"Certified" Pre-owned

[Anonymous]

What does this truly mean? Is there all that much to it beyond knowing that the car in question wasn't in a crash? And can't you get that from the Carfax? Which brings me to what is Carfax? What is that and is it reliable? I get that some "certified" vehicles have extended warranties, but to me a warranty is a separate thing. Same with roadside assistance, etc. What is on offer beyond the warranty, the roadside assistance, etc., with a certified pre-owned vehicle? What all does "certified" tell me about the vehicle itself? And does it vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, from dealership to dealership?

I did Google, but what's out there is a bit muddy.

[Anonymous]

You are paying for the warranty mostly.

[Anonymous]

Certified preowned means the seller is including a warranty with the car. It’s better to get that from the manufacturer than from a dealer. Meaning, you want a “Honda CPO” from a Honda dealer rather than a CPO from a “Bob’s Main Street car lot”. A CPO car may or may not be any better condition than a non CPO car. It’s just a car with an added warranty.

The Carfax is a car history. Take this history with a grain of salt. In my experience, if it’s on the Carfax it’s usually correct. However, many things may not show up on Carfax. I use the Carfax as a good place to start and if the car looks ok, I move forward with test drive and my personal inspection. If I end up wanting to buy, I always get a pre purchase inspection from an independent mechanic of my choosing. Yes, I get CPOs inspected too.

[Anonymous]

I have purchased 2 CPO units. They were good deals. Often they are off-lease or traded vehicles the dealers get access to directly. They are cherry-picked.

My dealer would remove the CPO designation and give a $500 price break which means a lot of what you pay for is the warranty. I got a 5/60 CPO warranty on a low-mileage 2 year old car that would normally have had a 3/36 warranty when new. Also there's a long checklist of things you should get when you get a CPO that a used car somewhere else might be missing.

Depreciation is so horrible I think I prefer the CPO units now.

[Anonymous]

The brand sets teh CPO criteria. We bought an Audi CPO and it had a long checklist of things they go over, and they even include that when you buy to show the items were checked and any issues corrected. Not all trade-ins they get are worthy of a CPO -- if the car is too old or has too many miles, it won't qualify for a CPO.

So, it's a slightly better chance you're not getting a lemon basically.

[Anonymous]

I am just taking a guess here - - but I am assuming that buying a certified used car would mean that it is not sold “as is,” which is the default category that used vehicles are in.

I would assume a dealer warranty would be included?

[Anonymous]

I bought a BMW at auction with a friend who is a dealer. It was for sale at BMW of Greenwich as a CPO. This was back in Nov 2008 during Financial Crisis. Was a lease trade in.

Well my carfax said CPO. Guess what BMW just went into carfax and entered CPO. it was not one. It is honor system they actually check what they say they are checking.

There is also better warranty I did not get. Fine it was still under factory warranty anyhow. Car was mint one owner. But suprised anyone can put CPO in carfax at dealer. No one checks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I bought a BMW at auction with a friend who is a dealer. It was for sale at BMW of Greenwich as a CPO. This was back in Nov 2008 during Financial Crisis. Was a lease trade in.

Well my carfax said CPO. Guess what BMW just went into carfax and entered CPO. it was not one. It is honor system they actually check what they say they are checking.

There is also better warranty I did not get. Fine it was still under factory warranty anyhow. Car was mint one owner. But suprised anyone can put CPO in carfax at dealer. No one checks

So someone at the dealership misrepresented the car? You could likely have insisted they give you the extra warranty if it was on the advertisement with the VIN number or stock number matching your car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am just taking a guess here - - but I am assuming that buying a certified used car would mean that it is not sold “as is,” which is the default category that used vehicles are in.

I would assume a dealer warranty would be included?

If it's a manufacturer CPO, it is not a dealer warranty, it is through the OEM. The dealer pays the OEM for participating in the program and registering the unit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bought a BMW at auction with a friend who is a dealer. It was for sale at BMW of Greenwich as a CPO. This was back in Nov 2008 during Financial Crisis. Was a lease trade in.

Well my carfax said CPO. Guess what BMW just went into carfax and entered CPO. it was not one. It is honor system they actually check what they say they are checking.

There is also better warranty I did not get. Fine it was still under factory warranty anyhow. Car was mint one owner. But suprised anyone can put CPO in carfax at dealer. No one checks

So someone at the dealership misrepresented the car? You could likely have insisted they give you the extra warranty if it was on the advertisement with the VIN number or stock number matching your car.

No one misrepresented car. I bought it at dealer wholesale auction via friend on his dealer license not from dealershiip for $6,000 less. It actualy said in BMW Ad when at dealership is is CPO and picuture of it on lot said CPO on windshield on dealership lot. The point was it was not CPO, I did not expect it to be. But my friend said anyone can tag it CPO in carfax at dealer without doing anything. Now if I bought it at dealer they would have added the CPO warrantly on when I purchased it and maybe did inspection. My point it is on the honor system.