if you were supoosed to be taking delivery of a new Prius in March and had already paid a £500 deposit?

[moulesfrites]

DH reckons it should be ok as any problem will be fixed but I am worried about the car not holding any value due to all the headlines...

Can you not ask the manufacturer to hold the deposit and hold off giving you the new car for a while? Obviously Toyota are looking into things right now and if there is anything that needs to be checked they should be happy to do so before selling you the car.