hi- Im new to this site- and am looking at a Toyota prius to buy. Can someone answer some really basic questions for me please?
The one I am looking at is a Jap import. Is there any way of changing the Japanese on the monitor to English?
Also, I am told it is 3rd generation - a 2000 Lavender type of colour. How can I check it is ?
It is being sold with a good warranty , but has a 2004prius manual which might be frustrating?
Thanks ginw

If I understand the question correctly the car is configured for sale in Japan and needs to be converted for use in the states, correct? If so that is hardly a "basic" question. Cars can be delayed years while people monkey with things like emissions and traffic signaling requirements.

First generation Prius (Japan 1997-2000) had an extra black bumper part that distinguished it from the second generation (2001-2003). If it happens to be the first gen, I wouldn't get it because they really aren't meant for US highways and Toyota won't do any warranty / recall work on them outside of Japan.

Second generation should be fine, but I don't know about the screen, you'd probably have to have some hardware swapped / replaced that contains the screen's software. You might be able to get that from a crashed car in a junkyard or ebay...

Third generation is the 2004-2006 models, so it's certainly not one of those if it's got a trunk.

2001 Prius Photos       2005 Prius Photos
1992 Mitsubishi Delica Diesel-WVO Hybrid Photos

Start by looking at the vehicle identifier number. The first characters identify what you are looking at:

NHW10 - first generation Prius, as others have suggested, avoid.

NHW11 - second generation Prius, called Prius I here. This is what I drive but make sure all of the engineering changes have been made. IMHO, a 2003, NHW11 is a safe bet but earlier years would need more investigation.

NHW20 - third generation Prius, called Prius II here. An excellent choice.

So my question is, who are you considering buying it from?

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

Thankyou very much for replies- my first ever chatroom experience!!

Im penning from Down under, NZ, where we import a lot of japanese second hand vehicles.

Thanks for that info on the difference the third generation does not make sense to me,
The other thing, it comes with new tyres at 37000, would that be a marketing thing?
cheers ginw

Ahhh, "NZ" changes things. You are likly to be OK with an NHW10 model although it won't have the low-speed performance advantages of the NHW11 and NHW20 models. In the USA, most states have annual vehicle emission and safety inspections and keeping an NHW10 in spec could be a problem.

The other advantage of the NHW11 and NHW20 are manuals written in English. The NHW10 was pretty much a Japan-only model. But then again, if the price is right . . .

As for the tyres, it is hard to say. If the car is bad, the condition of the tyres are really just holding up the carcas.

GOOD LUCK!

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

Thanks Bob- where is this vehicle identification number on the car? There doesnt seem to be anything on the outside.

What do you mean by IHMO?
The car is being sold by a Toyota dealer, and Toyota imported it and it comes with a 4 year warranty, though what that covers Im not sure yet. Certainly a battery, and stuff like that.

Hi,

The vehicle identification number is usually stamped in the metal at different places including the doors. You can see it where I wiped the dust off just to the right of the cable:

http://home.hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/pri_tt_10.jpg

IMHO - In My Humble Opinion (which usually doesn't include much humility . . . except for me!)

Ahhh, with the dealer standing behind it, you are in for a treat. Ken may have more details but I understand in Japan, their vehicle regulations pretty much limit the vehicle useful life to not much more than 3 years or so. Rather, that is what I'd read in an article many years ago.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

Thankyou very much for that- I think it must be a NHW11 but I shall check tomorrow. And then I can request the correct manual for the car.

ginw

To all those who gave me advice yesterday- I am now the proud owner of a Toyota Prius S 2000 - which is a NWH11 model (thanks Bob, I could check that) - for the last 90 minutes.
My confusion with the generations is that we deal with them differently here- the first was the trial period in Japan 96-98, the second was 98-2000, and the third 2000-2003, and then we get into NZ news- and of course they are the hatchback etc from 2004 on. Toyota do not recommend NZers purchasing anything below the generation 111 model, that is below 2000.
I love it , I am hooked, but sadly I guess I shall mainly be driving my old petrol guzzling Isuzu to and from town ( only 5 km) as Im always picking something up.I also fear that I might be driving more than I need to in the next month or two.
By the way, in NZ our petrol is now $1.70NZ heading to $2 by xmas??
Oh, and by the way, of course all the monitors are in Japanese. On our NZ internet buy-sell website, someone has a monitor in English for a second generation which they say can be just plugged in- selling price at the mo is $100. However I have bought through Toyota with a big warranty so I really cant fiddle with the technology unless someone tells me it DEAD easy!!!