I bought a manufacturer's extended warranty for my new 2006 BMW 3 series but I also pre-paid for service. All I have to pay for is tires for 6 years. They pay for the rest of everything. I paid dearly but for me it's amortized over the life of owing the car and a business expense. One big thing and I will be whole. I will probably keep the car until that warranty is over and not beyond. We would not buy a third party warranty from the dealer - you aren't sure what you are getting and it's only as good as the company that writes the policy. Several of them went under making those warranties useless.