Dont Crash the New Prius. Spare Parts Prices are High..

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"NO-ONE likes a fender bender, but here is one car you really don’t want to crash into.

The latest version of the world’s biggest selling hybrid car, the 2016 Toyota Prius, goes on sale in Australia today with its most daring design yet.

But the oddly-shaped headlights and tail-lights that help give the Prius its futuristic looks are super expensive to replace.

Buyers are likely to be slugged with higher insurance premiums because these are the most commonly replaced crash parts — and anyone who bumps into the new Prius could be up for a big repair bill.

According to Toyota parts pricing obtained by News Corp Australia, the headlights on the old Prius cost about $500 each, but the hi-tech headlights on the new model cost more than $1600 each.

The tail-lights on the old Prius cost about $600, but the new model has a two-piece design, which brings the cost to about $1000 each side.

Insurance companies contacted by News Corp Australia declined to comment on a possible rise in premiums because the model was yet to go on sale.

But insiders said an insurance policy price rise is likely given the cost of common crash parts such as the headlights have almost tripled and the tail-lights have almost doubled.

A Toyota Australia spokesman said the headlights are “significantly more hi-tech and offer substantially more functionality versus the previous model”.

The Prius headlights have ultra bright LED lamps and automatic levelling technology once reserved for luxury cars; the two-piece tail-lights also have LED illumination.

The Toyota Prius is the world’s best selling hybrid car, with more than 3.6 million sold globally since 1997, including almost 20,000 in Australia since 2001.

But Australian sales have dropped dramatically in recent years, with the $32,500 Prius squeezed between the smaller $23,000 Prius C hatchback and the larger Camry Hybrid sedan, which undercuts it on price ($30,500).

The Prius now sells at half the rate of its smaller and cheaper sibling and one-tenth the rate of the Toyota Camry hybrid.

Toyota has loaded the new fourth-generation Prius with technology — rather than slash the price — in an attempt to reverse the sales slide.

However, Toyota Prius geeks may be surprised to learn the latest model has less power from both its petrol engine and electric motor than its predecessor.

But fuel economy has improved to below the current model’s miserly figure of just 3.7L/100km to a super-low 3.4L/100km, which is less than even the most efficient diesel-powered city cars."
http://www.news.com.au/technology/in...936e1401f85a19