FWIW my 3rd party warranty on my 95 tbird paid off in spades. It cost me 550 bucks or so, and it paid off 1750 for a tranny rebuild at 60k miles, and a cooling fan, power antenna, and a couple things i can't remember for around 500 bucks, can't remember the mileage. The car was terrible the first 60 k miles, but amazingly has been great (except for the front brakes, they're way too small) for the last 38,000 miles. Now is the time to get rid of it, but I'm going back to school and would rather pay for a repair now and then than a car payment.