Hi,
I don't frequent the forums that often, so I tried a search on Extended Warranty and didn't find much so I decided to post this question.
Now I realize people have many opinions on extended warranties but I was sufficiently concerned about my 2008 Mazda 3 Auto hatchback to post this question.

Since getting the car I've had the following problems:
1. Power steering problem (replaced under warranty)
2. While they were under the car they said a transmission seal was leaking so they fixed that while they were at it.
3. The weather stripping wore away on all four doors enough to actually cause cracks in all of them between 3-8 inches long. We had to fight with them to get them to replace them under warranty.
4. Gas cap cracked under normal use and had to be replaced.

I have 32K miles on the car and unless I am mistaken, I have up 35K to make a decision as to whether or not to get an extended warranty (???). Since a lot of you have a ton of experience with the 3s, I thought I'd ask the experts. I've never owned a car that had so many issues within the first few years of ownership and am a bit concerned that the car will nickel and dime me to death after the warranty is up.

Thanks for any input you may have to offer!!

 

Extended warranties are a scam. Period, full stop, the end.

Save your money and "self insure". If you are afraid of not being able to afford any given repair, stick the money you would otherwise have paid for the warranty in some kind of safe account, and draw against it if/when you need repairs. Odds on bet that when you dispose of the car (or when the extended warranty would have run out) there will still be money in your account.

 

Wow, I have had every issue you have except for the weather stripping.
Everything was fixed under warranty except for the gas cap, which I am still using with just the white part.

 

Shipo,
Thanks and I'll take that advice.

They didn't offer to fix the gas cap for free? I was about to buy one but when we took the car in for something else the head of the service department volunteered to replace it.

 

They probably would have, but I didnt see it as a major issue and was not gonna drive to the dealership, 30+mi, just to get a new one.
That's what ebays for.

 

Got an 05 Mazda3 hatch. Bought it new in 05. Got the 85 month 85000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. The last car I owned, the air conditioner broke costing over $1000. Sooo, so far [after 30000 miles] I had the steering column replaced [expensive] and both front control arms $700. I'm money ahead and still have 22000 miles to go on the bumper to bumper warranty. IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT up front, it's worth the peace of mind to me. Plus, I look for problems since it will be paid for. I wouldn't get one for a toaster, but a $21,000 purchase? Yes. Everyone has their own opinion...for me, I won't mind if I need 4 new calipers...or upper and lower ball joints or even new fuel system. My 2cents.
StreetMach.

 

The thing is, you are gambling on whether your car will have enough expensive unscheduled maintenance events (within the warranty period) to cost justify an extended warranty, and while any one car might in fact require more maintenance than the cost of the warranty it is an odds on bet that significant money will be pissed away over the driving lifetime of 99.9% of the folks out there who buy those warranties as opposed to those that pay for their own repairs.

In my case I bought one (and only one) extended warranty on a car that I bought in late 1988; the warranty didn't pay off. Since then my wife and I have combined to buy eight new cars, all of which had extended warranties "highly recommended" by the selling dealerships. In the roughly one million miles we've driven since then, not one of our cars has required enough unscheduled maintenance to justify even fifteen percent of the cost of the warranty offered on that particular car. Said another way, I've effectively saved about $17,000 over the last eighteen years by not buying those warranties, and so far at least, I've only spent about $800 in repairs that would otherwise have been covered.

You want piece of mind? Cool, so do I. Simply invest the money you would have otherwise spent on extended warranties and then draw against the investment when the need arises. After twenty years or so you're going to find that even without interest, that little slush fund of yours is likely to have twenty (or even thirty given the current and estimated future cost of extended warranties) thousand dollars in it. How's thats for piece of mind?

 

Extended warranties are like anything else you buy. Different people have different experiences with them. Often too this depends on the company who is backing your extended warranty and who you're buying it from, which are not always the same people.

I bought the extended warranty on my 2011 Mazda3 because it covered practically everything on my car except for just a few items that are normal maintenance anyway and the price I paid for it will made up the first time it's used.

My dad bought a used car, paid cash for it, and then decided later to buy a warranty program from an aftermarket company. Funny thing is, his warranty is actually provided by the same company that I backs the one I bought through my dealership, only he paid almost $500 more for the exact same warranty. However, it was money well spent because it's already covered almost $3000 in repairs and he still has 4 years, and probably another 50,000 miles left on that warranty.

Now my mother-in-law on the other hand bought a new Kia and got the extended warranty they were offering, which cost her almost $400 more than mine did and covers half the stuff mine does.

So, bottom line is, they can be worth the money just make sure of what you're paying for because not all extended warranties are the same.