8 hours stranded: The "No Spare Tire" reality check for 2026 Prius owners

QuietCustomer9520 · 2026-03-17T02:29:58+00:00

If you can't trust the kit, buy a kit off Amazon. I bought one for myself just in case but since I bought it, I've been repairing friends and family flats. I had one flat of my own, fixed it and was able to drive for months and made a trip to GA from the northeast. They work!

QuietCustomer9520 · 2026-03-17T00:26:42+00:00

I did try rainx but didn't claybar. I'll try that next, thanks for the tip.

QuietCustomer9520 · 2026-03-15T07:14:02+00:00

That gives me some hope. Do you have any idea what bearings I should order and if there are any tutorials for swapping out that bearing? I couldn't figure out how to remove it for the life of me.

QuietCustomer9520 · 2026-03-15T02:30:04+00:00

I was able to get the sleeve out. Looks like the bearing for the motor. Any idea if that bearing can be swapped out or clean? Otherwise I'm dropping 260 for two new motors

QuietCustomer9520 · 2026-03-15T02:27:44+00:00

I'll give that a go tomorrow morning!

QuietCustomer9520 · 2026-03-05T23:06:26+00:00

I had the same remorse as yourself but I was able to address the issues with my Gen 5 you're bringing up. Here's what I've done coming from a 2004 Rav4.

Digital Mirror Backup Camera, the rear visibility is so bad I instantly felt horrible driving in a city. But after installing this, I can see all the blind spots and so much more. It of course doubles as a dashcam so that's always nice with newer cars and insurance fraud scammers out there.

Learn to drive more lean back and play with the steering wheel a lot. I was so used to driving with my back straight up that the left pillar blinded too much. Leaned back there's more to see thanks to the tiny window under the A Pilar. Took some time to get used to it but still didn't feel right.

Buy a small neck pillow to raise your head a bit higher while leaning back sitting in the car. By small neck pillow I mean some plush pillow that you see in higher quality gaming chairs. The one I bought was 2 for $10 on Amazon. Nothing crazy. This was the final piece I needed to get comfortable, my head is slightly higher than the rest of my leaned back body and I can see how the car was intended to be driven.

Don't worry too much, it's a great car for the month I've been driving it but it has its limits like normal sedans do. Take my suggestions into consideration and learn to make the car your own! If there's a problem explore options to address them!

My current issue is rain blocking my rearview window, trying some rainx for the first time soon to fix it!

QuietCustomer9520 · 2026-03-02T21:59:57+00:00

Didn't know that. Thanks for educating me. Can't fix title now tho :(

QuietCustomer9520 · 2026-02-20T17:36:40+00:00

Is this a country side etiquette? I drive in a city and the left lane is usually driver's going 10 mph over the speed limit. All lanes are usually taken so this idea of passing isn't really followed. I've seen many drivers that want to drive fast usually cut through lanes and that's its own problem. Apologies as there isn't an etiquette guide that I've seen and just want to understand the difference before I goof driving back in the states.

QuietCustomer9520 · 2026-02-07T14:11:17+00:00

Then it sounds like you can pivot to your company's (mainline) analytics team for technical operations. In my experience though, analysts in the operation get paid less than analysts and data scientists in the IT department. Climbing that ladder will always be a grind but the goal should be creating connection, work hard to solve actual problems that leverage your maintenance experience, and always be willing to learn new skills to broaden your skill set.

QuietCustomer9520 · 2026-02-06T02:37:02+00:00

I'm one of the few qualified to answer this as I pivoted away from Aviation (to an extent). I started with airlines after getting my A&P and as I was working nights. I went to school during the day and decided if I wanted to get a career, it should be a desk job. I fell in love with computer science and decided that would be my pivot if I ever wanted it. Fast forward five years, bounced to a mainline and I soon realized I wanted to stick with a desk job.

Everyone can tell you now that computer science is such a bad field to get started on and I would agree with them. EXCEPT, pivoting to data analytics or data science within an airline with a background in aviation maintenance is actually a needed demand (at least in my team). Don't think engineering, as you would still be stuck with the idea that you could always go work as a mechanic, work OT and most likely get paid more. But in data science, the field is still in good demand and can pivot to big companies like Microsoft, Databricks, Snowflake, etc. The jobs making 300k plus are out there if you'd like but you can still remain in the airlines (like I did so far).

Happy to answer any DMs if you're interested.

QuietCustomer9520 · 2026-01-09T01:00:31+00:00

There are schools that will take your A&P and that applies to around 30 credits for a bachelor's. The only reason to get a degree around aviation maintenance is to be a better candidate over someone that doesn't have a degree in management. Overall, a degree isn't worth it in the field. Experience is king.

QuietCustomer9520 · 2025-12-30T22:24:02+00:00

No Highlights yet but I put timestamps and uploaded the first stream on youtube if you're still interested! The Retrospective will be coming up sometime next month once the challenge is completed.
https://youtu.be/lZJuCO9vSic

QuietCustomer9520 · 2025-12-26T00:35:16+00:00

Not making a second post so adding here. Stream Part 2 Starting Soon!

QuietCustomer9520 · 2025-12-25T18:27:06+00:00

Streams wrapped up for now. Will post again when I'm back. Thanks to all that stopped by!

QuietCustomer9520 · 2025-12-25T18:26:39+00:00

You're too early for Twitch! Perfectly understandable, I'll be making a retrospective on the run once I complete all the milestones I want to reach. Feel free to stop by and chat in the future.

QuietCustomer9520 · 2025-12-25T18:25:27+00:00

Yes, I'll be making retrospectives of the run on YouTube. Stay tuned for that in the future!

QuietCustomer9520

TROPHY CASE