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Prius A/C Repair Shop - Washington DC Area?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by dc_priuslover, Aug 1, 2019.

  1. dc_priuslover

    dc_priuslover Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Gaithersburg, MD
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
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    Two
    Hey guys, my Gen 2 2005 Prius A/C is acting up (not hold a charge longer than a week) and I was looking to get it checked out. We really need A/C because we have a small child, and it does get super hot here in the summer. I have a few Toyota dealerships in the area but was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for third-party shops. I live in the DC metropolitan area. Thank you!

    Actually, to be honest, I'm at a bit of a crossroads. We JUST dropped a few grand into the car to replace the HV Battery. Had we not done that, the A/C repair would be more palatable (what, a couple of grand?). But with that money already in the car, the decision is harder. Part of me is worried we're potentially throwing money away, and it's not a small amount.

    I guess I could just charge the A/C system up every week with pure r134a but I'm not too happy with having that much refrigerant being lost to the atmosphere, plus the thought of doing this maintenance every week is annoying (but I guess it beats spending the several grand?).
     
    #1 dc_priuslover, Aug 1, 2019
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2019
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    any decent shop should be able to fix it.
     
    #2 bisco, Aug 1, 2019
  3. Sean_999

    Sean_999 Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Vehicle:
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    N/A
    That's not very helpful, "bisco", compared to other comments on these forums. What do you mean by "decent shop"?? Doesn't A/C work on any Prius require some level of special experience and equipment?
     
    #3 Sean_999, Aug 12, 2019
    bisco likes this.
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    fair enough,

    a decent shop should have high voltage compressor experience, and understand the special prius oil requirement.

    if o/p had come back and asked, i would have added that, my mistake
     
    #4 bisco, Aug 12, 2019
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2019
  5. Sean_999

    Sean_999 Junior Member

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    Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so gripe-y. Thanks for the clarification. Unfortunately, I'm not finding it easy to find out, from a telephone conversation with the shop, if they have the equipment and experience -- and understanding -- that you say would be wanted.
     
    #5 Sean_999, Aug 14, 2019
    bisco likes this.
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Plug-in Base
    agreed, it isn't easy. have you tried a dealer?
     
    #6 bisco, Aug 14, 2019
  7. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
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    If you go back to the earliest days of Prius pre-2008 or so, there was a list of approved hybrid mechanics in the USA. That list included MAC in Ashland, Virginia way down towards Richmond and I think it was Hillmuth in Maryland.

    So you might try Hillmuth. There may have been another shop in your area on the real old list.

    Since then it has been pot luck. I use my regular shop West Springfield Auto because they have a guy formerly with Toyota. I am not sure he is still working there, but he did my inverter pump last year. One option in DC area we have PriusHybridRepiar.com and they travel to the site. I saw their advertizement-rich custom painted Prius on I-270 is how I saw them. Various places but we have very little consumer input here. So you might also try PriusHybridRepiar.com
     
    #7 wjtracy, Aug 14, 2019
    Tomax likes this.
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