Great to hear things finally worked out for you.
I purchased Apple Care with my current iMac (the iMac from h**l), and am very glad that I did. Basically everything inside the case (power supply, logic board & cable, hard drive, etc.) except the display was replaced by Apple at one time or another during the 3-year coverage period. Each repair couldn't have gone smoother (except if hadn't failed in the first place) and the customer service was great.
After the Care period was up, my iMac has developed more and more issues that Apple couldn't fix, and I've been limping it along to the fed-up point, which for me was this week. I'm buying a Mini to replace the iMac next week, and I will absolutely get Apple Care again.