Izzy, what type of driving are we looking at? That is so far out the parameters of the Prius' design that it had to be a bad one. She should have taken her complaints past the dealer to Toyota's regional office, that dealership was playing with fire. And if they told it was covered, they were shooting themselves in the jimmies, becuase the standard warrenty DOES cover the entirity of the power pack, unless that has changed in the past two model years.

It sounds like a bad dealership with something that never should have passed QC, and offering to bring the state in was a good call. I hope she wrote an ugly letter to Nagano or thier US office to, becuase someone should have the hood slammed on thier fingers.

Still, the Matrix a good car, if you have a skinny backside. Sitting in one is a little better than flying coach to me, but I'm not skinny, and they are spiffy cars. And if she isn't doing a lot of stop and go, the Matrix should be comperable over it's life cycle to the Prius.