Considering a 2003 Santa Fe, used

Sorry, it is a 2.7 Litre V6, automatic.

A. How big a gambler are you? Odds are great that it'll cost less in the long term without the warranty. If you do consider buying the warranty, check to see what it covers and what it excludes. Customers are often led to believe that the extended warranty covers all the items that the manufacturer's warranty covers, but I've not seen one extended warranty that does this. Once you know what it covers, then you can reason out some sort of cost-benefit analysis. Keep in mind, you're probably buying this warranty from an independent company. If you nose around, you'll see that some of them have a habit of going bankrupt-- they have your money, and you cannot get them to pay for repairs.

B. I don't know much about used car pricing, but you can check on the web at

and to get an idea. In my opinion, KBB prices are a little high-- that's why the dealers like to use them for price comparison.

C. The '03 (and all 2.7 V6 Santa Fes in my opinion) has been a good vehicle.

As well, read the fine print. Seriously. You need to understand exactly what parts are covered or not covered by commonly used terms. Commonly used and commonly understood terms do not translate to contract terms.

Read well to see what the process is to file a claim against the warranty. Likely you will find that you have to file the claim with the warranty company which will then manage the process of finding an authorized dealer/repair center (not guaranteed to be a Hyundai dealer, or even a shop that you might otherwise go to), locating the replacement parts - this is absolutely guaranteed not to be new dealer inventory. They will always try to use salvage parts and they have select salvage yards around the country. Do not be surprised to find your part will come from Texas and you're located in Mass. Bet on it - parts will ship the slowest and cheapest possible way.

Most of these have 5 day car rental plans included. But... that's 5 days - period. You will likely see closer to a couple of weeks repair time by the time the warranty company sends an adjuster to look at the car, gets his report and processes it, locates replacement parts, ships them, and then the work actually gets scheduled by the repair facility.

These aren't possibilities, these are the things that happen every day.

Let the buyer beware.

Good points, Mike. I've only encountered a few situations where the extended warranty company didn't want to use dealer parts. This was typically major or expensive component replacement. Used engines. Aftermarket reman A/C compressors. Nearly every warranty company reserves the right to choose new/reman/used and the source of the part. But, perhaps the reason I've seen only a few instances of this is that I work at the dealer. I don't see the ones that require the car to be taken elsewhere.

Thanks! I will consider this.