is no longer a Taxi.

[Parts-King]

Especially when you consider that if a Taxi has to use its spare wheel, it no longer has a spare and therefore is no longer a Taxi.

Yes.......quite!

You can have an old smoke belching mini cab but a relatively "clean" car with zero town emmisions fails because it doesnt have a full size spare The world is a little bonkers sometimes

Kingo

[johalareewi]

I spoke to a council senior purchasing officer a while back about Prius, he thought they were fantastic but did not think the council could afford to install the charging points.

Why do the council think they have to provide charging points for electric Taxis?

I bet they don't build petrol stations for fuel powered Taxis.

Yes they are bonkers, and it's our money :(

[Parts-King]

The conversation with the council on Prius was about company cars, the buyer thought that if they supplied company Prius for some of their workers then they would need to provide charging points too, this was before the Plug In version had been brought out!

Bonkers= I agree

Kingo

[zam.zx]

The councils up and down the country do seem to have ridiculous laws regarding licences for taxis. Luckily Worcester council will plate a vehicle with a space saver wheel, but have an issue with the quietness of a hybrid vehicle. The argument being a hybrid vehicle is dangerous in the city particularly at night where the chances of people not hearing a hybrid vehicle increases the chances of an accident. Ermmmm I think they fail to understand that most people drunk enough on a Saturday night won't hear a black cab bring driven right behind them.

[Opifex]

The conversation with the council on Prius was about company cars, the buyer thought that if they supplied company Prius for some of their workers then they would need to provide charging points too, this was before the Plug In version had been brought out!

Kingo

In the last couple of months I've twice been asked by passengers where I plug it in. The people were then surprised when I said that I don't have to because the car has a petrol engine in addition to the Battery. Toyota obviously needs to do more to educate the public about the difference between hybrids and electric vehicles.

[Parts-King]

There was a piece on the local TV last night, the council in Liverpool have licensed a Nissan Leaf to a cabbie, it is the first all electric car they have licensed. Should have heard the council bloke spouting zero emissions bla bla bla this is the future bla bla we back cab firms having low emission cars bla bla.......

The cabbie can do 126 miles on a full charge and that is enough for a full shift for him. The cab firm get specific requests to have that particular car pick them up

You would have thought councils would have picked up on the low emission aspect a long time ago, you know what it's like, they see an opportunity to spout off the things they are doing to save the environment..................

Kingo

[Duffryn]

The conversation with the council on Prius was about company cars, the buyer thought that if they supplied company Prius for some of their workers then they would need to provide charging points too, this was before the Plug In version had been brought out!

Kingo

In the last couple of months I've twice been asked by passengers where I plug it in. The people were then surprised when I said that I don't have to because the car has a petrol engine in addition to the Battery. Toyota obviously needs to do more to educate the public about the difference between hybrids and electric vehicles.

Did Toyota ever promote or publicise the Prius? Auris and Yaris seem to get pushed, but not the Prius. They still manage to sell them, so imagine what could happen with a sales push.

When I, as a prospective buyer 6 months ago, wanted to try one the salesman said, somewhat dismissively "we don't sell many of these". I thought 'try a bit harder mate, you might have a surprise'!

[aCactus]

There was a piece on the local TV last night, the council in Liverpool have licensed a Nissan Leaf to a cabbie, it is the first all electric car they have licensed. Should have heard the council bloke spouting zero emissions bla bla bla this is the future bla bla we back cab firms having low emission cars bla bla.......

The cabbie can do 126 miles on a full charge and that is enough for a full shift for him. The cab firm get specific requests to have that particular car pick them up

You would have thought councils would have picked up on the low emission aspect a long time ago, you know what it's like, they see an opportunity to spout off the things they are doing to save the environment..................

Kingo

The only "public" charging point in Liverpool (according to the chargemaster map) is at Liverpool Toyota. Some maps also show one at Best Buy but that store closed a long time ago.

[Parts-King]

Indeed! The cabbie had his own charging point at home. A lot has to be done yet to convert people to electric

In a city the size of Liverpool you would expect a bit of investment in that area

Kingo

[aCactus]

Just looked at the latest map and ASDA have now instlled a point this side of the river near Anfield

[chi tang]

How do I know if my Gen 3 2010 has the technology pack and safety pack?

I know it has leather seats, style kit, privacy glass, LED headlamps, mud flaps, wind reflectors.

[valmiki]

I think the LED headlamps are a giveaway, also heated seats if I remember correctly?

[zam.zx]

technology pack: led lights, electrochromatic rear view mirror, dusk sensors, headlamp wash, water repellent glass.

safety pack: adaptive cruise control, pcs pre collision system, leather seats which are of higher quality than regular optional leather,its perforated as opposed to just solid leather, heated seats.

The best and easiest way to tell is to look for an extra button on the right side of the steering wheel with a picture of a car with three lines in front.It will be a silver button opposite side of the phone buttons. It is used to set the distance from the car in front when using the adaptive radar cruise control. Also check under the drivers side dash (under the knee airbags) for a switch with pcs on/off which turns the collision system on or off. Best way is the steering wheel though.

The chap i bought the car off didnt know any of this but i knew it had all the gear.

[zam.zx]

ok so heres some good news

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/10704298.Meet_Worcester_s_first_electric_taxi_driver/

its finally all come together with the help of a local councillor who persuaded the licensinsing committee to issue a plate for my vehicle.