Comments | cptjohnc: Prius Rant

cptjohnc

Prius Rant

Aug 31, 2010 11:40

2 weeks ago, I picked up the Prius from the dealership, where I spent right around $2900 on some repairs. I specifically asked if there were other major problems, such as with the hybrid battery, before authorizing the repairs, as I knew this to be pretty close to the value of the car (according to Kelly Blue Book, based on average trade-in value ( Read more... )

Comments 11

ouij September 1 2010, 12:50:01 UTC

Nice Tommasso-- late '80s, early '90s, right? If VDOT were to sponsor a road racing team, I'm pretty sure that's what the paint scheme would look like. CONES MEAN NO PHONES.

cptjohnc September 1 2010, 15:31:32 UTC

I don't have an exact year, but yeah -- late 80s seems right. It has some newer components (brakes are dual pivot, for example).

While it is ride-able, it isn't really 100%. I need to get it to someone who knows what they're doing, and give it a thorough refreshing. But I need to justify the $$$s :-)

Maybe I can go to VDOT for sponsorship :-)

ouij September 1 2010, 17:46:36 UTC

I can wholeheartedly endorse Oasis Bike Works in Fairfax. Jan Feuchtner (co-owner & head mechanic) is fabulous. Good shop, fair prices, good turnaround, good people.

cptjohnc September 1 2010, 18:04:44 UTC

Agree wholeheartedly -- I recommend them to others at every opportunity -- all credit to you for turning me on to them a few years back. And yep, that's the plan for the Tommaso -- I just need some ready cash to pay for parts, in addition to their labor. I use them for almost all of my bike service ('cept for the free adjustments on my daughter's bike bought from Performance before Oasis opened). Jan sold me on the Kona I'm riding now. They did an awesome job rehabing my old Mt. Bike before I got the Kona, and were amazingly fair and awesome about not trying to pressure me into marginally necessary repairs.

I also look with envy at some of their custom builds.

level_head September 12 2010, 03:48:48 UTC

I wish you success on the Prius. Yours is older than ours; the 2005 we've got has 100k on it and is doing well, with almost no repairs in five+ years.

We got the car to do penance for my other one -- a rather large V8. But these days, the second vehicle is a little Ford 4-cylinder pickup truck, and the Cadillac actually got better mileage.

Out of curiosity, how's your AM reception? It's a continuous problem on our vehicle, almost useless.

===|==============/ Level Head

cptjohnc September 12 2010, 23:26:02 UTC

Our AM reception is fine, but we live in a major metropolitan area, so signals tend to be pretty strong ( ... )

level_head September 13 2010, 00:06:07 UTC

Understood. You mentioned a mileage disappointment; ours actually gets between 46 miles per gallon (me driving) to 52 (my Lady_Anne). She's taken it cross country three times ( ... )

cptjohnc September 13 2010, 04:36:22 UTC

Ours gets about 40-44 now that the fuel system is repaired ( ... )

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