going to my Toyota Dealer's Hybrid Owners meeting tonight (6pm PST)- Anything you want to know?

a64pilot · Nov 12, 2009

bwilson4web said: ↑

Excellent!

I'll fax a note to them Thursday and we'll see what comes back. <GRINS>

Bob Wilson
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All right Bob, you said you would, I'm holding you to it.

The question is, When will this nonsense stop? Good lord Toyota, don't you see these idiots are ruining all of your hard work?

bwilson4web · Nov 12, 2009

I'll fax this out Friday morning ... best to let folks help me correct any bad grammar or speeling arrows:

Dear Stefanie, Gene and Stan,

I want to congratulate you and your dealership for sponsoring the “Hybrid Owner’s” meeting this week. One of the members of the PriusChat group, ‘macmaster05,’ posted an announcement and many of us were green with envy about the upcoming meeting. Unlike ordinary advertising, the word of mouth from happy hybrid owners far exceeds any other source for bringing in new customers and meetings like this encourage us.

I am just another user at PriusChat and we especially want to thank Gene Ramerez and Stan Wolowski for their technical presentation. But we were curious about two reports from ‘macmaster05’ and was wondering if someone might be able to elaborate on them:

“If you run out of gas completely, it will cost ~$450 to get your car working again. You CANNOT just add a couple of gallons of gas like a typical car to be driving again, because the gas chamber airlocks when empty, so that the electronic system shuts down. You need them to reprogram the gas and electronics to “sense” each other again. One big disadvantage I did not know.”

“How the Anti-lock brakes work. The spokesperson suggested going to an empty Costco parking lot, driving 50 mph and then slamming on the brakes HARD. He said it will feel like the car is falling apart but at least you’ll know what it feels like if it happens in a real world situation. And don’t let up from the brake AT ALL because then the ABS will disengage and you’ll spin out of control. I’m still scared to try it though.”

At least four of us have ‘run out of gas completely’ and used the traction battery to reach a safe-place to add a gallon and proceed to a gas station. I don’t recommend the practice because there is no “check engine light” to let us know the tank is dry and running on traction battery. But none of us have paid ‘$450’ to get our 2010 Prius rolling again. We are aware that repeated attempts to start a Prius will without gas will eventually throw a code that prevents further attempts and requires resetting at the service center for a fee. Could someone give us more details about the “gas chamber airlocks” and running out of gas?

About using the ABS with a maximum braking, I noticed ‘macmaster05’ reports “I’m still scared to try it.” Many of us find the claim that “you’ll spin out of control” to be a little excessive. Again, we’re just curious if there were other qualifiers or if instilling fear of the ABS was the goal.

I’m just one of the posters at PriusChat.com but I volunteered to follow-up. If you or one of your team would like to join the discussion group and answer directly, it sure would help. If you would prefer, I’ll relay what I can share. We’re just trying to understand “running out of gas” and “ABS braking.”
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Comments? Suggestions?
Bob Wilson

paprius4030 · Nov 12, 2009

Think it's good letter Bob!

3PriusMike · Nov 12, 2009

My dealer, Steven's Creek Toyota in San Jose (next dealer over from Sunnyvale Toyota) also had a new car owner's night ~month ago. Free dinner and a presentation on getting all your maintenance done there, etc. About half the new owners in attendance were Prius owners. Most interesting part was that they set off two air bags (side air bag and steering wheel air bag) so you could see/hear what happens -- it sounds like a gun shot.

They said about the same thing on running out of gas. Don't do it. You cannot drive on battery only at all. Must be towed to the dealer. I was going to mention Bob's multiple experiments but by then I knew they were not knowledgable and/or giving the "official" horror story to stop people from doing it. (2 or 3 of the 8 speakers had a Prius).

I did ask about the possible 10K miles between oil changes and they completely denied it and said even if it happens it would only be for new cars bought after they changed the schedule.

They also gave out incorrect information on setting up multiple Bluetooth phones...which someone corrected. Most questions were on Nav, audio, bluetooth and the like.

3PriusMike

spiderman · Nov 12, 2009

bwilson4web said: ↑

Comments? Suggestions?
Bob Wilson
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You were far too nice. I think you might want to leave out your experience of running out of gas and just ask them to better explain their position with possibly some fact... just a thought.

Peter

bwilson4web · Nov 14, 2009

The letter was faxed a few minutes ago. Since it is the weekend, it may take them a day or so to answer and/or come visit.

Personally, I think inviting hybrid owners to a Toyota dealership ... nothing else but access to a meeting room ... is a good idea. If their technical or sales staff would like to join, GOOD ON THEM!

Bob Wilson

going to my Toyota Dealer's Hybrid Owners meeting tonight (6pm PST)- Anything you want to know?

a64pilot Active Member

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going to my Toyota Dealer's Hybrid Owners meeting tonight (6pm PST)- Anything you want to know?

a64pilot Active Member

bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

paprius4030 My first Prius

3PriusMike Prius owner since 2000, Tesla M3 2018

spiderman wretched

bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3