Every electrical motor has a maximum rpm that it can turn without sustaining damage. Once that speed is exceeded, centrifugal force will pull the windings from the armature and they will bind into the stator. In the case of the Prius transaxle we are actually talking about a rotor assembly that has permanent magnets attached to it. Exceed the rated speed of that rotor and it will grenade. The engineers are correct. http://eahart.com/prius/psd/ In order for the gas engine to propel the car, MG1 actually has to be a generator and provide resistance for the engine to push against, as well as MG2 being a motor that helps the gas engine push the car. Using the java applets on the site I provided you get to see the normal operation of the motors in the transaxle, and how they work together. Take note there are times that MG1 actually is forced to spin backwards. The Prius has a maximum vehicle speed of 94mph, with the primary reason being risking over-revving the electric motors and causing a catastrophic failure of the transaxle. Here is a link that might be useful: Prius Power Split Device.

We ended up with the Honda Civic EX. We looked again at the Corolla, but they checked and told us there wasn't a white Corolla in a 5 state area with ABS and side airbags. They said they had never seen one at all with stability control. ??? We had an offer of a white Honda LX without side airbags for $15,200 with 1.9% interest. There was no white LX with sidebags anywhere in the state. We almost took the one without the sidebags, but we really want the side airbags. They didn't have a white EX with sidebags, but they found one at a dealer 300 miles away. They wanted $400. over invoice. Too much I though and we left after 3 hours. They called me at home and knocked $100. off. Still too much. They called back and offered invoice. I took it. They are still of course getting a dealers holdback and I am sure there is more. The EX also has ABS brakes, sunroof, and a few extra bell and whistles. We are paying $17,475 with 1.9%. I hope this is fair. What do you think?

tugs - yes, the pressure has been checked by the plumber and by the gas co. - all is good on that front. Not exactly what the Wolf was doing - but same end result -no use of the oven. Hate to say it but getting service on the Wolf was waaaaaay easier - they have a service network here. Also, many others had that same problem with the same model Wolf and mine and others were bought back from the company. The problem with the American didn't start until AFTER the service company tore it apart and put it back together while installing a part to fix the gas smell we had. Then they fixed some small gas leaks and put in a new gas regulator. All the problems started then and it has been progressive. We've gone from annoying clicking with the burners to completely crippled using only one burner at a time. I'm wishing I had the 15 year old GE we replaced when all this started. After cooking with gas most of my adult life I would seriously consider going induction/electric after the past couple of years we have had! Service is due out Monday - I'll let you know what happens.

Well, I know 2 Accords or Camrys will set you back 53K. A suburban and a camry could be more like 70K. If financed, she is probably upside down, and would lose money selling them. Anyone here ever sold a car on her own? Its one thing to trade in, but quite another meeting strangers for test drives. I guess there is carmax, but I'm quite sure they are in full lowball mode in this economy. You are making several assumptions: 1. Toyota only sell Camrys. They actually sell less expensive models, such as the Corolla. Honda also sell the Civic for far less money. Are they fancy cars? No. 2. New car purchases. The OP can buy used cars. There lots of used cars selling for $10k-15k - heck I saw 2 year old used Saabs going for $15k. 3. Carrying $53K in auto debt is the default and it's not worth lowering debt if you can't erase all of it. Sure, she may be underside down and may still have some debt afterwards but likely it'll be less than $53K. She needs to run the numbers to figure out if it's worth it. Finally, I would take a course at the local community college about basic auto mechanics. Learn how to change a tire, check the oil, change the oil, check tire pressure, etcs. I learned a long time ago that basic auto care is necessary. Ten years ago, I got a flat tire on I-95 so I changed the tire myself - not one person stopped to help me (maybe I looked a bit too competent). We've sold a car to CarMax. I'm sure we didn't get the absolute best price for the car but it was a fair price (I had done some research on the internet to get a ballpark price). It was amazingly easy to sell to CarMax. I would recommend it to people who don't want to do it themselves.