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New Prius owner in Ireland

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by Lutecia, Feb 12, 2012.

  1. Lutecia

    Lutecia New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2012
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    Location:
    Cork, Ireland
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hi all,

    My name is Guillaume, I'm French, though living in Cork, Ireland.
    Just found my first Prius that I'm getting in a few days.

    It's a 2008 T3 model (so rather basic) with just 39.000 miles on it.

    I have to wait as the car is a UK import (need some extra paperwork) : there are not many Prius in Ireland (that have been sold new) and a big demand on this model, so Toyota Ireland is actually buying cars off Toyota UK.

    It's my second Toyota, the first one being a 1982 LWB Hiace campervan :D

    I'm a lot into cars in general and also own an old Renault 5 (Le Car in the States) and also a hot hatch (Renault Clio).

    I consider myself as quite knowledgeable when it comes to cars, but I have to admit I was never interested by the Prius until now. So I've been browsing this forum, gathering quite some info and found it very interesting. Thanks for that!

    I hope I can contribute and show that the Prius is adapted to Irish roads :cool:. Any other Irish Prius drivers on here ?
     
  2. smokiejoe

    smokiejoe Member

    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2011
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    Location:
    PA
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Welcome Lutecia:

    It's nice to have new Members from all over the World. Keep us informed once your Prius is on the road. I am sure any questions that you might have can be answered here.
     
  3. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Jun 14, 2010
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    Location:
    Herefordshire England
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Welcome to PC lots of information on here. Halpos is a regular contributor he is a taxi driver close to Dublin I believe now doubt he will introduce himself. Again welcome.

    John.
     
  4. RikM

    RikM Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 15, 2012
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    Location:
    UK
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Not exactly an Irish Prius driver myself, as I'm English and live north of the border ;-)
    Also somewhat new to the Prius - I recently bought a used 2008. I'm finding this site to be a wealth of useful information. Welcome aboard.
     
  5. PMurf

    PMurf Dublin Irl!

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2011
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    Location:
    Dublin Ireland
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hi Guillaume/Lutecia,

    Welcome aboard, though I'm a newcomer myself. I find this site very informative - well laid out..and a little laid back...which is good.
    I'm in Dublin and there are about five Prii(!) in my area. I regularly see a silver Gen2 taxi.
    Apart from economic considerations I find the Prius a most stress-free drive in city traffic. Best of luck with yours.
     
  6. Lutecia

    Lutecia New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2012
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    Location:
    Cork, Ireland
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hi PMurf, RikM, all,

    Yes there is a few Priuses around, I can see some everyday. Sales were quite slow (especially pre-2008 cause of higher vrt/tax), but I assume there is quite a few UK imports (like mine).
    A few taxis allright, it makes complete sense for them (I don't understand why they keep getting Toyota Avensis).

    Hope for a good Prius life :) Getting mine tomorrow... She's in Longford so that'll be quite a good first drive (to Cork) to start with :)
     
  7. Dexter1979

    Dexter1979 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2012
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    Location:
    Mallow, Ireland
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hello Guillaume. I'm from Mallow just down the road from Cork. I have been the proud owner of a 2010 Prius T3 (Also UK import) for about a month. I'm Dutch and took my new car for a 3000 mile road trip through northern France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. I really love this car! How are you getting on with yours?
     
  8. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Welcome to the club.

    I'm an ex cabbie from the UK and ran my Prius as a cab for over 2 years 65,000 miles. In that time, out of a possible 600 cabs in my town, not one driver made the leap to buy a Prius. They all still stick to Mondeos, Avensis and Skodas. They'd all complain about the cost of petrol/diesel, yet when I showed them the figures I was getting they'd dismiss them or mostly not even believe them! Mad eh?

    One thing I've found about my gen3 Prius as a taxi is that it's not been the most reliable in that I'm on my 3rd steering motor, though they were all replaced under warranty which has now run out. The gen2 Prius was over engineered and hasn't been a problem when used as a taxi, but the gen3 seems to be much weaker. Apparantly Greek gen3 taxi drivers are having HV battery failure at about 130,000 km, whereas the gen2's are fine. I guess time will tell.
     
  9. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    Holy cow! I can't believe you kept one of those things running for twenty years. How did you do it? I had one in 1985, and it constantly broke even back then.
     
  10. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Because they made and sold them a little longer over here in Europe. I think you could still buy the facelift model right into the mid 1990's. There was also a turbo version which in its day went like stink and those are now very highly collectable.

    In fact the Renault 5 was so popular that it carried on being sold new long after it should have been phased out and replaced with the Renault Clio.

    Renault 5 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
     
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Location:
    boston
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    Plug-in Base
    ex cabbie? did i miss something?
     
  12. Black Flag

    Black Flag New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2013
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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Recently bought a 2010 Prius 111. The reverse beep is driving me mad! I gather it can't be eliminated except by a dealer. Booked it in for next Friday (in Dublin) but was told it will take an hour and cost 30 Euro. Has anyone had similar experience
     
  13. SteveLee

    SteveLee Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2012
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    Location:
    North Carolina
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    I
    I think you're in luck. Do a search for reverse beep in Prius Chat.
     
  14. Black Flag

    Black Flag New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2013
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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I did, but it seems that the European model differs from the US model. The procedure I found in P.C. for the Prius 3 doesn't work as there is no "ODO Button". Odometer can only be selected using the display selector on the steering wheel.
     
  15. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    Location:
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
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    III
    They're having a laugh aren't they? I had mine switched off for free, but the car was new at the time. I think they have to plug their computer in and adjust a few settings, so maybe your dealer are charging you 30 mins labour, but that seems short sighted to me. Did you buy the car from them?
     
  16. SteveLee

    SteveLee Active Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    North Carolina
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
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    Oops, my bad. Britprius may be able to help you.
     
  17. stream

    stream Senior Member

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    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    Vehicle:
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    Congrats--enjoy.