Imported Prius.

[Drawweight]

Browsing Autotrader for a new to me car and I’ve noticed several Toyota Prius’s for sale which were imported.

Where are they coming from and what’s the advantage in importing rather than buying new here?

[normalbloke]

I transport high value copper loads to a shipping agent in Southampton. I sit there a lot waiting to be unloaded. There are lots of imported vehicles unloaded in front of me. The last 8 months or so I’ve started to see imported Prius, all of which are crash damaged. They are always picked up by ‘budget’ one man band car transport outfits. My guess is these examples are being repaired and onto the taxi scene in and around London. All I’d say is, buyer beware, and have a very close look before unloading a deposit!

[cootuk]

Japanese JDM right hand drive that are getting a bit old (>10 years) to pass the rigorous Japanese regulations, but are still quite good for other markets.
Chassis are usually good as they don't use road salt in winter.
Any bad hybrid batteries can be replaced fairly cheaply now.
Gen3 Prius were released around 2009 iirv, so expect to see these replacing the Gen2 for import.

[thatdude]

cootuk said:

Chassis are usually good as they don't use road salt in winter.

Am I right in thinking that means they dont use any protective paints / coatings either, so are more liable to corrosion issues? I'm sure thats an issue for JDM import Hondas

[TommoAE86]

They don't do as much as they would for some Euro-box, but if you underseal them from arrival and get it re-done every 3 years (or when it needs it) you'll have no issues.

My Skyline was fine for the 3 years I had it here and the Crown is also showing no signs of problems, both were undersealed before I picked them up.