On Wed., June 7, 2017, leaving a late-night dance, my dash on my 2007 Prius lit up like it was Christmas! Since it was almost time for an oil change anyway, I took it directly to my Toyota dealership, where I have been recently considering purchasing another almost-new Prius. I just had it detailed, and the Kelley Blue Book stated that my vehicle, at its present 180K mileage (in very good condition) was selling retail at $4200. First, the dealer changed my oil (they don’t want to miss out on making $ on me!), and then second, they told me my hybrid battery had failed, and now my car could not be driven at all and they’d give me $500 on a trade-in! My life was passing before me, because I cannot survive without a reliable vehicle. The dealer would sell me a new hybrid battery for $4200 (does that number sound familiar?) or a refurbished battery for $2800. Either investment into the repair wouldn’t get me $4200 for sure, because I also needed new tires. I read on the Prius Chat-Line about someone in Houston rebuilding hybrid batteries (who might as well be on the moon!) so I did a Google search for a place more local to my Oceanside home. I struck paydirt when I called Centric Auto Repair who said they’d refurbish my hybrid battery in just two days for $900!. Against my dealership’s advice, I drove my car on westbound Hwy. 78 to the Rancho Santa Fe Road exit and pulled into Centric Auto Repair, where I was greeted by Victor. He assured me my repair would be done by closing time on the next day/Friday. I asked f they would drive me home since I had no one to call, and Victor ordered me an Uber! (Just the day before, when I had to leave my Prius at the dealership in its hopeless state, I had to rent one of their cars for $34/day, and I put another $27 in gas in it for the 24-hour rental, so an Uber on Victor’s company account really sounded good to me!) The next day around 11am, I received a call from Centric that my
vehicle was ready for pick-up, but the ride I arranged was not ready to take me back there until 2:30pm. Centric sent me another Uber, and I was back rolling round town by 12noon! I have never had such deluxe service in the 50+ years I have been driving, and when I stopped back the next Monday to have a trouble light investigated (mechanic at dealership forgot to turn the Maintenance Needed light off when he did the oil change), Victor was there in his white shirt and tie, looking and smelling better than any auto mechanic proprietor I’ve ever encountered, and his professionalism and expertise was very impressive. Thank you, Victor and Centric Auto, for giving me such a positive experience. I highly recommend this company!