I recently had my 2007 Prius in for the 100K service. Yesterday I had 4 new tires installed (needed) at a local Midas. They reviewed my car, with video and recommended rear and front struts. The video showed areas they said were starting to wear,and if I chose not to do this repair, my new tires would wear faster and unevenly. The estimate was about $1100 each for rear and front. It seems strange that at my recent service at the dealer, they never mentioned these items? At this point, I need to decide how much more money to put into this car, and what other repairs might be needed in the future. Overall, my car seems fine to me, although I do have a random brake lights and tone warning that happens, but goes away when I turn the car off and on. The dealer checked for codes after it happened, and there was nothing. They said the next time it happens, to just drive it to them, not turn off the car. When this warning has occurred, the brakes seem fine, but I have only been traveling on side streets. Any help or thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks
Does the ride feel ok, you're not noticing anything untowards? If you're comfortable with the feel of the car, not noticing any strange noises, I would discount Midas' report as just an effort to drum up business. There could actually be something to it, but it could be minor deterioration, fine for now. Regarding the warning lights, we've had this too, and the same instruction: to drive to dealership, leave it running. Which I did one time, still no closer to resolving. Well, possible verdict: I had a ScanGauge (gizmo hooked up to OBD port) connected, and the mechanic noticed intermittent interruption in signal at the OBD port while he had his laptop connected, suggested I try leaving SG off. That was over a year back, I followed his advice, and no repeat of the symtoms. Bottom line: it could be nothing actually wrong, just what they call a "handshake" problem. The car's communications having a glitch. I would just continue to wait and watch.
Thanks - it seems fine to me, no unusual noises, except when the brake warning happens - any idea about that? thanks
Yeah I edited my post above, kind of talking about that. I would just follow dealership's advice: bring it in when (and if) it next occurs. Maybe next occurance they can recover codes, figure out. When you get the lights do the brakes also seem to behave differently? This happened with us. Brakes work, but take a little more effort, not as responsive. Dealership referred to it as "failsafe" mode. They dismiss the codes, reset everything, and back to normal.
if you decide to do the struts, price shop, that seems awfully high to me. why do you buy tires at midas, are they a good value?
I actually purchased my tires with Tire Rack, and had them delivered to Midas to install, based on recommendations.
Oh, I was shortening my previous mention of ScanGauge. It taps into the OBD port (On Board Diagnostics), under the dash, and can display various engine functions: RPM, Coolant temp and so on.
SG is the "ScanGauge" an OBD2 reader that can be programmed to see many, but not all, Prius specific error codes. It is know to cause periodic communication hiccups, but can show 4 parameters while driving.. The "MiniVCI" is less expensive and more powerful if you don't mind using pirated SW. I have both. JeffD
