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The Prius
My wife bought a Prius new in 2006. Drove it to 170,000 until she wanted something newer a couple years ago. Her 20 year old son needed a car so she sold it to him. He drives to crap out of it to 220K until last week when codes showed up and the brakes started acting up. Takes it to dealer - brake actuator @ $2100 and they show the battery pack bad too @ $3800. So the kid without any research decides his best option is to go to a tote the note lot and buy some POS.
I start doing a little googling and find a company in Houston called Hometown Hybrids. They have a guy in Dallas(where I am) that can do the battery pack, but they can only do the brake actuator on Houston. Total for a 2 year warranty battery pack and the brake actuator is $2100!!! So I start thinking about trailering the car to Houston. Ten minutes later, the owner of the company emails back and said for an extra $300 her tech will drive to Dallas this weekend and do the work. Bam! Jose gets to my house @ 7:45 this morn and reads the codes. Turns out he's a factory trained Toyota tech doing jobs for Hometown on weekends. The inverter water pump is bad too but he happens to have that part with him. I saw the code so know it's real. He calls Jessica and she calls back and tells me they will do it at cost - $175. Bam! Jose gets out a medium size tool bag and starts in like a bumble bee. I left him alone for an hour and the battery pack is done and he is halfway through the rest of it. He knocks on the door at 10:30 and asks if I'll help bleed the brakes. 15 minutes later, he has the car all back together, tests it out, tools packed and credit card charged. This is truly the best experience I've ever had with a mechanic! And the kid has a good car for another couple of years... Last edited by Mark Wilson; 07-29-2018 at 08:43 AM.. |
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07-29-2018, 07:37 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Maryland
Posts: 31,572
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I need to do some homework!
Well done.
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1996 FJ80. |
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07-29-2018, 07:52 AM
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Location: Lake Oswego, OR
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Competence is pretty wonderful. Good job!
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07-29-2018, 07:53 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Linn County, Oregon
Posts: 48,587
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Love a story with a happy ending...
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"Now, to put a water-cooled engine in the rear and to have a radiator in the front, that's not very intelligent." -Ferry Porsche (PANO, Oct. '73) (I, Paul D. have loved this quote since 1973. It will remain as long as I post here.) |
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07-29-2018, 08:26 AM
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The owner - Jessica has all positive reviews and makes it a point to hire veterans. Impressive young lady
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07-29-2018, 08:32 AM
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Great story!
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07-29-2018, 08:38 AM
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Control Group
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Stuff like that makes me want to move back to Texas.
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She was the kindest person I ever met |
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07-29-2018, 09:39 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2002
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Quote:
 . My niece bought a used Prius years ago (the first one...'04?), and the battery pack went bad about a year after the warranty expired.....Toyota replaced it ($4K) at no charge....better than bad PR. It's now been one of my parents' cars for years now.....they all three LOVE it. Me....I despise to drive it....never felt so disconnected ('cause you are  ) in a car in all my life....particularly the brakes...takes me a day or so to get used to it. Dad's already talking about replacing the battery when it goes...been trying to discourage that....but...Will Jose drive to NC  ? That's just simply awesome service...he'd have been tipped well....above and beyond awesome!
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07-29-2018, 10:04 AM
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canna change law physics
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My power plant manager bought a used Prius, knowing it would need a battery pack at some point. He just replaced it, $2400 installed. Not bad, when you consider that everyone (including me!) thought the replacement would be around $8K. It must be that the price of the Lithium batteries are down so much.
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James The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the engineer adjusts the sails.- William Arthur Ward (1921-1994) Red-beard for President, 2020 |
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07-29-2018, 10:46 AM
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Just thinking out loud
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Close by
Posts: 6,885
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Inverter pump is a factory recall. Dealer paid for towing and all when I had one with near the same miles. The combination meter also can default, but it's just a 10mm nut, remove terminal and the reset is complete.
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83 944 91 FJ80 84 Ram Charger (now gone) |
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07-29-2018, 10:47 AM
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Quote:
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07-29-2018, 10:54 AM
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Quote:
Here's a story on her. Meet Jessica Nachtegaele of Hometown Hybrids - Voyage Houston Magazine | Houston City Guide |
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07-29-2018, 11:02 AM
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Just thinking out loud
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Close by
Posts: 6,885
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Quote:
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83 944 91 FJ80 84 Ram Charger (now gone) |
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07-29-2018, 12:04 PM
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canna change law physics
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Quote:
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James The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the engineer adjusts the sails.- William Arthur Ward (1921-1994) Red-beard for President, 2020 |
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07-29-2018, 12:38 PM
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Quote:
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07-29-2018, 03:39 PM
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: Woodlands TX
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I think most prius have nimh batteries not li, unless they are the plug in variety.
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07-29-2018, 04:18 PM
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canna change law physics
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You're right. They used NiMH until 2015
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James The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the engineer adjusts the sails.- William Arthur Ward (1921-1994) Red-beard for President, 2020 |
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07-29-2018, 05:31 PM
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I have a 2012 Prius plug-in. I love my Prius with my carpool sticker. I am dreading the day the battery goes out.
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1966 912 with 2.2 911 motor 1986 wide body 911 1995 993 Polar Silver |
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07-29-2018, 06:30 PM
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You do not have permissi
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: midwest
Posts: 40,000
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There is a big expensive drive battery underneath and a smaller starter/accessory battery in the trunk .
Mom's 2015 starter battery failed after 3.5 years. Just after the 3 year warranty expired. $250 at the stealership. Toyota did everything possible wrong with that year. Everything is unfriendly. It looks like there is a viable aftermarket for the drive batteries though. $1100 for the NiH and $1800 for the LiON |
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07-29-2018, 07:10 PM
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