[thstone]

"...Hopefully, I dont have to use it for big ticket items."

Big ticket items are the primary reason to buy a warranty. If you don't think that you'll need it for big ticket items then it's definitely not cost effective.

I bought both of my BMW's as CPO vehicles with extended factory warranties (which are much better than any aftermarket warranty). I paid about $2,500 for the CPO assurance and extended warranty on each vehicle. From my point of view, I broke even on my X5 (retail price of covered repairs was about $2,500) and lost money on the 325i (retail price of covered repairs was much less than $2,500). From the dealer point of view, the warranty on both cars was profitable because they pay internal wholesale prices for parts and labor saving quite a bit over retail repair prices. However, I slept better knowing that I was covered in case of a big ticket item failure like an engine or a transmission.

Now, I "self insure" and have savings set aside for small and big ticket items.