- #24 of 133
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Re: Driving without IMA [annek1]
by Mr_Shiftright HOST
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Oct 31, 2008 (8:10 am)
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Replying to: annek1 (Oct 31, 2008 7:59 am)
Well with an AC compressor failure, there is the possibility that the faulty compressor threw debris throughout the entire system. Your home has simple ducting coming from one unit, but a car AC has multiple components, most of which are stashed in impossible to get places. Keep in mind that your car's AC is, relative to the space involved, pretty efficient. You could never cool your home as fast as you can cool your car!
So getting rid of the contaminants in the system might require at least flushing lines and condenser after removing them, and often requires a new dryer, expansion valve, etc. Then there's the "trapping" and evacuation of old freon, adding new freon, testing, lubricating, blah blah.
This is why you see so many used cars for sale with "AC needs a recharge". Of course what that really means is that the seller found out how much it really costs to fix the AC and didn't bother to do it.
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- #25 of 133
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Re: Driving without IMA [Mr_Shiftright]
by annek1
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Oct 31, 2008 (9:40 am)
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Oct 31, 2008 8:10 am)
Oh well, then there is just the matter of the many stories I've heard about the Hybrid a/c system failing--must be our fault 
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- #26 of 133
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Re: Driving without IMA [annek1]
by stevedebi
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Oct 31, 2008 (10:44 am)
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Replying to: annek1 (Oct 31, 2008 9:40 am)
"Oh well, then there is just the matter of the many stories I've heard about the Hybrid a/c system failing--must be our fault"
Not near as many failing as in the 2002-2005 CR-V, which has been an epidemic...
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- #27 of 133
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This is squarely on the head of this topic
by larsb
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Oct 31, 2008 (12:25 pm)
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How about repair shops finally catching up with the hybrid trend:
And Gary thought this would NEVER happen
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- #28 of 133
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Re: This is squarely on the head of this topic [larsb]
by gagrice
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Oct 31, 2008 (2:51 pm)
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Replying to: larsb (Oct 31, 2008 12:25 pm)
Just don't keep your hybrid past 99,999 miles and you may not be shocked. 
The big cost difference from traditional cars is a high-voltage battery, which is supposed to last for 100,000 miles but costs anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000 when it dies.
That still does not address the biggest cost. Parts are still OEM and expensive compared to 3rd party vendor parts available for most traditional cars.
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- #29 of 133
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Re: This is squarely on the head of this topic [gagrice]
by kdhspyder
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Oct 31, 2008 (3:18 pm)
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Replying to: gagrice (Oct 31, 2008 2:51 pm)
Apparently you missed the latest announcement 4 or 6 weeks ago. The cost of a replacement battery pack at full retail over the parts counter is $2599 for a Gen2 ( $2289 for a Gen1 ). There are discounts being offered already. Competition is a great concept.
Now only if one were to fail we'd see what the real situation was ( sitting here playing Maytag man waiting for the first failure to occur ).
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- #30 of 133
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Re: This is squarely on the head of this topic [kdhspyder]
by gagrice
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Oct 31, 2008 (4:12 pm)
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Replying to: kdhspyder (Oct 31, 2008 3:18 pm)
I was merely posting what the independent repair shops in Sacramento were claiming the cost of battery replacement. It does not look like Honda hybrid owners are as fortunate. Though I am still more interested in the 10 year battery life. As our 19 year old Lexus has not passed the 100k mile mark yet. And we drive a lot less than we used to. Our year old Sequoia is already past 6k miles. We are tearing up the road with that one. So in 6 more years we will know how the first of the Gen 2 Prius make out battery wise.
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- #31 of 133
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im a lucky owner hitting the 120k mile mark
by vap3
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Dec 28, 2008 (1:50 am)
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my prius used to be a taxi, so explains the high use. It was in a minor fender bender, so they sold it to me for cheap! And its been almost 3 years I had the vehicle I put like 20k miles on it myself. Change the fluids and the coolants, and inspect the belt once in awhile, you can't go wrong.
But there are some issues with the current gen prius, but once you got it all up and stable its good to go.
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- #32 of 133
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Re: This is squarely on the head of this topic [gagrice]
by railroadjames
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Jan 02, 2009 (8:28 pm)
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Replying to: gagrice (Oct 31, 2008 2:51 pm)
Once again Gary (a naysayer) miss quotes info of little or no meaningfull substance. He says..."don't keep a Hybrid after 99,999 miles." Just for the record. There are thousands of hybrids out there in excess of 150,000 miles with solid and reliable service. As to out of date battery info, it speaks volumes to the negitive statements by the same person.Many times "gagrice" has spoken critical of Hybrids (specifically Prius's) and that's fine for testing the waters in the early years b/4 the cars had established a track record that was near impeckable and highly rated by almost every critic under the sun. If the hybrid were unreliable we wouldn't be here todate discussing its' outstanding dependability but alas! It has stood the test of time and critics. I appreciate that there are those who just don't care for the hybrids for their own particular wants and/or needs. That's fine because I would never care to own a variety of "other" vehicles. To each his own. I just want fair and objective scrutiny of the hybrids.
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- #33 of 133
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Re: This is squarely on the head of this topic [railroadjames]
by gagrice
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Jan 03, 2009 (1:17 pm)
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Replying to: railroadjames (Jan 02, 2009 8:28 pm)
The jury is still 5 years out on the battery lasting 10 years. The first generation had a battery recall if you remember. Now the current model has just past 5 years on the market. That is only half way to the 10 year warranty on the battery. Mileage is of NO significance for me. Our 19 year old soon to be 20 year old LS400 has never had a major problem. When I see 20 year old Prius running around with no major failures I will be hard pressed to say anything negative about the technology. Though HSD is still not in any vehicle I would own. If they decide to build a Sequoia hybrid that gets 30 MPG highway, I may be compelled to give it a try. So far all the large hybrids have been total FLOPS. I will take a full sized BMW or MB diesel SUV until something better comes along.
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