Mine failed literally the day after the AppleCare expired and thankfully the guy let me get it repaired as if it were under AppleCare. My understanding is that the store managers actually get a fair amount of leeway on this. Were that not the case, I would have had to think hard about spending $350 on a repair for a computer that was no longer my primary.
I'm glad they took care of you! I'm curious: had you bought the extended AppleCare?
Reason I ask is because the general consensus seems to be that they cut you a lot more slack if you've paid for the 3-year warranty, even if it's expired.
That's been my experience, but... I'm not rich enough to buy two identical MBPs (one without extended coverage) and use one as a proper control sample. :)
