all. It's been a time since my last post... new child, new job and about 15K on the Prius. I'm curious if anyone has recommendations for mechanics in th NJ... specifically Central NJ area. Dealership has been where I've been going... but, frankly they haven't got much of a clue about the car. Eg. ask them details... the service dept relays you to the sale team who regurgitates marketing pamphlets and points you to the parts dept who states the all parts for touring and standard suspensions are the same. Forget asking them about making simple adjustments to things like bluetooth etc. I suppose my gripe is that it seems as if Dealerships are really the only place to go if maintaining a warrenty is important. And the Dealerships show not only very little interest but almost outright resistance in the technology that is a bonanza for them. There has to be a mechanic(s) out there that is motivated by and enthusiastic about the new technology. I am interested to hear oppinions and hopinig to get recommendations. Thanks in advance. -alec
Awww... man. We are in deep doo doo if there are no qualified hybrid mechanics. Hmmm... Market opportunity? :car:
alec- sorry if your dealership is that lame. call toyota if they really don't know what they are doing. there are many folks here at priuschat with lots of expertise who may be able to help. I saw the spaceship as a computer on wheels so got service plan. joecar guy on the corner would be useless. barb
Seems as if there's no other option than to go thru the dealership. Frankly, I do trust them to have on hand and be able to review the existing tech/shop manuals. My confidence is limited as they haven't got a clue or interest in any off the easter-eggs (eg. bluetooth adjustments, etc) or aftermarket add-ons. I went to the parts dept to see what the $$ would be to convert my base to a touring. According to the parts dept the only difference btwn touring and non-touring is in the spoiler, wheels and tires... ie. suspension part numbers are all the same. They had to look up to know... Sales didn't know what the technical diff was either. Thoughts? I keep thinking there is an really great opportunity for a hybrid specialty shop in central NJ. Any potential investors?
I've been fortunate that I haven't needed any "hybrid-related" service on my car. My local mechanic has ably handled my oil changes & tire rotations thus far.
We take ours to our local (excellent) mechanic in Highland Park, NJ. The 2005 is the only one that is old enough to have needed any service. Just the scheduled maintenance and the tail light I broke
For warranty work I go to Cherry Hill Toyota where I bought the car. For oil changes I go to Victory (an indy shop) in Cinnaminson. My Prius in 2 years has not needed service and I don't expect it to need service. You are not required to take your car to a dealer to maintain the warranty. Retain receipts for all work done.
I think your initial mistrust was correct. I am 99.99% certain that the following suspension parts on the Touring are different than their counterparts on the Standard Prius: 1. Different Front Stabilizer Bar 2. Different Rear Stabilizer Bar 3. Different Rear Shocks 4. Different Rear Springs The cost of these four different Touring parts is around $400. Check it out for yourself on the Toyota Prius OEM parts database (but be sure to plug in 2008 as the year you're looking for parts for). Or see this thread started by BerkshirePrius: http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-main-forum/41925-touring-suspension-parts-research.html
Smittya... I am also looking for an independent mechanic to check my 2007 Prius over. It has close to 80,000 miles, and it would be nice to get anything taken care of that should be dealt with in the next 20,000 miles. The dealer that I take my car to seems to be fairly knowledgeable about it and fairly open in talking about issues and questions with me, but obviously I don't want to bring it to them for the check-over as they are the ones who have been maintaining it and it would look bad for them if the car had warranty issues (as in they had not been maintaining it properly). So if you run across anyone independent, please email me at [email protected] BTW... I will be getting a plug-in conversion on my car shortly. I will be getting a 40% to 100% increase in gas mileage and it does not re-program Toyota's control system of which motor is running and doing what... That way it does not change how the original battery gets charged/discharged, and does not void the warranty. I will get 40 miles of all electric driving, and then it goes back to normal hybrid operation.... for approx $4500. Are you interested in that for yours? Ira
I used to live in HP myself. I am looking for someone to give my car a thorough once-over as it has nearly 80,000 miles and it would be nice to get anything that will need warranty work handled in the next 20,000 miles before I am on my own. Would you mind sharing your local excellent mechanic is? You can email me privately with it if you don't want to reply to this post.... [email protected] Thanks! Ira
Hi All, I m soon going to be the proud owner of a brand new 2010 V with ATP! And very soon would also be on the lookout for a place to service it! Hence I hope to respark this thread and get some valuable inputs. Thanks, Mihir
Hi everyone, Sorry for digging up this old post, but I'm looking for a Prius mechanic in Central NJ too! I have a 2003, and it has 122k miles on it. I usually take it to the dealership (Sansone) reluctantly, they find things wrong and take all my money, and I go home. I'm really tired of it, and I want to go to someone independent who can be trusted and who knows what to do with a Prius. It's been making a whirring sound intermittently when I'm on the highway. The dealership said it was just the tires, but it doesn't sound like a tire whine to me. Anyway... Has anyone found someone since the last post? Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
I believe the lack of indy hybrid shops is due to the reliability. No one is going to open or stay in business if they are going to be as busy as the Maytag Repairman. The sad fact is that you will probably need a dealer if you are experiencing a battery problem or want fluids changed. The defense to the dealer finding stuff that needs to be fixed is to leave with an estimate & ask the enlightened chat room members. If you want to transform a standard Prius into a Touring Prius it seems to me you need to find a speed shop or another shop that will swap out all the parts.
I just bought mine at Lawrence Toyota, the salesmen said they have 7 hybrid mechanics, I wonder if anyone had luck using them
I got CEL due to P1121. Ordered the valve and coolant and got them replaced by Inman Auto Care in Colonia, NJ
Hi guys. New to the forum. I have a 2011 Prius and I stumbled upon a mechanic named John Kirk. He's at a shop called young's auto service in Philadelphia pa. He is certified in hybrid technology. And he owns a Prius. He fixed everything for me and has taken care of my friends 2008 Prius. Knew absolutely everything. I can't describe how good he is. I had vibration issues and he took care of them. If you have issues go to him. He knows his stuff. (215) 782-8588 Young's Auto Service 1415 Haines street Philadelphia PA
