Eric from France

Good morning,

My name is Eric, I am 51 years old and I live in France near Metz. Metz is not very well known in the world, it is located next to Verdun (reference to the battle of the First World War).
I have a Prius V (which is called Prius + or Prius Plus in Europe). This is the second Toyota hybrid car I have owned. The first was the 2014 Toyota Auris Touring Sport, which is the Toyota Corolla Station Wagon (I believe it was not sold in the US market).

I would be delighted to discuss our cars with you but also our cultures. I like to understand everyone's way of thinking, whatever our origin.

PS: my English is bad, I apologize for the mistakes I made.

 

We've had every generation of Prius. We were able to have the new Camry when it became a hybrid. The last ones sold in France date from the 1990s.

If you wish, you can try to answer me in French. If you want, I will correct you because you can correct my English.

I admit to using a translator to make sure I'm not writing nonsense

Prius V was sold until 2021 in France. I believe there was a mark 3 sold in Europe but not in the American market.
RAV 4 hybrid was also sold in Europe. As with the Prius V and Prius+, there must be differences.
My father-in-law had one and I made some modifications (installing the GPS module and installing a module to fold the exterior mirrors when closing the doors).

The notion of “too old” must be different in France. A car that has more than 300,000 kilometers (about 180,000 miles) is too old. Years do not count for us as long as the car has been maintained in a good garage.

I believe they were all made in Japan

 

We have many Toyata Hybrids that also have this mileage. I regularly look on a car sales site and a few exceed 460,000 km (280,000 miles).
But these are cars for sale and their owners no longer trust them. It is mainly taxis and VTCs that have the Prius V.
In France, it is rare for an individual to have purchased a Prius V because there is a Toyota model which has the same characteristics as the Prius V but in petrol and diesel versions.
Diesel cars in France are very numerous because they consume less fuel and the price of Diesel costs less than gasoline.
Wjtracy, in all honesty I have no idea what you are saying "around the block". We do not have the same way of demarcating a set of houses.

 

The 7-seater version is really good for children. It has 3 seats in the middle row. They can slide and fold independently, the backrest can be moved back like in an airplane. The rear seats fold down and fit into the floor in place of the HV battery on the US model. In the European market, the battery is placed in the central armrest, between the front seats. If you want, I can take photos of my Prius +. It does tell me what you want to see.
With the time difference, it is possible that you will have the photos tomorrow because it is 7:30AM and it is 1:30AM in New York