Hundreds Of 5-Year-Old Municipal Vehicles (Toyota Priuses) Found In Miami, Never Used
Hundreds Of 5-Year-Old Municipal Vehicles (Toyota Priuses) Found In Miami, Never Used
Quote:
April 25, 2012
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Have you ever bought a brand new cars only to forget where you put it? How about 300 of them? Probably not – unless you're Miami-Dade County, which was recently reunited with 298 vehicles it bought brand new between 2006 and 2007.
The county "discovered" this fleet of no-mileage vehicles after reading about them in a
Spanish-language newspaper there (see the source for more images). Most of the misplaced motorcade is made up of
Toyota Prius hybrids whose warranties either expired with very few miles on the odo or will very soon.
Looking to save some face, the county has rushed at least 123 of the hybrids into service. The
Toyota warranty covered the hybrid bits for eight years or 100,000 miles, but we're not sure if that covers cars parked for five of those eight. We're also not sure what that much time in Miami heat and humidity does to an unused hybrid powertrain, but it can't be good.
The county, as you probably guessed, is looking into how it lost so many cars. The leading theory is that they might be part of Carlos Alvarez's time as mayor. He was the mayor during the period the Toyotas were purchased, but a 2011 recall election successfully removed him from office. Apparently the voters "felt, among other reasons, that he had been behind multiple acts of misappropriation of funds."
We've tried to contact Toyota to see what kind of warranty support these cars will get but haven't had any luck so far. We'll update with their response.
I bet those batteries are in great shape going 5 years with no charge.
Re: Hundreds Of 5-Year-Old Municipal Vehicles (Toyota Priuses) Found In Miami, Never
I was thinking the same thing. I would hate to replace $15,000 worth of batteries (x 298) just because someone forgot to cycle the vehicles into service.
Re: Hundreds Of 5-Year-Old Municipal Vehicles (Toyota Priuses) Found In Miami, Never
Toyota is an excellent maker of vehicles by any standards, Peterle. I have owned different makes and models of cars and have fine things to say about many, but Toyota is a solid car.
That said, I will not buy a current generation of hybrid. The tech is still maturing, though many with that tech are actually pretty decent. The Prius being one. Despite my abject disgust with being behind the million mile driver who goes into a free wheeling cruise for that miles indicator to show a drive to the moon is possible, its a viable option for commuters.
I do find some US brands and types attractive, but will not buy a GM/Chrysler and Ford is shit for interiors, electronics and switches when it come to longevity.
It still goes to ones preference, I suppose.
In the case of Miami, I'd guess they had an incentive to buy that fleet and it fell off the books.
In the interest of full disclosure due to my stated opinions above, I am an owner today of two 2011 Toyota vehicles, a 1996 Volvo and an RV built off a Ford frame. All are solid for their purpose.
Re: Hundreds Of 5-Year-Old Municipal Vehicles (Toyota Priuses) Found In Miami, Never
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Phil Fiord
In the interest of full disclosure due to my stated opinions above, I am an owner today of two 2011 Toyota vehicles, a 1996 Volvo and an RV built off a Ford frame. All are solid for their purpose.
'96 Volvo huh Phil? What model?
I own a '94 850 Turbo and an '04 V70R. The old one has over 300k on the odo. I love em... kinda a love hate relationship.
Sorry about the hijack...
