Any Prii in West Africa?

I realize this question is the longest of long shots. I recently moved from North Carolina to Cotonou, Benin, and prior to moving sold my beloved Prissy ('05 Prius). I now drive a '93 Toyota 4x4 pickup truck which is much more suited for driving conditions over here, although going from a Prius to that vehicle feels like going back to the stone ages. Considering the condition of the roads here, I doubt that Prissy would have survived for long (maybe a week or two at best!!). I am just curious if anybody has imported a Prius to anywhere in West Africa, or, for that matter, anywhere in Africa, and what their experiences are.

- Bill

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jan 21 2007, 07:00 PM) [snapback]378802[/snapback]</div>

Now that I have been here a few weeks, I think that a Prius would find anything but the main roads not only rough, but downright impassable. I have already found myself in a few situations where I was glad that the vehicle I got has 4WD. If it weren't for the maintenance issues and if I had enough money, I would be tempted to try a Highlander Hybrid over here.

- Bill

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jan 26 2007, 09:28 AM) [snapback]381051[/snapback]</div>

Hey there,

I'm slowly but surely getting settled in, but sure am missing my Prius! As you may already know, I ended up buying a '93 Toyota SR5 KingCab 4x4 pickup with camper shell and oversized tires from my predecessor. It's a pretty decent vehicle for the road conditions here, but the gas mileage SUCKS! I generally go back to the Embassy to fill up after only 170 or so miles, and it takes close to 50 liters to fill it up again (it gets maybe 15 mpg). When I got it the A/C wasn't working, so I got the Embassy motorpool guy to take it to a local A/C mechanic's shop (run by some Lebanese guy) and paid 217,000 CFA (about $435) to get it fixed, and it worked for all of 5 minutes, after being in the shop for three days. I took it right back, and it's there again overnight.

Traffic is just beyond wild here. There are swarms upon swarms of poorly tuned mopeds, scooters and small motorcycles, collectively called motos around here, and the majority of them are used as taxis called zemi-djahns. Except for the occasional traffic light, which may occasionally actually work, nobody adheres to any traffic rules. It's pretty much vehicular Darwinism over here, and the boldest get to their destination quickest.

I quickly learned that it's useful to have a second vehicle here (the zemi-djahns I think are officially off-limits for us), so to commute back and forth to work I bought a new small motorcycle the other day. It's a fake Suzuki AX-100 made by some Chinese outfit called Hanjoue. Unlile my Prius it uses no advanced technology whatsoever. It has a 100cc one cyliner two-stroke engine, a carburetor, no injection of any kind, and uses a 6-Volt battery of the type that you need to check periodically and maybe occasionally add some distilled water to it. It blows blue smoke out the tail pipe and at idle sounds like a popcorn popper. It's maybe 40 year old technology, but it gets me around town and doesn't guzzle fuel like the truck does. I think I'm going to use the truck for weekends, out-of-town excursions and shopping, and maybe commuting during the rainy season - depending on how bad that gets, and use the moto for commuting to work the rest of the time and to get around town.

How are things back in NC?

- Bill