Miami-Dade County Misplaces Fleet of Toyota Prius Cars
Tim Esterdahl | Apr 30, 2012 | Comments 3
We have all misplaced things from time to time. Imagine though misplacing 298 brand new Toyota Prius Hybrids? Hard to believe, right? Well it happened in Miami-Dade County.
A fleet of Toyota Prius Hybrids has been reportedly found by the Miami-Dade County. And apparently, they have owned them all along. Who knew?!
After discovering the flap thanks to the Spanish-language newspaper el Nuevo Herald, the county rushed 123 of the hybrids into service. According to the story, the estimated cost to taxpayers is $4 million.
How in the heck did this happen? As you can imagine the county is doing an investigation into the problem. The initial theory is tied to former mayor Carlos Alvarez who was recalled in 2011. He was recalled because “apparently voters felt among other reasons, that he had been behind multiple acts of misappropriation of funds,” according to an Autoblog.com post.
There seems to be some question about whether Toyota might give them a break on their warranties that run for eight years or 100,000 miles. One does wonder how the heat and humidity of the Florida climate might affect a Hybrid that has been sitting for so long.
However, it might be good for Toyota’s marketing efforts to capitalize on this. Imagine what kind of advertising campaign they could create about the durability of the Prius sitting around a Florida garage for five years and still running?!
Related Posts:
Filed Under: Auto News
I think the only issue they will have would be the rubber on the hatch cover handle. Heat tends to break down this part and gets all over your hands. Could be a costly repair or if you DIY you can go two options. You do need the right tools for it. The rubber handle melts in the Florida heat. I bought a replacement squeegee and used that in place of the rubber handle. Works quite well and no more melted rubber on the hands.
This is an example of when government gets so big they can’t even remember where they put things. This is just county government, think how it is with the federal government and the hiding of actual money. Taxes don’t need to be raised, smaller government and a LOT more accountability!
This is some think unbleaveable for me. much hard to believe, but unfortunately it happened in Miami-Dade County.