I agree that extended warranties are most often not needed as the product usually lasts far beyond what the extended warranty would offer, e.g. 2 year extended, 3 year extended, 5 year extended, etc.

But one case where an extended warranty paid for itself and more was on my Panasonic DV Palmcoder. I bought the extended warranty (5 year) for around $100 and a major problem occurred about 4 years into the warranty. They ended up fixing it for free which was over $900 in actual cost of parts and labor for the repair.

But more often than not the extended warranty is never used or needed because the equipment or product will run just fine way beyond a 3, 4, or 5 year extended warranty.

An extended warranty on a Car or Truck after the original Manufacturers warranty expires is usually a good thing though IMO because unlike electronics, Cars and Trucks are mainly mechanical in origin and design and tend to need repair more often than a quality standalone electronic device might.

Best regards,
Mike