London Congestion Charge discount for 15" wheel 2016 Prius

[Ancient Nerd]

I thought I  would get a Congestion Charge exemption in place before the rules are changed yet again. With previous qualifying Prius, this was straightforward. The car came with a Certificate of Conformity, issued by Toyota, which you had to send off to TfL.

Not so now. There was absolutely nothing provided with the car. No certificate, no form, no information.

I found equally helpful information on the toyota.co.uk website. Nothing.

On the TfL website, I quickly found the Ultra Low Emission discount application form. This said that "For Petrol Hybrid vehicles only, a copy of the Conformity Certificate as provided by the
dealership."

Before going back to the dealer, I had a last go at Toyota, by googling their site (there is no search facility within the site). This came up with a single entry buried in  World of Toyota/ Stories, News & Events. This was a bit archaeological, as it only made reference to the Yaris Icon (and other 15" Yaris') and the Prius Plug-in. Nothing about the new Prius.

However, it did tell me that "To request a CoC please contact Toyota by sending an email to coc@toyota.co.uk. Once we have received your request we will issue your certificate within 3 working days." I duly sent off an email.

There was an initial response, that promised they would respond within five days (not three!). They also advised me "that you can find guidance notes on our websites - www.toyota.co.uk and www.lexus.co.uk under the Owner section, which you may find useful on how we can support you including requesting a Certificate of Conformity for a vehicle registered in the UK. The links were just to the main site page, not to the (non-existent?) page with guidance.

Next response (actually next working day) I got a copy of a Word file containing "a certificate of conformity request form". Why wasn't this on the Toyota website in the first place?

And that is it so far. Hopefully the next thing I receive is the certificate, that I can send off to TfL. However, I'm not holding my breath.

BTW, if you buy your Prius second hand (or possibly as an ex demonstrator), where you are not the original owner, then Toyota GB will charge you £75 for the privilege.

 

To be continued... 

Edited June 14, 2016 by Ancient Nerd
Toyota GB charge increased to correct value of £75

[PeteB]

Thanks for that.  I've sent an email too.

You usually have to send to photocopy of the V5C Registration Document, and I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't sufficient, provided it correctly lists the CO2 figure of 70 g/km.

Regards, PeteB

[Ancient Nerd]

6 minutes ago, PeteB said:

Thanks for that.  I've sent an email too.

You usually have to send to photocopy of the V5C Registration Document, and I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't sufficient, provided it correctly lists the CO2 figure of 70 g/km.

Regards, PeteB

Ther is no problem that I can see with TfL. The application form is on their website, and they clearly state the evidence they require (copies of V5C and the CoC.

The problem is with Toyota  GB, who have made an obstacle course of what should be one of the main Prius selling points.

Anyway, good luck with the application!

[Cyker]

£70???? 
 

[Ancient Nerd]

14 minutes ago, Cyker said:

£70???? 
 

Sorry, I should have said £75.

The following is taken directly from the form:

Fee: Free of charge to the original owner, subsequent owners £75.00 including VAT
Payable by BACS transfer , we will provide you our bank details
    
We do NOT accept cash, cheques or postal orders, or credit/debit card

Not as bad as the cost of the 2009/10 Weasel Warranty, nor of the mileage promise made for the subsequent extended warranty, nor the cost of updating the hard drive satnav system. But still a sneaky way of turning a profit.

Original post now corrected.
 

Edited June 14, 2016 by Ancient Nerd
Correcting an error

[Cyker]

£75???!?!? To look up your car in a database and print out a piece of paper?!?! .

 

[Ancient Nerd]

23 minutes ago, Cyker said:

£75???!?!? To look up your car in a database and print out a piece of paper?!?! .

 

Yes, a second owner would need to visit central London at least eight times in the first year to make it worth getting the discount.

[PeteB]

On 14/06/2016 at 7:14 PM, Ancient Nerd said:

Ther is no problem that I can see with TfL. The application form is on their website, and they clearly state the evidence they require (copies of V5C and the CoC.

The problem is with Toyota  GB, who have made an obstacle course of what should be one of the main Prius selling points.

Anyway, good luck with the application!

I sent my email to Toyota on 14th June - nothing yet!

So I emailed TFL and said I was having a hard time getting the Certificate of Conformity, would the V5 do?  They phoned me today and said yes, so my application is on its way to them with a note about the conversation.

[Cyker]

That is awesome news! The money they wanted for CoC was just extortionate; It's good to see that TfL are being more sensible about things!

 

[Ancient Nerd]

2 hours ago, PeteB said:

I sent my email to Toyota on 14th June - nothing yet!

So I emailed TFL and said I was having a hard time getting the Certificate of Conformity, would the V5 do?  They phoned me today and said yes, so my application is on its way to them with a note about the conversation.

So much for Toyota's £75 stealth charge for second owners.

I also wonder why TfL only want the CoC for hybrids. Is there a small non-electric,non-hybrid that does less than 75gm co2. If so, no need for a CoC

[PeteB]

31 minutes ago, Ancient Nerd said:

So much for Toyota's £75 stealth charge for second owners.

