Scott,

The idea of any kind of warranty (or insurance) to give one a supposed "peace of mind", rather than be a cost-effective tangible investment. Any time one buys insurance (e.g. term life) he secretly hopes that it is a waste of money. The warranties are of slightly more value (since most things do occasionally break), but the if the manufacturer/dealer estimates that something will on average cost a certain amount to fix, the price they will quote you will be a rip-off (after all they are in the business of making money). When it comes to car warranties, to me a longer warranty is simply a measure of expected reliability.

Having said that, I will get an extended warranty when it is offered for free (e.g. buying a car, you don't have a choice of a shorter warranty for less money), or when GC throws it in for free. However, normally I will go with the basic warranty, plus the warranty extension offered by my credit card (most cards offer it today). This makes paying extra for an extended warranty a really bad investment.

I have a different issue with musical instrument warranties. At least when you take your car for repairs, most of the time it will get fixed within a day or two. My experience with keyboard repairs is totally different - when I had a problem with a keyboard, I called a local dealer with a repair shop - they said I had to bring the keyboard in and leave it in the shop, even though they did not expect the one technician to get to it for over two weeks. Then it had to stay in their shop until the required parts arrived. When I complained, they said they could offer same-day inspection for extra $40. My problem resolved itself before I had to subject myself to this nonsence, but I understand that other people's experience with service is quite similar.

Regards,
Alex