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Is buying a "certified" used car worth $1500 more?

Sho'Nuff

Sho'Nuff

Diamond Member
As posted in another thread I am going to purchase a 2011 Acura TSX (base model) this weekend from the local Acura dealer. Probably tomorrow. The car is an Acura "certified" pre-owned vehicle.

After doing some research online I found a bunch of other Acura TSX's in my area that are being sold by other major (but non-Acura) dealerships. Those cars have ~10-15,000 miles more than the one I am interested in, but they are $2-3,000 cheaper.

Anyway I printed out a bunch of the ads and went to the dealership to try and negotiate the price down, particularly as some of one of the ads I found was for a 2012 TSX with the tech package, for ~$2500 less than the car I am looking at.

Dealer looked at the ads I brought in and said that the price differential was primarily due to the Acura certification. From what I can tell, that cert means that the car passed a 150+ point inspection. It also means that their is a 1 year 12,000 mile warranty tacked on to the original 5 year, 50,000 mile warranty, and that it comes with a 7 year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. That said, the dealer indicated that he could drop the price by ~$1500 if I was willing to forego the certification, which basically means the warranty coverage as the car has already passed the 150 point inspection.

What do you all think? Is the extra warranty worth $1500? TSX's are notoriously reliable and the car I am looking at only has 20,000 miles on it. So the car would be under original warranty for at least two more years.

Thoughts?
 
I would save the $2500 and get a 2012, but I also have never owned anything under warranty. 😛
 
generally, yes the cert is worth it as the car should be in excellent shape, low(er) mileage, warranty and stuff. if he's willing to take $1500 off a car that has already passed certification for dropping the warranty, that dealer must really want to move some iron. i say try to get the warranty for $1000, not $1500.
 
The Boston Dangler said:
generally, yes the cert is worth it as the car should be in excellent shape, low(er) mileage, warranty and stuff. if he's willing to take $1500 off a car that has already passed certification for dropping the warranty, that dealer must really want to move some iron. i say try to get the warranty for $1000, not $1500.
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Yeah that is my thought as well.

The car I'm looking at and will probably end up buying is this one:

http://www.primeacuranorth.com/certified/Acura/2011-Acura-TSX-4a6a31f70a0a00de47e32ccd49ddf06d.htm

Got the dealer down to $21500 without the warranty. He would go to $22250 with the warranty and wouldn't budge an inch from that.

For those of you who are monitoring the other post - the 2011 I posted about that was under 20 grand was not a certified vehicle. From the pics it looks like it will at least need tires, so that is 4-600 of the savings out the window right there.
 
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the warranty isn't worth $1500 IMO. The car is already in good shape as it has been certified, so him removing the certification changes nothing.
 
Some things I wouldn't get warranty on, cars aren't one of those. Some of you tend to forget how long the warranty lasts for, and what it covers. During that timeframe, if even one thing goes wrong, your money is well worth it.
 
For that car I would pocket the money and use it for any repairs. Just keep the maintaince up and chances are you will have more money left from that fund by the time the warranty would have run out.

Now if it was a European car or a car that has known issues then yea the extended warranty would be worth it.
 
$1000 for a 1 year/12000 mile extension of the bumper-to-bumper when you're already under a powertrain? No.

E: Wait, I see that the original powertrain is 6/70k, so that's an extension as well to 7/100k. An extra 30k on a powertrain for $1k doesn't seem too out of line. (I paid $730 for a 4/32k in 2004, which is $923 once you account for inflation)

If you're planning on keeping the car, it's a nice thing to have.
 
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The best "warranty" (service contract, actually) is one that is fully refundable if not used...or at least a pro-rated refund at any time during its time period.

A better "investment" is an inspection by an independent mechanic/body shop for $75-100....I'd also like to see you get a service history printout.
 
Thanks for the input everyone.

So I ended up buying the car I linked to. Paid $21875 out the door, with the Acura certification. Got $2k for my trade (a beat up 2003 corolla with 170k miles on it). Given that the TSX I bought was basically new I feel like I got a good deal.

Re: purchasing a new accord - the main reason I ended up deciding not to buy new is that registering a new car in NH costs a fortune. And a 2015 is considered a "new" car in both 2014 and 2015 up here. Meaning you get raped by the tax man twice.

I considered a used accord but ultimately decided against it because:

1. I am keeping my truck for big family outings
2. The TSX has quite a bit more power than the accord.
3. The driving experience provided by the TSX is (IMO) far better than the accord.

As for premium gas, the dealer said that with the 4 cylinder 89 octane is fine. Which for me translates to ~$2-3 a fill up. Even if I had to buy super the cost per fill up would only be ~$5 more.

I did get a full service printout, carfax report, etc. Did not get a separate mechanical inspection because the car is under the original bumper to bumper warranty for at least 2 more years (or 50kmiles), then under the extended bumper to bumper for another 1 year (or 12k miles), and then the Acura manufacturers powertrain warranty until 100k miles, and (provided I have the car serviced at the acura dealer), under a lifetime powertrain warranty from the dealer.
 
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DominionSeraph said:
$1000 for a 1 year/12000 mile extension of the bumper-to-bumper when you're already under a powertrain? No.

