But it kinds makes you wonder why they need a warranty that long....I think it's to sell cars that come up short in other areas.
The best advice I can give you is to check out
www.edmunds.com. We use it every time we buy a new(or used) car to check out everything. You can get the info on everything about any car out there, and couple that with a carfax report and you're on your way to NOT getting stuck in a bad car deal.
Edmunds should be your buying guide. It just has so many resources on it about everything - saftey ratings, buyer reviews, road tests, and best of all - invoices and true market value rates. You won't get taken for anything at all if you really take the time to do some research there and know your stuff. You might have trouble finding a dealer that will deal with you( they'd rather wait for the next sucker to come along), but once you find one that doesn't mind that you know your stuff, you can work a good deal for yourself, and they still make some money, too. So please, please check it out. ( heh, i should work for them i guess...haha...)
We just bought two new cars( a first for us)....a Ford Sporttrac with 0% for 60 months, and a new Honda Civic sedan for $4500 under MSRP. The Honda was a really good deal considering that there were no incentives and no reason for them to deal too much - they can't keep the 40mpg Civics on the lot. But, we knew our stuff....and found a dealer and salesman that would sell us the car at a fair markup for all the stuff that was on it, etc. etc. ( edmunds will give you what they pay for EVERYTHING - it's AWESOME, I'm telling you! : ) )
We love our Honda. Great crash test ratings, nice options, big inside for a small car. The only negative is it could have a little more zip from 0- 30 mph, but other than that it's a 9 out of 10 stars for us. If you watch for special financing you could get a new one for a little more than the old model which is a little smaller feeling inside and a little less..ummm...well...cool.
Good luck - and don't forget!
www.edmunds.com!
( really, i don't work for them....but man do i love their website!)