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Massachusetts Law Emissions Extended Warranty

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by MarkMassachusetts, Apr 24, 2020.

  1. MarkMassachusetts

    MarkMassachusetts New Member

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    Has anyone had a failing hybrid battery of a Prius operated in Massachusetts? There appear to be provisions of the Massachusetts emissions laws to require an additional 7 years or 70,000 mile warranty on components relating to the emissions.

    Since I am a newbie to the Prius chat forum, I'm not yet allowed to insert the URL detailing the specific statute, so if interested, please perform a web search using search term = Massachusetts general laws section 142k

    Scroll down to Section 142K d) where the following language is used verbatim:

    (d) The manufacturer's warranty for passenger vehicles certified pursuant to subsection (a) shall extend, at a minimum, for three years or fifty thousand miles for emissions related parts with a retail cost of less than three hundred dollars and seven years or seventy thousand miles for emissions related parts with a retail cost of three hundred dollars or more.

    My interpretation of this law as written is as follows: Since Massachusetts has adopted the California Emission Control Standard, and the Prius Owners Warranty Information booklet indicates on page 22 the warranty coverage for the hybrid battery is 10 years or 150,000 miles, and cost of a refurbished/new hybrid battery is obviously greater than $300 (see sub-section d above), the hybrid battery is subject to an additional 7 years or 70,000 mile warranty. Therefore the hybrid battery of a vehicle operated in Massachusetts is actually 17 years and/or 220,000 miles.

    FYI - My wife has a 2010 Honda Insight placed into service January 2010 that has an 8 year/100K warranty where the hybrid battery (IMA Battery Assembly) began to fail March 2019 with 133,501 miles. Her car had exceeded the hybrid battery warranty using both age and mileage criteria, and Bernardi Honda of Natick replaced the IMA Battery Assembly free of charge! This is evidence the Massachusetts emissions extended warranty law was respected by the dealership.

    Has anyone had the experience in Massachusetts of dealing with a failing Prius Hybrid Battery exceeding the published 10 year/150K miles warranty, but not yet exceeded the 7 years/70K mile extended warranty governed by Massachusetts law, and had their hybrid battery replaced free of charge?

    If you had to pay out of pocket for your replacement hybrid battery before your vehicle was either 17 years old or exceeded 220K miles, I strongly suspect you may be entitled to a refund.

    This matters a great deal to anyone considering purchase or sale of an older Prius where their hybrid battery has never been replaced. Many perspective buyers are fearful of the hybrid battery failing after warranty period ends.

    Thoughts? Additional perspective or context from anyone out there?

    Specific experiences with Massachusetts based Toyota dealerships relating to honoring or failing to adhere to this "extended warranty" law are especially appreciated.
     
    ydpplqbd likes this.
  2. ydpplqbd

    ydpplqbd Active Member

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    Sounds too good to be true. Do we have an Massachusetts Gen2 owners who can discuss their experience with the limits of the Gen2 warranty in Massachusetts?
     
    #2 ydpplqbd, Apr 25, 2020
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2020
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome!
    nope, it's 10/150 in ma, just like all the other carb states. the honda example was under that.

    the mass language is only saying that you get the extended warranty on the 3/50, which is actually worse than 10/150 at 10/120
     
    #3 bisco, Apr 25, 2020
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2020
  4. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    YOUR interpretation doesn't count.

    Honda Motor Company, for instance, interprets that law to apply ONLY in areas (cities, counties, states) where emission testing is mandatory......and refuses to honor it any place else. That was a few years back. Maybe they have changed since then.

    And what makes you think that the hybrid battery qualifies as an "emissions" part ?
    Those laws generally apply only to parts that are required to meet emissions standards.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    that's how california wrote it up