be sure to read the fine print. i have one on my truck its a 2010 f150. its good for 5 years /100k miles with a $200 deduct bumper to bumper. i believe it was 1250.00 for it. hope i never need it.

On buffaloman's warranty, it's so cheap because the first 3 years/ 36k are covered by the manufacturer (assuming he bought the warranty when he bought the truck and that's not an additional 5 years/ 100k). He basically paid for the last 2 years and 64k miles. Still not a bad price, but it's not at all the same situation as you're talking about.

My in-laws always buy the extended service plans, and I don't think they've ever used one once.

Looking at it from your perspective, it's a small sample size. But if the dealer didn't make money on those in the grand scheme of everyone who buys one, they wouldn't sell them. So mathematically, you're more likely to lose money than come out ahead.

I bought my 2004 silverado in 2008 with 42k miles on it and just turned 109k a week ago. I've only had one issue with it and Chevy had already put a recall out for it so I got it fixed for free. I wouldn't drop $1500 or more if I didn't think there was a good chance of something going wrong. Of course, that's why I drive a Chevy!

As a general rule for consumer goods, buying extended warranties is a bad idea, and vehicles are not an exception. They can save your butt sometimes, but in the long run you'll typically spend more buying warranties than you ever would have if you'd just paid for the repairs yourself.