Does anyone know of a shop north of Boston (Melrose, Wakefield, Stonham, Saugus area), not dealer, who has a prius certified mechanic on staff? I would like to have an alternative source outside of the dealer.
good luck with that, i thought only the toyota employees could be certified hybrid specialist on the Prius, but I defer to our resident expert-- Galaxee???
Well, I'm not a "certified mechanic", but with a certain body of knowledge and a relatively recent autoenginuity scantool I might be able to help out on some second opinions. Lemme know. . Even if "certifiable" comes to mind... . _H*
toyota does the certifying, and only toyota techs get the training. that's not to say there aren't trained and certified techs who have left the dealership business for an independent shop. usually indy shops are quite proud to have them.
Gilles [and his techno-sidekick Scotty, who I've never met] is at Westboro Toyota, right on rt. 9 westbound. Stop in if you get a chance; he's a hoot. Might be a bit of a haul, depending on where you're coming from. . You should encourage local indies to get themselves trained up, too... but that doesn't help in the short term. . _H*
I'm going out to Westboro to get my state inspection done today. It would be nice to have a local place to go to other than a dealer. I don't trust any other places to be able to do a hybrid inspection, but I suspect it only needs the safety stuff done this year anyway. Gilles is great to talk with. When I went in Nov. for an oil change he was just about to get a Prius converted to a plug-in. He said to listen to his radio show for updates but I couldn't get a live broadcast. I ended up listening to archived shows. Maybe I can get to see it today. On a separate note, I think my EBH has STB. I'm getting the same fWT reading whether I plug it in or not, and the mpg is in the toilet. Replaced the extension cord but it made no difference. I'm gonna have to order a new one and will have to find someone to put it in for me unless I can figure it out for myself and/or get my fat arms in there.
neicy: oops, hmmm. I wonder if the plug came out of the heater or something? See if you can find a way to test connectivity through the thing.. lemme know if you want help. If we can find a dry spot on the ground [hah], might be able to get underneath and reach up and reaffirm the connection. . [sorry, topic drift, but we're local and I *do* offer to help boston-area owners..] . _H*
The reason I asked the question is that in general I prefer to stay away from dealers whenever possible. I have a local mechanic whom I trust. But when I bring up the Prius I can tell from some of his questions he really does not know anything about hybrids and would prefer to not work on it. He mentioned the HV battery and its danger when changing oil/filter. I know this is not a problem but it made me wary of asking him to service it. Presently I will use the dealer (Ira Toyota in Danvers) for my service. I just have an inherent distrust of the dealerships. maybe my mistake was looking for a "certified mechanic" in my area vs a independent who has experience in the normal workings of a Prius.
I would also be wary. Whether he was trying to use scare tactic regarding changing the oil (me and my devil mind), or cluing in on his baseless assumption, I'd keep the Prius out of his reach.
Neicy, Unfortunately you probably will have to replace the EBH. Have you backed out without unplugging a few times? If so you can damage the cord and it won't work. Other options are to cut off the plug end of the cord a few inches back from the current plug and splice on a new plug. The other times I've heard of this, including my own, the damaged area of the cord is right at the point where the cord enters the plug part. It's certainly possible there's something wrong with the core itself as well, but I think it's less likely as they're pretty durable.
I am happy to read some Boston area Prius owners discussing mechanics. I want to change dealerships. I am unhappy with my dealership on the Northshore. Does anyone have a good experience to report from a dealership? I am particularly interested in honesty ofcourse. Thanks.
The Canadian magazine World of Wheels had a feature story about Craig Van Battenburg. He trains technicians to work on hybrid cars. A list of independent shops that service hybrids is on his website: Auto-Careers.org: Hybrid Training Resources Since 2000.
I used to go to Atlantic Toyota, but I don't think they are very Prius savvy. I could be wrong, but I have decided to try Westboro Toyota since that is where Gilles LaBelle specializes in selling hybrid vehicles. They seem to service a higher volume of hybrids. When I went in for an oil change they didn't even bat an eyeball when I said to put the tires at 44F/42R after rotating, and when I checked them they were pretty close. They did, however, overfill the oil. I got one of those fluid extractors and got some of it out. Next time I go I WILL be discussing that with them and checking it before I leave. I like their hours too.
I really do like my Prius and I am sure it will be very reliable. However, it does have a few quirks that are different from most ICE vehicles. Such as it gas overfill spit out and it's traction control and of course the oil overfill. These quirks have not bothered me...yet but the fact that I seem to be tied to a dealer only service is not a great thing. Some people can do the normal maintenance themselves. I am not one of them. I have always used a local independent to service my vehicles but so far my local(s) do not want to deal with it. My side view mirror was sheared off last year along with some body scratches. I had it fixed at a body shop but I had to make a copy of the valet card because they did not know how to start and shift it. Not a big deal but it shows how there is not a lot of knowledge on this car out there. I don't know if the other hybrids have the same problem. If so maybe as more and more go on the road then there will be more independents available. Had I known this it may have affected my buy decision. Based on this thread no one is using an independent.
Where is this so called "Hybrid Center" at Westboro Toyota? This is the dealership that is closest to my work so I use them for my warranty work. Being I just bought an 08 Prius I will start bringing my car to them for service. Their service has always been pretty good and they treated me right with my 05 Tacoma. Although they did screw up a roof rack installation. Because they were nice to me when I brought the truck there, I went in to look at the Prii they had in stock. They had a nice silver pkg 4. Well, when I went to talk business with the sales guy, he tried to royally screw me over. I'm an easy sell, give me a realistic deal. I'm happy and you make money. Done. This guy not only came back "after talking to his manager" with a deal that wasn't good, it was worse than his original. So, I left and called the dealership in CT, where I bought my last 2 Toyota's and made a deal over the phone with them. It's too bad as I wanted to start a loyalty with Wobo Toyo. Now, I'm seeing there is a "Hybrid Center" there? I guess I'll find out when I go in for the first service. steve
It's in the middle of the showroom along the back wall. Not a service center - a sales center. I certainly hope Gilles was not the salesman you are refering to. He doesn't seem like that type. What was the salesman's name? If you don't want to say publicly then PM me please.
It wasn't Gilles. I think the Salesman's name was Tom. However, he technically didn't do anything wrong. He was doing his job. I just have 0 tolerance for car salesmen and the "game" they play. I know the numbers, hold backs, trade in game, financing game. So when I walk into a dealership I know if the salesman is trying to take me for a ride. Now I could have sat there and got him to get realistic it just wasn't worth my time knowing that I could call the dealer I had bought my last 2 toyota's from. I am glad that everyone says Westboro Toyota is the place to bring a Prius for service cause that is where the car will get serviced. steve
I'd like to bump this thread, nearly 10 years later I know. I'm wondering if anyone has a trustworthy independent Prius mechanic located in the North Shore MA area at this point? I've had awful experiences with my closest dealership recommending unnecessary service and doubt I could afford what they'll likely try and charge to have the traction battery replaced on my poor old car.
