First of all- thanks for all the responses. The reason for the original question was to see if there was a general universal standard for our industry. It seems there is, with the extended warranty being a very good marketing strategy that benefits both the dealer & the end user.

As far as the electronics issue- all's I can use for my point of reference is the few newer trucks I service. Being an independent, most of my clientle have lifts 10+ years old. I do service a few newer lifts, a 2004 7 series Toyota, 2006 Hyster, 2010 Yale & 2011 Nissan.

The Toyota (around 4000 hrs) runs good, has no leaks, doesn't smoke & is easy to operate. The customer wants to shi* can the unit for 1 reason- the electronics- period. Between wiring issues, sensors & electronic hard parts ( distributors, throttle body motors, etc.) this is one expensive lift to maintain.

The Hyster (4521 hrs) is again- a great unit to operate, doesn't smoke or leak- but the customer is extremely dissasatified with the costs with maintaining this truck. Customer runs HD-5 LPG- but still chews threw a regulator on average about 9 months- when I take them apart to rebuild, the propane has eaten the white metal it's made of to the point that it's junk. The LPG injectors last about 2 years, can't seem to find anyone in my area who cleans them ( dealer says "we just replace 'em"), so as of now it's on it's 3rd set ( at around $600 per set). It's been thru multiple sensors & now has a cannbus issue that the dealer can't seem to track down- all the while the $$$ keeps flowing

The Yale (1800 hrs) is the Hyster's twin, already thu a couple regualtors & on 2nd set of injectors & a couple sensors.

The 2 year old Nissan (2800 hrs) already had to have the radiator serviced- unit started overheating for no aparent reason- radiator coolant flow was restricted.

In my 25 years of servicing lifts, if older lifts were kept on top of- oil changes, tune-ups, etc, they were much less espensive to own. Sure they were clunky, the driver had to think, but with common sense, quite usable none the less.

I know some of you will disagree with me- that's why there's chocolate & vanilla ice cream- not everyone has the same needs/wants. All's I know is that as technology takes over every part of our lives, us ( the consumer) will have to - in the end- spend more of our hard earned dollars. Every dollar we ( as material handling technicians ) charge our customers in repairs ( or charge up front in the form on an extended warranty) is another dollar our customer has to charge for their product, which we, as consumers, then pay when we buy their product. As the childrens song says " The wheels on the bus go round & round".