Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want some protection against hidden issues in a used car you will have to pay for a warranty one way or another. You can do it by buying a used car that is still covered by the original warranty, get a dealer certified car, which effectively extends the manufacturer warranty, or buy a car from carmax which provides its own warranty. There are other warranty providers but I wouldn’t trust one which is not backed by the manufacturer. Other than that, you can reduce the risk by checking CARFAX for accidents and prior maintenance records and doing a pre purchase inspection.

This cannot be stressed enough. Getting a pre purchase inspection on a used car is crucial.

Carfax won’t tell you if there is some mechanical issues with a car and that’s why the person unloaded. We had tons of issues with a previous car that the dealer couldn’t/wouldn’t fix. So we sold it Carmax and didn’t say a word.

Anonymous wrote:If you want some protection against hidden issues in a used car you will have to pay for a warranty one way or another. You can do it by buying a used car that is still covered by the original warranty, get a dealer certified car, which effectively extends the manufacturer warranty, or buy a car from carmax which provides its own warranty. There are other warranty providers but I wouldn’t trust one which is not backed by the manufacturer. Other than that, you can reduce the risk by checking CARFAX for accidents and prior maintenance records and doing a pre purchase inspection.

This cannot be stressed enough. Getting a pre purchase inspection on a used car is crucial.

If you want some protection against hidden issues in a used car you will have to pay for a warranty one way or another. You can do it by buying a used car that is still covered by the original warranty, get a dealer certified car, which effectively extends the manufacturer warranty, or buy a car from carmax which provides its own warranty. There are other warranty providers but I wouldn’t trust one which is not backed by the manufacturer. Other than that, you can reduce the risk by checking CARFAX for accidents and prior maintenance records and doing a pre purchase inspection.

I think the bigger issue is that newer/ modern Honda cars are less reliable than ever. If they actually do merge with Nissan, it’s over

"Certified" used anything as meaningless.

All that matters is the actual reputation of the seller.

OP - problem is this will be used by HS senior, who just totalled our last used car. I want to keep insurance rates down, so I figure used is one way to do that.

Used cars in general are just not a good value proposition lately. I’m not trying to be a snob and have nothing against used cars and have bought them in the past. But when dealers are only knocking off $2k per year of age (if that) it’s not a good value. If a new car is $30k, a three year used one is not a good deal at $24k, yet that is what they cost or more.

Get a new car in your budget. It’s runs against older advice but it’s where we are now.

Certified just means the dealer slapped a warranty on it. It gives buyer more peace of mind.

It’s not just Honda.

I left my 5-year old car Honda with only 20k miles on it at Mazda dealership. Nothing was wrong with the car I just wanted a faster one.
I doubt they had it certified, but they sold it really fast claiming it was in excellent or superb condition.
I made no claims about the car and they never asked. Previously I had to change the battery at the dealership, rain got in once because I 'shouldn't have parked under trees', I had to fix one tire twice, and Honda dealership already quoted me $1500 of repairs coming up as the car was 5 years old.
I'm sure all this is minuscule and the car can be called in excellent condition. I had had it because I expected more from a new Honda. I had less problems with used Mazda than I did with new a Honda. Luck maybe.
But long story short, if a Honda like mine hows up in a dealership, I doubt they feel like certifying it. The car went fast.
The few acquaintances who wanted to buy it from me were the broke ones I didn't want to deal with.

It’s always been a crapshoot/gimmick but smart marketing by Honda.

I am not sure, but certified used cars are typically more than what I want to pay for a car. If you go for a non-certified car out of warranty, it's advisable to get an independent pre-purchase inspection at a mechanic of your choice. Use the findings to negotiate down the price and set the saved money aside for repairs.

Thank you for sharing that, pp.

You know, when we needed a third car, we bought our Honda used from a Volvo dealership. It had been a trade in.

We had seen a lot of Carfax reports, including on models at the Honda dealership. This one’s report was flawless. The car was flawless inside and out, super clean. The routine maintenance was all recorded on the Carfax. The tires were replaced with a premium brand.

Other cars’ reports were sketchy, and/or, believe it or not, they had tires that were not the standard recommended dimensions for the vehicle. You can use your imagination what that tells you.

So I think you can look at each vehicle individually and with a little bit of deductive reasoning, get a pretty good picture of how it was treated. I don’t know that Certified gets you much extra.

This was the first used car we bought, but it’s been a good experience.

My husband thinks we should buy certified, and that if a car is not certified, there is a reason for it. On the other hand, I know someone who bought a certified Honda from a dealer and later found out it had hidden damage behind the bumper.

Then of course there’s Autonation, Carmax, Carvana, etc.

Is there any place that truly has a reputation for quality and price competitiveness?