A Cautionary Tale

Rebecca put a positive spin on our Prius fiasco. Likening us to pioneers venturing into the frontier of a new technology, she said we were apt to have experiences not known to more staid conservatives. I like her outlook. Had we known when we bought our first Prius that it might just shut down in the middle of nowhere and that an act of Congress would be required to repair it, we might have hesitated. The truth, however, is that we already had a timing belt break on our Volvo outside Cozad, Nebraska and that was just as debilitating. Dad has driven hundreds of thousands of miles in his three Prii (forgive me, please, but I’m having no luck finding the correct spelling for the plural of Prius) without incident, and I’m being told that the breakdown of ours is the exception rather than the rule. A little before noon today I received an e-mail from Flagstaff Toyota informing me that the problem has been diagnosed (“inverter water pump seized up and drained the battery”; who would have guessed?) and that Prudence will be ready for us to pick up on Friday. Déjà vu? So, if you’re wary of life in the technological fast lane, you may want to buy a Ford that is just as likely to break down but won’t seem so exotic to the mechanic. I’m still not happy that it required hours of phone calls to get Toyota’s attention (oh, yes! I did get their attention) to have the matter resolved, but that can be tomorrow’s subject—unless I’m told later today that my bubble of hope has once again been burst.