As you have probably already guessed, the absolute best and most essential time to purchase extended car warranties is before you need them.  Of course, you never know exactly when that will be.  Our best advise is to research today and buy tomorrow.  Research warranties for your specific car make and model.  Some high performance vehicles are not covered, so you will want to know that before shopping around for price.  When comparing warranties, make sure you compare apples to apples.  You don’t want any surprises at purchase time.  You should compare price last, so that you are now swayed by a low cost of a warranty that doesn’t suite your needs.