List of independent shops handling hybrids

Would it be fair, then, to presume that if you were looking to Google for hybrid training providers, that you were pretty new to the hybrid repair field at that time? I ask because I would expect someone with experience in the field to already be well aware of available training in their chosen specialty.

You could call up the training providers, ask them for multiple references, and interview the students. Sure, it will take a little time, but if you're committed to finding the best training, I'm confident that it will be worth the effort. Definitely better than Google.

From the exercise that you had previously described, it sounds like you attended a class for beginners. There's nothing wrong with that, of course—everyone has to start somewhere—but for most technicians, hybrid vehicles represent a relatively unfamiliar technology. There's not a lot of common ground between an electric drive and an internal-combustion engine. This means that the beginning student is somewhat ill-equipped to truly distinguish whether or not a training course has any practical value. Nor can such a student easily detect whether or not the technical material is accurate. That's reality, I'm afraid.

I won't disagree with that. But let's first make sure, given the concerns about this particular company's "certification" process, that no one is piggybacking onto ASE's reputation to burnish their own stature.

No. ASE has no hybrid certification test, and at present, has no specific plans or timetable to offer one. If you were told otherwise—well, that's why it's important to verify claims prior to posting them.

About what?

Out of curiosity, do you represent yourself as possessing hybrid certification?

 

I have a certificate of completion of 40 hours of training and passing a test confirming my level of retention.

BTW, you may be happy to hear this will most likely be my last response to any of your posts. It has been a huge waste of my time to try and reason with you. As many other PC members have shared with me privately, your nameless, faceless criticizing of others without offering helpful alternatives is a big discouragement to both those seeking help and those offering help.
It is a pity the moderators do not seem to care.
Have a good life my friend.

 

I just sent mail off to the folks at hybricars.com asking them to
add this entry to their list for Massachusetts:
.
Eco Car Center
144 Main St
North Reading MA 01864
Contact: Don Bonelli
(978) 664-4326
[email protected]
.
and am also posting it here. For a long time I felt relatively
helpless when people would ask me how they could avoid going to
Toyota dealers around the Boston area, because it's seemed to be
surprisingly deficient in good indie shops that can handle Prii.
I talked a bit to Don after quite randomly coming across his shop
and stopping in just to ask; he was instrumental in developing
some of the Bentley book and has been in the training circuit a
bit himself. Knows German cars pretty well too. I haven't fully
vetted his capabilities but got a gut feel that he knows what he's
doing. And he has a Techstream. Tell 'im Hobbit sent you!
.
I suspect that if Craig happens to be the affiliate at hybridcars.com
who gets my message he'll just reject it out of hand, but that's a
different issue. He can't control what I post here, so at least
this info is on the net someplace.
.
And yes, I've been somewhat out of sight around here for a while. I
was indeed off for another 9000+ mile cross-country odyssey over the
summer, a couple of smaller roadtrips here and there, and am going
into various mostly-non-car-related fall projects. There will
likely be a fairly monumental writeup on the summer trip like
for '08, and I choose that word deliberately because there's a lot
of it to cover -- Monument Valley, Dinosaur National Monument,
Monument CO, and a festival of weird hoodoos all over. And lots
of fun Prius observations along the way.
.
_H*

 

Other than autobeyours.com, can anybody recommend anybody in Central Indiana, or perhaps, maybe we should start posting what the service price schedules are at each dealership in the area?

Is Beck Toyota on the southside a good place on price and other stuff to deal with?

UPDATE: Found out about a small, independent shop nearby the house that claims to be "certified on hybrids." I plan on doing most of the work myself, but anything I don't trust myself with, I may take to them, and give them a try...