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Certified Used or Nay?

M

mizzou

Diamond Member
I will be trading in the wife's 2004 SUV soon once it kicks the bucket and I'm looking at a used SUV, hopefully 2012+ and under 100k miles.

When shopping for used cars, what is your opinion on getting something certified? Honda's certified adds about another year to 12,000 miles on the general warranty...assuming the factory warranty has completely expired. I'm not familiar with other companies warranties but I assume they are similar.


I feel like it might be invaluable...but at the same time, most problems will likely not show up until after the 12,000 mile mark.
 
My Fiesta ST is a CPO. I get the remaining of the 3yr/36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, when that expires I get an extra 1yr/12,000 miles. The power train goes from 5yrs/60,000 miles to 7yrs/100,000 miles from the original date of purchase. Only downside to the extended powertrain is that it carries a deductible, it's either $50 or $100 I can't remember.

But since I plan on owning the car for at least 10 years, the fact that it'll be under powertrain warranty for the next 5 (almost 2 years since original sale now), I don't mind the deductible.
 
CPO paid to fix a number of little things that were wrong with my Accord after I bought it (stuff like a rattle in the sun visor that wasn't apparent in the test drive). And more importantly, it paid to replace the original transmission with the updated, more reliable version. That was very much worth it for a car with known issues on the factory transmissions.

I'd consider another CPO if I was looking for a used car in the under 40,000 mile range.

My S2000 wasn't CPO (17,000 miles) but it was still under original warranty so I had that "what if I find something in a couple weeks" piece of mind. I got the convertible top replaced under original warranty and that was the potential "biggie."
 
I bought my Focus ST as CPO with like 4800 miles, so I had an effective 43k mile bumper to bumper warranty

So, by buying a technically used car, I got the color I wanted, every option checked, and the perfect color with a "43k" warranty for the same price as getting a technically new, only a couple options, wrong color but new car with only 36k warranty
 
I got CPO on my audi, never had to use it though.

I recently purchased a used wrangler, and you can buy mopar/chrystler bumper to bumper lifetime warranties for 2350, went that route, should never have a problem. I can even lift it, as long as the dealer approves it and it will retain warranty.
 
If I were buying a German car I'd definitely go CPO. Japanese? Not as important IMO.

I'd be looking for a no-accident, well-maintained vehicle with service history for sure.
 
Bought a dealer demo Toyota 4Runner in 2013. Made them title the car and then sell it to me as used with Certified warranty (they were willing to work with me as it was the end of the month and the 2014's with the refresh were starting to arrive).

Anyway...almost to 60k on it and have not had a single issue.
 
Well, If you are buying a 2-3 year old car Id be more worried about why its not CPO. If its at the same brand lot and not CPO I'd be worried. If its at some non manufacturer lot. I'd be concerned (probably bought at auction, likely as a car that couldn't be CPO) If it was at a manufacture lot of a different make, they probably got a trade and it was good enough to sell after their inspection. From a PP probably nothing going on more than normal.
 
mizzou said:
I will be trading in the wife's 2004 SUV soon once it kicks the bucket and I'm looking at a used SUV, hopefully 2012+ and under 100k miles.

When shopping for used cars, what is your opinion on getting something certified? Honda's certified adds about another year to 12,000 miles on the general warranty...assuming the factory warranty has completely expired. I'm not familiar with other companies warranties but I assume they are similar.


I feel like it might be invaluable...but at the same time, most problems will likely not show up until after the 12,000 mile mark.
Click to expand...

I bought a CPO BMW Z4 that had 19,000 miles on it.

The extended warranty saved me thousands as both the convertible top and the starter failed after the original warranty expired.

I ended up trading it in because of the problems, but the CPO warranty got me through it.
 
Just bought two CPO Infiniti's.
QX60 (2014) just went in for a recall on the roof rails. Under warranty. Still have 2 years of warranty left.
Q50 (2015) went in the day after we bought it for window tint and while there it was noticed the car apps weren't loading correctly so they replaced second infotainment screen.
I never even noticed. Still have 3 years left on that warranty.

CPO is nice, but pay a lot of attention to the carfax and keep a copy in your records if you do buy. I had a 2011 Ford Edge I bought as a CPO and the dealer failed to disclose the accident the car was in. Found out the hard way when I traded it in. Carfax clearly shows the accident (when printed out when we sold it).......yet neither my wife nor myself saw it on the report at the dealer (and conveniently the carfax wasn't included in the massive bundle of paperwork we took home).
3 years later there wasn't much I could do. So, buyer beware. I think when they printed the carfax to show us, they dropped the header a bit so it printed off the page. Just pure shady all around (Fair Oaks Ford in Naperville, IL - will never buy from them again).

Also had an undisclosed accident on the 2008 BMW 328xi I bought. Clean carfax (had a copy of that one). That was from Fields BMW in Northbrook, IL.
Again, shady dealer that shouldn't have sold the vehicle as a CPO.

So keep good documents and a copy of the carfax at the time of sale. Independent review of the car is also recommended. I learned the hard way twice.
 
Get a mobile mechanic to inspect the vehicle before you purchase it. Do not trust those dealer clowns on anything. I've purchased 2 used cars now and had mechanics inspect them previously. It can save you a huge headache in the long run.
 
z1ggy said:
Get a mobile mechanic to inspect the vehicle before you purchase it. Do not trust those dealer clowns on anything. I've purchased 2 used cars now and had mechanics inspect them previously. It can save you a huge headache in the long run.
Click to expand...

+1000
 
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