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Hi there, I purchased a NZ brand new Mazda 2 nearly 3 years ago. It has been trouble free, & has done around 30,000 km. It came with a 3 year warranty, & I am now being offered the option to purchase a further extended warranty. (around $1000 cost). What is your general opinion on purchasing an extended warranty? The car is used by a university student, who has very limited ability to pay for large repairs in the next couple of years.

An extended warranty is just like an insurance policy, you may buy it and never actually need to make a claim, but if something happened it wouldn't take much to bring the cost above the initial $500 a year and you would be glad you did.
You wouldn't expect anything to go wrong with these cars as they are brilliant, but we wouldn't expect that from any new car really.