E: Wait, I see that the original powertrain is 6/70k, so that's an extension as well to 7/100k. An extra 30k on a powertrain for $1k doesn't seem too out of line. (I paid $730 for a 4/32k in 2004, which is $923 once you account for inflation)

If you're planning on keeping the car, it's a nice thing to have.
Click to expand...

Yeah you got it right. Original bumper to bumper is 5yr/50k and 6 year/70k powertrain. Certification pushes out the manufacturers b2b to 6 year/62k and the powertrain to 7 years/100k. After that the dealer lifetime powertrain warranty kicks in so long as I have scheduled maintenance done at the dealer.
 
jjsbasmt said:
Love that color of blue. Nice looking ride........
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Thanks. To be honest I did not like the color at first. Searched high and low for a 2011 or 12 TSX that was in similar condition, with similar miles, for a similar price, but a different color. Nearest one to me that met all those criteria was almost 100 miles away. And I was not going to drive my kids that far in my corolla give that it had two tires running on the steel belt.

That said I am liking the color more and more. Especially after seeing it in the bright afternoon sun that we had today. Lots of sparklies.
 
xaeniac said:
Nice pickup. I would just put premium in it as that what it calls for.
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Agreed...I never understood the point of paying extra for a car with a higher-performance engine and then cheaping out on the fuel. You're just robbing yourself of the performance that you paid for.

Can't believe that they charge new-car tax twice in NH, that's crazy.
 
Sho'Nuff said:
Thanks for the input everyone.

So I ended up buying the car I linked to. Paid $21875 out the door, with the Acura certification. Got $2k for my trade (a beat up 2003 corolla with 170k miles on it). Given that the TSX I bought was basically new I feel like I got a good deal.

Re: purchasing a new accord - the main reason I ended up deciding not to buy new is that registering a new car in NH costs a fortune. And a 2015 is considered a "new" car in both 2014 and 2015 up here. Meaning you get raped by the tax man twice.

I considered a used accord but ultimately decided against it because:

1. I am keeping my truck for big family outings
2. The TSX has quite a bit more power than the accord.
3. The driving experience provided by the TSX is (IMO) far better than the accord.

As for premium gas, the dealer said that with the 4 cylinder 89 octane is fine. Which for me translates to ~$2-3 a fill up. Even if I had to buy super the cost per fill up would only be ~$5 more.

I did get a full service printout, carfax report, etc. Did not get a separate mechanical inspection because the car is under the original bumper to bumper warranty for at least 2 more years (or 50kmiles), then under the extended bumper to bumper for another 1 year (or 12k miles), and then the Acura manufacturers powertrain warranty until 100k miles, and (provided I have the car serviced at the acura dealer), under a lifetime powertrain warranty from the dealer.
Click to expand...

Nice, I'll probably be looking for something in the future and I used to always buy new.

Probably won't the next one myself.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
jagec said:
Agreed...I never understood the point of paying extra for a car with a higher-performance engine and then cheaping out on the fuel. You're just robbing yourself of the performance that you paid for.

Can't believe that they charge new-car tax twice in NH, that's crazy.
Click to expand...

Seeing as how I have never purchased premium gas I asked the salesman what qualified as "premium" gasoline for the 2.4L tsx. His response was "anything with 89 octane or higher." Fine with me, particularly as I have read that putting 87 octane in the tsx reduces the mileage of the car enough that it is actually more expensive to use 87 octane than it is to use 89 octane.

As for the new car tax - that was news to me but it makes sense based on my previous experiences registering cars in the state. The city calculates the state and municipal tax on the car based on its model year, not the year it was purchased. So if you buy a 2015 in 2014, you pay the highest registration tax for both 2014 and 2015.

One reason I both the 2011 vs. a 2012 with similar miles was because the registration fees drop off marketedly once a car is 3 years old.
 
Sho'Nuff said:
Thanks for the input everyone.

So I ended up buying the car I linked to. Paid $21875 out the door, with the Acura certification. Got $2k for my trade (a beat up 2003 corolla with 170k miles on it). Given that the TSX I bought was basically new I feel like I got a good deal.

Re: purchasing a new accord - the main reason I ended up deciding not to buy new is that registering a new car in NH costs a fortune. And a 2015 is considered a "new" car in both 2014 and 2015 up here. Meaning you get raped by the tax man twice.

I considered a used accord but ultimately decided against it because:

1. I am keeping my truck for big family outings
2. The TSX has quite a bit more power than the accord.
3. The driving experience provided by the TSX is (IMO) far better than the accord.

As for premium gas, the dealer said that with the 4 cylinder 89 octane is fine. Which for me translates to ~$2-3 a fill up. Even if I had to buy super the cost per fill up would only be ~$5 more.

I did get a full service printout, carfax report, etc. Did not get a separate mechanical inspection because the car is under the original bumper to bumper warranty for at least 2 more years (or 50kmiles), then under the extended bumper to bumper for another 1 year (or 12k miles), and then the Acura manufacturers powertrain warranty until 100k miles, and (provided I have the car serviced at the acura dealer), under a lifetime powertrain warranty from the dealer.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't miss NH registrations.

On the bright side, you don't get hit with 8-9% sales tax when you buy a car from a dealer. 🙂
 
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