I just purchased my 2nd Maxima, a 2003 Titanium Edition 6-speed, and am considering purchasing an extended warranty. I was curious if anyone in the org has purchased the entended warranty, and what luck they've had with it. I've heard you can even bargain on the price...is this so?

 

You need to first ask yourself how long you plan on keeping the car. I bought the Nissan Preferred Gold or something like that, for $1500 with no deductible. After a lot of thinking, I didn't feel I would have the car far enough into the extended warranty to consider it worthwhile. So I had it cancelled and the money refunded

 

1) Yes you can bargain the price. I bought the "gold" or "preferred" or whatever they called it...not bumper to bumper, but mechanical breakdown, with no deductible. They were asking $1500, I bargained to $1100.

2) I've used the plan twice...wheel bearing one time, and Cv joint/boot/knuckle/wheel bearing/etc on the other side...well over $1100 in work. So yeah, I'm damn glad I got it...and I still have 20K miles before it ends. Can't wait for my tranny to blow up so I can get a new one.

 

When you purchase an extended warranty and you still have time left on your factory warranty, I guess you have double coverage. Or does the extended kick in after the factory warrant expires?

 

i bought extended warranty when i purchased the car havent really used it yet...but only on 9000miles....just hit a pothole this weekend and my dad owns a mechanical body shop..so i had it fixed free but parts alone costed almost 1000. had the spindle assembly replaced, struts, bearings, new wheel and tires...wonderin...when can you use the warranty???? if i hit something like a pothole can i use it to have it fixed??can i get money back for the money i spent on parts?

 

Yes, I think you should definately get it. From all the stories I hear about how much it costs to fix a Max, I think its definately worth it.

Unfortunately, I didn't get it

I'm going to call the dealership and see if I can still get it now.

 

I got it. As long as you have a cool service shop, if you mod you can put back stock w/ no questions asked, i'd say definitely go for it. It's a huge releif when the SES light pops on and you go in w/o a hitch.

 

There are plenty of "aftermarket" full coverage warranty plans that are just as good as the Nissan one (Nissan farms theirs out, IIRC)...

 

well worth it for the tranny

 

If you buy a Ford, Chevy, or Chrysler, buy an extended warranty. You bought a Nissan, according to consumer reports extremely reliable. Save the money. You don't buy something expecting it to break. Extended warranties are Las Vegas Insurance, its a gamble. If big companies are selling them, they expect to win. Do you plan on modifying your car? If so how would it affect the warranty? My answer is no, don't buy it.

 

I didn't get the extended warranty on my car, but I was told by the dealership that I can purchase it (and they emphasized the Nissan warranty heavily, advised against an aftermarket one) all the way up until the end of my factory warranty (36k miles). I figured I'd give it a trial and see how she performs before getting something I hopefully won't need. I tell you though, the extended warranty really saved my butt more than a couple times on my last car though! so it's still kinda on my mind, but she's been perfect, only oil changes and gas so far.....

 

9000 miles should still be in the factory 3/36 bumper to bumper. However, I doubt any dealer would warranty work caused by a pothole on a car with 9K miles, that's insurance type stuff. Now if your car had 90,000 I'm sure you could pull a quick one..."mmmm, my car started riding funny over the last few months." Then they'll go, "oh my Gosh, you need a new front end!" And then they will replace everything under the Nissan extended warranty you bought and bargained several hundred dollars off of, and you don't even pay a deductible (if you get the right plan). And you walk away a smelling like a

 

You can always get a prorated refund if you don't keep the car that long. Once you pass 36,000 miles though you can't get bumper to bumper extended coverage through Nissan. I sold my 2000 Maxima with about 20K miles on it and it only took about 3 weeks to get a full refund on my warranty.

 

I bought my 01' new. 1-blown MAF,1-bad wheel bearing,1-faulty right front hub assembly,1-hood vib TSB,1-wind noise TSB, and unfortunatly for me the brake judder was out of the 36,000mi limit. For me, it has paid for itself already. My car is only 2yrs old.

 

Given, I expect my Max to be as reliable as my Golden Retriever, but it's the thought of an unexpected $1k+ bill on my hands that has me considering taking the warranty plunge. However, your point about big companies expecting to win is convincing. Given such logic, I am statistically unlikely to require repairs that significantly eclipse the $1400 price I'll pay for a 100k bumper to bumper warranty.

I suppose an extended warranty decision on a reliable vehicle comes down to these 3 variables:
1. How much do you value peace of mind?
- I do a great deal.
2. Are you capable of "self insuring" by setting $ aside for a catastrophic repair?
- I am.
3. Do you plan to significantly modify your vehicle?
- FSTB, springs, struts, corners, tint. I don't anticipate dealers having an issue with these. I believe only intakes, supchargers, turbos, Y-pipes, and chips constitute a warranty purchase "red flag". Agreed?

Still considering...

 

Dont get it yet you can purchase one up until your factory warranty is about to run out, wait and see how she holds up.

 

I bought an 02 used. I did get an extended warranty.
I have an SE with everything except Nav. Which means Auto climate control, heated seats, bose stereo heated mirrors wheel.

All these things are very expensive to fix

Nissans are reliable they shouldn't need to get fixed....

Chances of using it may not be very very high
but if something breaks parts and labor are expensive.

2 repairs and you're there, maybe one.

I bought from warrantydirect.com They are very reputable and very easy to deal with. $1200 bucks I think. I bought the best plan, it covers EVERYTHING.

After 100K and 5 years I may come up a few hundred short. However, one major repair without a warranty I'd be screwed.

 

You are not actually getting 100,000 miles coverage on an extended warranty. The basis is 36 months/36k miles. The powewrtrain is 60 months/50k miles. You only get 50-64k miles in reality. The dealer gets the bulk of the sale and sneds the rest to Nissan Corp. If you buy a $1500 plan, the dealer would keep more than half of it. I have owned 3 Maximas over the years and never purchased an extended warranty. Most of the few problems will happen during the basis warranty based on my experiences.