My experience with the lathe itself has been OK given the price but
the extended warranty has been a different story since I live in the
country. When I got the lathe there was a noise in it which was a
missing screw on what I think was a guard around by the fan. The
local Sears franchise told me to buy the extended warranty so Sears
would have to fix the lathe rather than me send it back. That time
Sears was able to get a tech out to my place to fix the problem.

When the variable speed control pulley got dirty Sears was not able to
honor their contract since nobody in the area existed who could work
on the lathe. People in this group were far more valuable than the
extended warranty. They told me what was up with the pulley so I was
able to fix the problem myself. I got a telephone message from a guy
at Sears during this time saying I could get a gift certificate for my
troubles but nothing ever came of it. You don't necessarily get the
same rep when you call a service telephone number so I eventually
stopped trying to get the certificate. .

When the extended contract comes up for renewal in a few months I am
trying to figure out if it makes sense to renew it given the lack of
response from Sears. It may make sense if you can ship the lathe back
to them to fix a major problem but who knows.

Rather than use the maintenance contract I ordered a part directly when
a handle broke off on the lathe. I got an empty envelope with a hole
in it in the mail after that attempt to fix something. When I e-mailed
Sears on the empty envelope they were great at getting me another part
using UPS so I am not trying to knock their service completely.
Location may play a big role in what you get with a service contract
from them so I guess it is buyer beware. .