Hey p-chat people, I'm new here and finally jumped all the way now to say hi! So I got an 06 used Prius a few months ago and I'm in love with it. It's in amazing shape about 115k miles, it's fancier than any car I've had even before mentioning the whole hybrid thing. (I didn't come from money so it's like a spaceship compared to any previous car I've had). Anyway, as I said I've always had junkers and used a mechanic near me that I trust with my life; they're dirt cheap, honest and would always give me options as to order and cost of repairs needed for any ancient civic, tercel or olds 88 I had (don't ask), cause I really needed it to move and that's it. It's a whole different story now, with a nice car that I intend to drive for a long time and I do like it actually being fully functional at all times now. I would stick with them but during my shopping process I also was waaay more careful than I would be normally and I took a few cars into check before buying, Prius chat helped me a lot with the process. My mechanic was generally really negative about Prius' and it was a big turnoff, I just couldn't even get an honest assessment about the condition of a car because it was clear they didn't like Prius' kept telling me like "eh, it's just not worth it, you don't drive enough, the battery will cost thousands, you never know what might have happened to it before," etc, etc. "duh! that's why I came to you to look at it, A***ole!" I liked them a lot but that sucks. I'd made up my mind I wanted a Prius- a car that's efficient, clean, reliable and doesn't look like a post-apocalypse battle car like my usual so all that said to me was "if you get one of these I'll fix it but I'll overcharge and I won't even be happy about that" so I need to switch. Anyway I got one, I love it, theres actually nothing wrong with it now, but I needed to get an oil change, went to a chain place finally. I need to find a solid real mechanic though, someone who I know works on Prius' and doesn't hate them arbitrarily because of what they've heard. Does anyone have specific recommendations for that? I'm in Chicago; in the city not the burbs. I don't mean a dealer I know how to find that. Also thanks for the loads of help this site has been already, I'm a devotee now probably for life. My life has changed a lot in the last year including getting a Prius; I'm not that young anymore but having a car this nice certainly makes me feel pride in being an 'adult' for real. cheers
Welcome to PriusChat! Lots of nice folk only too willing to help you out with information and ideas how you might solve your problems! Look around for Hybrid Haven (they have a web-site (Hybrid Repair Petaluma - Auto Repair Shop | The Hybrid Haven), give them a call and see if they have anyone in your area. Good Luck! - Wil