I also wonder why TfL only want the CoC for hybrids. Is there a small non-electric,non-hybrid that does less than 75gm co2. If so, no need for a CoC

It's probably a hangover from the days before the CO2 figure was on the V5 - I just checked the one for my first 2000 Prius (X reg) and although there is a CO2 caption, there's no value alongside it.  My second (2002) Prius did have a figure quoted, however (114 g/km).

[Cyker]

I guess they stopped requiring it because they were already full of CoCs...

 

 

[Ancient Nerd]

Toyota were quick to send the CoC in response to the application form. I sent this off to TfL along with their application form, and the V5C.

Yesterday I got details of my Congestion Charge account, with a warning to keep paying until I received  confirmation of the discount.

Today, I got confirmation, which was valid from Tuesday 21st, meaning that there  were four days with valid discount, but when I would still have to pay had I gone through the zone.

 

Also, on the aassumption that Customer Relations were'nt going to do anything, I contacted Toyata GB's marketing department to suggest that they were missing an opportunity, because the discount wasn't advertised, and information about how to apply was so well hidden on the Toyota website.

As a result, the relevant page was updated to provide a link to download the CoC application form. However, the page still doesn't refer to the current Prius, nor is there any way to find it,  other than by trawling through the entire site as there is no search facility, nor is it in the very superficial index.

I got an email from Customer Relations to say that they had done this. They also said that they are "considering adding an explanation on the Prius model page with a link to the above mentioned page for the exempt grades."

This would be an improvement, but I think they also need to add the Prius to the list of eligible vehicles, add this page to the index, and add a search facility as I'm sure that this isn't the only useful information that is buried too deep to be found.

At leat the Prius software wasn't written by Toyota GB.

[Sagitar]

All my experience with Toyota software has been uniformly bad. Last week I had my car serviced and was asked whether I had registered my vehicle on "My Toyota". I said that I had, but that I never used it because it was so ponderous and generally more trouble than it was worth.

Does anyone actually make use of it? Is there anything it provides that you can't get in a fraction of the time from a simple, self-designed spread sheet?

[johalareewi]

On 25/06/2016 at 11:50 AM, Ancient Nerd said:

At leat the Prius software wasn't written by Toyota GB.

Or Microsoft.

[Sagitar]

Nice example of it's uselessness this morning - email from Toyota inviting me to go into "MyToyota" diary to see when my tax is due.

[PeteB]

On 23 June 2016 at 3:32 PM, PeteB said:

I sent my email to Toyota on 14th June - nothing yet!

So I emailed TFL and said I was having a hard time getting the Certificate of Conformity, would the V5 do?  They phoned me today and said yes, so my application is on its way to them with a note about the conversation.

Still no reply fromToyota, but I got my exemption today just on the strength of the V5 registration document.

[Cyker]

 

[PeteB]

On 14/06/2016 at 7:00 PM, PeteB said:

Thanks for that.  I've sent an email too.

You usually have to send to photocopy of the V5C Registration Document, and I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't sufficient, provided it correctly lists the CO2 figure of 70 g/km.

Regards, PeteB

Well I've STILL not had a reply, apart from the auto acknowledgement stating they'd respond with 5 days! (perhaps they really meant months!)

[anhadh]

Just spoke to TFL today, who suggested that the CoC is required. I told them that other drivers had been able to get away with not providing it, based on the V5 alone, but they stuck to their guns. Mayve been the inexperience of the guy on the phone.

Very reluctant to pay the 75£, as I just don't go to London enough to warrant it. But equally don't want to pay over a tenner to drop off my wife and newborn into town, when I shouldn't be paying it!

Do you know if there is a version online that can just be 'filled out / adapted?' Or would anyone be willing to share one for a plug in Prius?

Ive looked around but to no avail.
 thanks

[PeteB]

On 29/06/2016 at 4:18 PM, PeteB said:

Still no reply fromToyota, but I got my exemption today just on the strength of the V5 registration document.

 

11 hours ago, anhadh said:

Just spoke to TFL today, who suggested that the CoC is required. I told them that other drivers had been able to get away with not providing it, based on the V5 alone, but they stuck to their guns. Mayve been the inexperience of the guy on the phone...

I never, ever, received any further response from Toyota!  And people wonder why I should bother communicating with them!

Just looked up a scan of my CONgestion Charge exemption application form:

• I put a star in the "Copy of CoC" box and wrote underneath "see attached note please"
• I added a note saying I understood as the V5C contained the CO2 figure and as a CoC form from Toyota was not forthcoming they accepted the V5C alone.

It worked for me, worth a try?

[PeteB]

Once I'd got it, renewing over the phone was easy, and hopefully next time they move the goal posts, they'll give three years' further exemption with no more annual £10 renewal fees.

When they do that, it's only for the existing owner.  If the car is sold, the new owner cannot get an exemption.

[anhadh]

Just an update, I did my online application again, this time writing a note as you suggested explaining that responses were not forthcoming and that the MPG was explicit on the V5 for them to see. I also added a link to the Toyota Prius Plug in website showing that they were exempt and stating the official MPG.
Next thing you know I received my discount in full!

My advice, dont bother phoning in just apply, writing a supplementary note, dont even bother paying for a CoC (£75 if youre a second hand owner).
 

Cheers for the advice Pete, you saved me a lot of time, expense and hassle with TFL.