I want to warn people against taking their hybrid to Richmond Hilltop (Stead Auto) for servicing. I have had an abysmal experience that borders on absurd. Took my Pachy there this past Thursday to have battery range checked. I have been getting 16-20 miles on a full charge for past couple months. Was getting 32+. Didn't matter if I used heat, if it was a warm day (not that it's ever really that cold here), etc. Get a call Friday from advisor telling me my car was inspected and no problem. Tech gets on phone and says they charged my car the "usual" 4 hours (since when is 4hours on L2 "usual"), drove it 16 miles, and the battery did not go down AT all. I.e. it remained at 100%. I asked how that was even possible. They get service manager Myron on phone who proceeds to talk down to me and essentially express that I just don't understand how hybrids work. I told him I wasn't a tech, but I know that the Pachy uses available battery before going to hybrid/ICE, so if he drove 16 miles with NO reduction in battery, there was an issue, either the vehicle wasn't using the battery, or the vehicle was not registering a decrease in the battery. He said it was all about "driving conditions." I said take it for a street drive (their initial test drive was on freeway). Long story short, Myron and the tech took for another drive, telling me they drove it 23 miles total (though they later changed that story to 27 miles), with NO decrease in battery, and they said because I brought it in because I was getting poor range, and they were allegedly getting wonderful battery life, case closed. They clearly had zero concept of how the Pachy hybrid system works.
I went to pick it up after multiple phone conversations that were like speaking to a wall where Myron repeatedly insisted our experiences differed due to "driving conditions." In person Myron made false statements about what we had discussed on the phone, presumably because this time there were other employees present. He also wrote things in the report summary that never transpired. But the icing on the cake was when I went to start my vehicle and it was making a very noticeable and odd noise. First and foremost, I could tell the ICE was on. I immediately shut it off and demanded to know what they'd done to my van. Myron called a tech, and I went back and restarted engine, which is when I saw the "fuel refresh mode" prominently displayed on the dash. That's when it became clear to me why the battery had remained at 100% during their 25+ mile drives of my van. I showed another tech and he seemed in disbelief that Myron and whatever tech drove my vehicle would not understand such a basic issue. Myron, who clearly STILL did not understand what the fuel refresh mode was or what it meant for driving, accused me of bringing it in that way, i.e. he seemed to think it was some kind of damage I hadn't reported. Very bizarre. I also discovered they'd used 1/4 tank of gas, at least half of that AFTER the long test drives, which again, the second tech (who seemed to understand this vehicle) could not explain. At first he seemed doubtful about the gas usage, but then I showed him the text message sent by the advisor the day before, which showed the dash board AFTER the test drive, and the gas gauge clearly shows 1/8 tank of gas more than what he and I were looking at.
Also turns out that the "data" Myron relied on as "evidence" that my battery range was fine was simply looking at the battery charge on the dash and comparing it to the miles he drove. He did NOT use the app to see what power was utilized. I know this because his summary report states it, along with the following: "Found PHEV battery at 1% , road tested vehicle running on gas engine to generate power." In other words, they actually believed that the Pachy needs to be driven to charge the hybrid battery. Unbelievable. Please avoid Richmond Hilltop Service center unless you like to waste your time, energy, and sanity on incompetence, ignorance, and arrogance.