We have been customers of the Model Garage for more than 30 years and have never had a complaint about their service. This review concerns my 2006 Prius, which we were driving to Visalia (220 miles) earlier this month. When we were 70-75 miles from Berkeley, all the warning lights on the dash came on, although the car continued to drive normally. We called Robert at the Model Garage and discussed the situation with him, then tried to get the car looked at by two Toyota service centers in cities on our route, but no luck. We made it to Visalia and had the car checked out by the Toyota service center. They reported that the hybrid battery was going bad. They gave me a price to replace the battery and said it would take about a month to get a battery. I spoke with Robert again and asked whether it was worth spending that kind of money on a 16-year-old car. He assured me that it was, given used car prices and the shape the car was in, He also recommended a man they had worked with to tow the car to Berkeley. That man towed the car back for $700 (AAA would have charged more than three times that amount). Robert already had the battery when the car arrived and installed it the next day for $1300 less than I was quoted in Visalia. In sum, Robert's advice and recommendation were excellent, and the repair was done quickly and reasonably.
Thank you Steve. Always glad to dispense helpful free advice and a dose of quality auto repair. We will keep the old Prius going and going. Robert, Model Garage.
- The Model Garage