Hello, Was wondering if anyone had purchased an extended warranty for their 3rd gen Prius. I bought the platinum which is for a term of 4 years or 50K. Do you know if this also covers the traction battery? I'm still under factory warranty but just wondered about this Ethos group.
You bought an extended warranty and you don't know what it covers? When the finance guy at the dealership where I bought my 2010 asked if I wanted to buy the extended warranty, I asked him if the car I was buying was going to have so many failures that I would be needing the warranty. He just wrote No on the contract. Rarely do extended warranties pay for themselves. Save your money. BUT moreover know what you are buying before you sign for it. These extended contracts generally have an escape clause, read the contract and if it doesn't cover what you think it should, cancel it.
Extended warranties are nearly always a waste of money, esp when it is written by a 3rd party as opposed to the manufacture. Reading does one good: Read the warranty booklet for the Gen3 you have in mind. Sadly you are not even aware that non-CARB states have a 8yr/100K mile hybrid battery warranty. CARB states have 10yr/150K mile warranty. Read the fine print of this Ethos warranty. There will be all kinds of exclusions, limitations, maybe a deductible, etc. Insurance underwriters know how long parts last and the cost to repair. Policies are written to minimize payout. Just like casinos, money comes in, but rarely goes out. Internet search: extended warranty auto consumer report. Read what this unbiased consumer orginazation has to say.
Think how many people make money when you buy an extended warranty. The company that backs it, the car dealership owners, the sales manager, the sales person. Then there are administrative expenses that have to be covered for the seller and the warranty company. And the risk that the ultimate backer of the policy goes bankrupt and then reincorporates under another name and sells the same old crap. Known to happen. I know you have looked at the financial stability of the company ultimately responsible for paying the claims. The one time I did it took me days wading through layers and layers of shell companies before I understood the corporate structure and it wasn't pretty. The same group had multiple subsidiaries playing the same games. Consumer Reports always has warned against these schemes. They say the payout in warranty claims is 30%, which is 3 times poorer odds than going to a casino and playing the slots. You bought a car that has the one of the highest reliability histories of any car from any manufacturer. Trust probabilities.
