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Ownership costs comparisons

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Jeri, Sep 18, 2004.

  1. Jeri

    Jeri New Member

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    My apologies if this is a repeat as I thought I posted it earlier in the evening. Since voicing my determination to acquire a Prius, I have gotten a steam of email telling me why this is a bad idea. latest had to do with the cost of the anti fog headlights. The message told me "they knew" of a neighbor who had to pay 900.00 to replace the bulbs in their antifog headlights since they are so unique and difficult to work on. What routine costs should I expect to deal with in Prius ownership? Are service costs excessively higher than if I were to purchase a Camry? I know the closest Toyota dealership would come up the most exorbitant charges if they could get away with it but I don't plan to buy from them or use them for service if at all possible.
     
    #1 Jeri, Sep 18, 2004
  2. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    is this a troll?$900 to replace some thing that's still under warranty. Or is this person stupid and gulliable to pay a dealer for warranty work. If so PT was right.
     
    #2 Frank Hudon, Sep 18, 2004
  3. KMO

    KMO Senior Member

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    There is a semi-truth there - the fog lights are not officially user-accessible, so a dealer replacement out of warranty might be pricey. But $900 sounds like he got ripped off, even before you point out that the warranty should have covered it.

    A comparison table in Toyota's UK press release claimed that its repair and maintenance costs were maybe around 15% lower on average than that of the Mondeo, Laguna, Passat, Mondeo, Vectra and Mazda 8, and very slightly higher than the Avensis.

    The only majorly new item is the battery, but that's covered by an eight year warranty (along with the whole of the rest of the drivetrain), and can be reconditioned and/or replaced module by module; it shouldn't be a case of entirely throwing it away and buying a brand new one.
     
    #3 KMO, Sep 18, 2004
  4. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    What really surprises me here is that you say you have received a stream of negative email after posting your intention to buy a Prius. Are there people who lurk on Prius Chat and then send email to people telling them not to buy a Prius? I have never heard such a report before. Or was this after you posted your intentions elsewhere?

    As for the fog lights, I have never used mine. If they did burn out and were not covered by the warranty, you could always choose not to use them. Plenty of cars don't even have fog lights.

    Or you could call your dealer on Monday and ask for the cost of out-of-warranty fog-lightbulb replacement.
     
    #4 daniel, Sep 18, 2004
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