[paul16451]

There was an article in today's local paper about the Freeway Service Patrol..."guardian angels" of the freeway...tow truck drivers who stop to help stranded motorists free of charge. Here's a story about one person they helped. Hard to believe someone smart enough to invest in a Prius would end up with this PARTICULAR trouble...

(snipped for content, to see the full article visit
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryn ... 825808.htm)

My favorite is Mary Ruiz of San Francisco in her sparkling, new Toyota Prius, the hybrid which gets a zillion miles a gallon.

She's off to the side on I-880. Her check engine light is on. The car won't budge. She's on the phone to AAA when we arrive. Gilgo asks if she needs gas.

``Oh,'' says Ruiz, 28, surprised that help has arrived so fast. ``I don't think it's the fuel. This car runs forever when it's on empty.''

Empty? Hmmm. Gilgo looks under the hood, then saunters over to Ruiz. ``You sure you're not out of gas?'' he repeats.

``I'm . . .,'' she pauses, an embarrassed look appearing. ``Maybe.''

She is.

And that's OK. Gilgo grabs the gas can.

 

[An04Prius]

There was an article in today's local paper about the Freeway Service Patrol..."guardian angels" of the freeway...tow truck drivers who stop to help stranded motorists free of charge. Here's a story about one person they helped. Hard to believe someone smart enough to invest in a Prius would end up with this PARTICULAR trouble...

(snipped for content, to see the full article visit
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryn ... 825808.htm)

My favorite is Mary Ruiz of San Francisco in her sparkling, new Toyota Prius, the hybrid which gets a zillion miles a gallon.

She's off to the side on I-880. Her check engine light is on. The car won't budge. She's on the phone to AAA when we arrive. Gilgo asks if she needs gas.

``Oh,'' says Ruiz, 28, surprised that help has arrived so fast. ``I don't think it's the fuel. This car runs forever when it's on empty.''

Empty? Hmmm. Gilgo looks under the hood, then saunters over to Ruiz. ``You sure you're not out of gas?'' he repeats.

``I'm . . .,'' she pauses, an embarrassed look appearing. ``Maybe.''

She is.

And that's OK. Gilgo grabs the gas can.

and we get another misleading rumor of a Prius "mysteriously" stalling on the road

 

[leeragans]

This fully explains the stalls on the interstate

After a decades of software development I know that most problems are either exaggerated in frequency or the customer often just flat out lies when they know they have caused it. Real problems in a deployed application are more rare then they are percieved. Once you gather the data and drunch the numbers software is not as bad as it is perceived.

This would be an interesting explanation for some of the mysterious stalls. Who wants to admit they have run their care that gets 50 MPG out of gas. It would be far easier to say it is that software problems and have it towed to the dealership.

Not that that is the case all the time, but I wonder if it explains some of the cases.

 

[DanMan32]

I asked a few people about the 'stall' issue while I was waiting for my oil change. I realize I wasn't asking the right people, so I got guesses. The lady at the parts counter thought she overheard someone with the problem. They were out of gas.