The Ins and Outs of Nissan’s Extended Warranty | Autance

What IS Included

Nissan offers three different protection plans that cover as many as 2,200 components. They are Gold Preferred, Silver Preferred, and Powertrain Preferred. These protection plans can be purchased when your vehicle is still covered by the factory three-year, 36,000-mile warranty. You can choose plans ranging from two years and 40,000 miles up to eight years and 120,000 miles.

The automaker will repair your vehicle at an authorized Nissan dealership using new or remanufactured genuine Nissan or Nissan-approved replacement parts.

The automaker also offers additional plans for purchase, including prepaid maintenance agreements, tire and wheel protection, theft protection, key replacement protection, and paintless dent repair.

Component Coverage

The Gold Preferred plan is the most comprehensive with very few exclusions. The plan covers nearly all major components (over 2,200) of your vehicle except for normal maintenance services and a few other items. The Silver Preferred plan covers all components covered by Powertrain Preferred plus nearly 700 additional essential components, for a total of approximately 1,529 components.

The Gold and Silver plans cover items such as:

• Transmission (oil cooler, transfer control unit) 
• Rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive 
• Suspension (rear axle beam and electric adjustable shock absorbers)
• Steering (power steering pump and reservoir tank, and belts and hoses)
• Electrical (switches, relays, sensors, etc.)
• OEM air conditioning (temperature control programmer, blower motor, heater core, and belts and hoses)
• Brakes (anti-lock braking system, and belts and hoses)

The Powertrain plan is the least comprehensive and covers over 839 components related to the engine, transmission, and front-wheel, rear-wheel, and four-wheel drive.

Additional Perks

All three plans provide 24-hour roadside assistance (up to $100 per claim), which includes jump starts, lockout assistance, fuel delivery, and tire services. 

The top two-tier plans also include three additional benefits. The first is rental car reimbursement of $35 per day up to five days if a covered component breaks down. Nissan will also reimburse for towing expenses, not to exceed $100 per claim, for transporting a disabled vehicle to the nearest participating Nissan dealership. The third perk is trip interruption benefits. If your vehicle breaks down more than 100 miles from home, the automaker will cover alternative transportation, meals, and lodging up to $500 per claim.

In addition, Nissan offers zero percent consumer financing for 12- and 18-month terms when you purchase one of the protection plans. Plus, you can choose the level of the deductible from $0-$100. 

The extended protection plans are also transferable to another owner.

What’s NOT Included

As we noted earlier, the three plans offer varying levels of protection, with the Gold level providing the highest level of coverage. Still, it has some limitations.

The Gold Preferred plan has a small list of parts that it doesn’t cover, including regular maintenance items, cosmetic items, and some normal wear-and-tear items, such as wiper blades, tires, lights, and batteries. 

The Silver plan has even more exclusions, and the Powertrain plan does not cover suspension, steering, electrical, fuel system, brakes, and air conditioning. 

Also, the 120,000-mile plan and Powertrain plan are not available for the Nissan LEAF.

The Good

Drivers choose an extended warranty such as Nissan’s Security+Plus Extended Protection Plan because it covers thousands of components and often includes additional benefits. The Gold Preferred plan, in particular, is quite comprehensive in its offerings.

Even though Nissan’s extended warranty doesn’t pay for routine maintenance or accidental damage, it covers most problems that vehicles can experience following the expiration of the bumper-to-bumper warranty.

The bonus roadside assistance and trip interruption services can also be beneficial if you are a frequent traveler or don’t like working on your own vehicle. Being able to transfer the warranty to another owner also helps with resale value.

The Bad

One drawback with Nissan’s warranty is the three-year, 36,000-mile limit requires you to overlap coverage with the standard factory powertrain warranty, which lasts for five years or 60,000 miles. So, for a period of time, you’re paying for some coverage that is already included in your original warranty.

Also, similar to many other manufacturer extended warranties, repairs must be completed at an authorized dealership. This can prevent you from servicing your Nissan vehicle at a local garage or another facility, which may be more convenient. 

The extended warranty also doesn’t cover wear-and-tear issues. 

Takeaway Value

Is Nissan’s extended warranty worth it? It’s up to you. Many consumers don’t like paying extra for simply lengthening defect repair coverage on a factory warranty. However, Nissan’s Gold tier, in particular, is very comprehensive in what it covers, especially if you want to avoid paying for unexpected repairs.

In addition, the protection plans provide added benefits such as roadside assistance, which can be very convenient if you travel frequently and would like some backup should your vehicle break down during a road trip. If perks such as this are appealing, then it may be worth investing in one of Nissan’s Security+Plus Extended Protection Plans.