UK Features & Options round up

[tone_uk]

Originally Posted by Wooski

Yes, I'm currently in the process of ordering my car. However the Toyota UK system currently wont allow dealers to order leather yet. Which says to me they are still finalising the specs. I suspect the issue with the leather is the lumbar support available on US cars (and presumably Japanese?). Perhaps the UK are trying to get leather seats with no lumbar? Who knows.

I got a chance to play with the Prius config tool today at the dealership, and it looks like internal colour options may be a bit limited. It only offers one choice per exterior colour - pre-designated by Toyota GB.

I was hoping to get Abyss Grey exterior with Aqua/Misty Grey interior, but the config tool only gave me the choice of Dark Grey interior.

Maybe still too soon to tell, but I still put my £500 deposit down to secure my order from last week!

[Danny]

Great to see the UK folks finding out some 2010 info! I'm not sure if any of you are on Twitter, but here is the account for Scott Brownlee, PR for Toyota GB:

Scott Brownlee (Toyota_GB_PR) on Twitter

He's good about answering questions through his Twitter account. Let me know if you want me to ask him anything!

[Danny]

Scott posted these 2 messages to me on Twitter in response to my question about the UK features/packages:

@PriusChat All Prius UK info here Toyota GB Media Site - Toyota Vehicles Full UK Press Pack should be up there later this week. Feel free to post the link

@PriusChat You might also want to keep an eye on here http://bit.ly/T1MhZ for up dates direct from the press launch tomorrow and Thursday

[Wooski]

UK Specs are up - EXCLUSIVE - Full UK specs and prices for the next Prius! | Toyota UK news, reviews, video and pictures | Today Tomorrow

And there are still unanswered questions:

Is the remote air con only available with the solor roof (as in the US?)
The pricing suggest metallic paint is free - I’m sure this isnt so!
No mention of LED lights - I assume we aren’t getting them in the UK. Shame.
No mention of turn indicators on the mirrors (as seen on the Euro and Jap cars but not the US).

[csotp]

Overall I have to say I'm pretty disappointed, I thought they might at least make some of the tech from other regions (pre-crash/radar-based cruise control etc.) optional on the T-Spirit.

I guess I was also assuming we'd be able to get something like the iPod/iPhone connector the Americans can, or maybe even the upcoming USB add-on they're going to be able to buy, though they've probably figured that the HDD-based system on the T-Spirit is a good replacement.

Having said that, seeing as I'm pretty cynical about car companies when it comes to UI/hardware design, I'm rather disbelieving of the idea that it'll be much good in practice. To me, the likelihood that it won't require those of us who already have our music in digital formats to re-rip everything, and to burn CDs for music we've purchased online, is incredibly low.

Originally Posted by Wooski

And there are still unanswered questions:
No mention of LED lights - I assume we aren’t getting them in the UK. Shame.
No mention of turn indicators on the mirrors (as seen on the Euro and Jap cars but not the US).

Although I can't quite figure out if the lights are LED on the first photo, it does appear to be a T-Spirit (as it has the solar roof), and clearly does have turn indicators on the mirrors.

Toyota UK Press Release

[Mike Dimmick]

Originally Posted by Wooski

No mention of LED lights - I assume we aren’t getting them in the UK. Shame.

The headlight-levelling may be a giveaway. Automatic on T Spirit, manual on T3 and T4.

Oh well, I wasn't that bothered - a nice-to-have rather than a requirement.

Note that Solar Pack doesn't mention sunroof/moonroof! The pictures may have been correct - solar panel only.

[Wooski]

Originally Posted by csotp

Overall I have to say I'm pretty disappointed, I thought they might at least make some of the tech from other regions (pre-crash/radar-based cruise control etc.) optional on the T-Spirit.

I guess I was also assuming we'd be able to get something like the iPod/iPhone connector the Americans can, or maybe even the upcoming USB add-on they're going to be able to buy, though they've probably figured that the HDD-based system on the T-Spirit is a good replacement.

Having said that, seeing as I'm pretty cynical about car companies when it comes to UI/hardware design, I'm rather disbelieving of the idea that it'll be much good in practice. To me, the likelihood that it won't require those of us who already have our music in digital formats to re-rip everything, and to burn CDs for music we've purchased online, is incredibly low.



Although I can't quite figure out if the lights are LED on the first photo, it does appear to be a T-Spirit (as it has the solar roof), and clearly does have turn indicators on the mirrors.

Toyota UK Press Release

The car in those pics clearly show both the signal mirrors and the LED lights. However Simon on the blog has confirmed that we DO get the mirrors with integrated turning signal but we DONT get LED lights.

To be honest when compared with the US spec I would rather have the HUD and HDD Navi. But yes I'm still a little concerned how music is ripped to the HDD, but hopefully the Navi will be easier to keep up to date and faster. Who listens to whole LPs anymore?

At the end of the day I've still ordered a T-Spirit. It will still be a great car for my needs.

[RoyalBlue]

Originally Posted by csotp

Overall I have to say I'm pretty disappointed, I thought they might at least make some of the tech from other regions (pre-crash/radar-based cruise control etc.) optional on the T-Spirit.

Looking at the prices Toyota UK targets the Prius for a different group of buyers as for instance the Dutch importer does. UK prices are £18,370 , £19,990 and £21,210 for three models, Dutch prices are €24,990 , €27,990 , €31,290 and €34,290 for four models. No wonder that the most expensive Dutch model is far better equiped than the most expensive UK model.

[agentred]

Originally Posted by RoyalBlue

Looking at the prices Toyota UK targets the Prius for a different group of buyers as for instance the Dutch importer does. UK prices are £18,370 , £19,990 and £21,210 for three models, Dutch prices are €24,990 , €27,990 , €31,290 and €34,290 for four models. No wonder that the most expensive Dutch model is far better equiped than the most expensive UK model.

This is true, the most expensive European car is ~£29,578.

Compared to the £21,210 T-Spirit, UK buyers would be outraged to pay an extra £8, 368 for leather, LKA and LED lights.

So before we all start whining(!), the price to feature ratio is still in the UK's favour. The Europeans get more cool features and bragging rights, but they're paying a lot for them.

[tone_uk]

Originally Posted by agentred

The price to feature ratio is still in the UK's favour. The Europeans get more cool features and bragging rights, but they're paying a lot for them.

I for one am a happy chappy - I think we got a good deal when it came to the features vs price ratio.

LED lights - while an interesting concept were never going to change my life, and LKA and ACC would probably never get activated as I live in an area that is strangely void of anything like a Motorway.

After 9 months of nail biting I now know exactly what I'm getting - how much it's going to cost - and when it's turning up for me to drive away.

In 7 weeks I'll be the happiest man on the planet