Friends of Prius, I intent to import my Prius Prime Premium (2017) from the US into Germany. I am German and not affiliated with the U.S. Military. After having sent over the VIN number, the German Technical Inspection Authority (TÜV) informed me that the front headlights, the cooling agent of the air conditioning and the fog lights might need to be adjusted. More specifically, if the front lights (LED) were to produce more than 2000 Lumen they would need a self-leveling headlamp system and a headlamp cleaner, the type designation of the cooling agent has to be R1234yf and the car would need a rear fog light. Has anyone dealt with these requirements recently? Does anyone know if the headlights produce more than 2000 Lumen? I am sure there are other requirements I am currently unaware of to be met, too. I am new to this community, have not found recent information on importing a Toyota Prius Prime 2017 into the German civilian community and would appreciate any technical information the combined brain power of PriusChat could come up with. If I have missed a thread, I would appreciate to be pushed into the right direction. In any case thank you and may the force be with you.
This may be too difficult and expensive to do. --Can you find Prime headlights sold in some part of the world that meet those standards and could be drop-in replacements? We don't know the Lumen value...Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. has the information. Good luck getting it. --R-1234yf refrigerant is not a drop-in replacement for the current R-134a. It requires different parts in the system. Basically, it could be changed only with very extensive removal and replacement of several parts in the system. By the way, R-1234yf will be required in U.S. model year 2021 cars. --The rear fog light is one red tail light that stays on bright when the front fog lights are illuminated. I don't think this is permitted in the U.S. The front fog lights are pretty worthless; maybe better to just remove them.
The refrigerant change isn’t presently possible. Alternate versions of several components would be required, but to my knowledge those parts don’t actually exist. R-1234yf-compatible parts for the Prius are coming as noted above, but nobody outside of Toyota knows if they’ll have retrofit compatibility with older cars. Even if you could get the retrofit climate control parts, I’d expect the full list of projects to cost 30-50% of the value of the car.
You'll also have to replace some h/w to get EU maps for navi - optional, of course, but a big empty space will quickly begin to annoy, I imagine. Headlamps don't have cleaners, afaik, but for leveling you'll also need suspension sensors and addit. wiring.... Bottom line, too much hassle.
Very smart of the OP to check before he just shipped the car to Germany. I looked on the Toyota of Germany website to see if they sold the Prime there. They sell some hybrids, but not the Prius Prime. However, Toyota of Europe has them including a Prime with a solar roof. I wonder if Germany has different restrictions than the rest of Europe. Thought the EU was supposed to preclude that. I would guess that a used Prime in Europe will sell for a similar amount to a used one in the U.S., so the best bet might be to sell his and buy one there.
In Europe, Prius Plug-in Hybrid (or Nouvelle Prius Hybride Rechargeable, etc.) is the marketing name for the ZVW52 model, known as the Prius Prime in the U.S. and the Prius PHV in Japan. There are differences for each region, of course, but as far as I know, they’re all made on the same assembly lines in Japan.
I think you may need turn signal repeaters on the front fenders or outside mirrors. I am disappointed to find mine does not have them as when I cycle, they are very important in traffic. …… not that the drivers here understand the concept of turn signs.
