I purchased a warranty at the dealership (Norm Reeves Honda in Cerritos, CA) when I bought the car. I was so concerned about haggling for the price of the car (which I ended up getting a great deal on BTW) that I completely forgot to try and haggle when it came to the warranty. So I found out later that I got ripped off big time. I got the 7 yr/100k HondaCare warranty for about $2000! So I did some research after the fact (found a lot of info on a Honda Hybrid forum on Yahoo groups), and found out I could get the warranty for under $1000. I've also heard that HondaCare is the only way to go, especially with the Hybrid technology. I wouldn't want to take my chances with a third party warranty company.

I called HondaCare to make sure that I could get a refund and sure enough they said I could and said I could purchase the warranty from any dealership. Apparently you can get a refund any time within 60 days of the initial contract. It's actually not a refund, but a credit towards the principal of your loan balance through American Honda. Of course I don't know what they do if you don't finance through them.

So I ended up going back to the dealer and signed a refund form. Then I purchased the warranty online from www.collegehillshonda.com, a Honda dealer in Ohio, for $900. Buying out of state is not an issue, because your warranty coverage lets you take the car to the nearest Honda dealer for service, even if it's not the one you purchased the warranty from. They've got some good deals on accessories too, although I haven't purchased any from them. There is $0 deductible with the warranty and it comes with the CrossCountry Motor Club roadside assistance, which covers the typical towing, tire change, etc. It's thrown in for free and I don't mind having it since I can save my AAA coverage for the other family car.

I've always been a fan of extended warranties. I purchased one when I bought a new '97 Civic years ago, and luckily never had to use it except for the roadside assistance. It was also a nice selling point when I sold it to a private party, since there was still about a year left on it. So I definitely recommend the warranty...better to be safe than sorry.

Hope this helps!