Certified Pre-Owned v. Used

Basically my question boils down to this:

** Is it worth it to buy a Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) car as opposed to a "regular" used car?

Generally, the CPOs come with a limited or parsed down warranty, some dealer incentives or services, and trial for sat radio. Also, from what I've noticed they have less miles on them, but not always. They do seem to bridge the price gap between new (overpriced) and used (KBB or seller's $) in terms of price to purchase.

I'd think that since a dealer backs the car more than a "sold as is" car, the CPO is a better option, but just wondering if you could get a better deal on a used car and get a thorough inspection and tune up from a reputable shop?

Any experience of suggestions? Thanks!

I'd say it depends on the price difference and what the CPO gives you over a non-CPO car. I've bought both. A lot of times, the CPO car has undergone a "149 point inspection", but what does that really entail? Let's see...check right front tire pressure, point one. Check left wiper blade, point two. Right wiper blade, point three. On and on. So get a list of what the CPO check list entails. Also how much additional does it get you? One time I bought a non-CPO car, it was only 18 months old with 11,000 miles on it. The basic factory warranty still had a long time left. A comparable CPO car was around $2k more. I didn't see the value in it, as I already had a basic warranty.

If the CPO is going to give you something for your money, great. Otherwise, to me it's not necessarily a big deal.

Is the warranty offered from a third party warranty company or is the warranty genuinely being offered from the manufacturer?

There are many third party offerings out there are a slyly worded to look like a genuine warranty. They have names like Certified Used, Warranty Forever, Factory Certified, etc.
These 3rd party offerings are not as good a genuine.

I bought a BMW-CPO E46. Effectively it gave me about 2 years B2B coverage on a 3-year-old car before it aged out. I did have them fix some pretty expensive stuff (failed HID headlight, driver's side door lock complete with overnight parts from Germany) which they did with a smile at no charge. They also fixed some cheap cosmetic stuff without complaint as well. Hard to tell what the CPO coverage cost - maybe a few hundred bucks over what I might have bought the car for otherwise, but I found similar cars in both private sales and dealer non-CPO offerings that were asking well over the asking on my car. I bought it from a northern NJ BMW dealer about 2 hours' drive from home.

I bought a '98 M3 off lease back in '02 then had it CPO'd by paying $1900 bucks to the dealer on top of the purchase price. For my $1900 bucks I got a new trans because of the 5th gear detent thing, a flywheel because while they were in there something was wrong with it, one cat because ... it stopped catting, and a window regulator with zero hassles and a smile. They also did oil and brakes for a little while but I can't remember if that was part of the CPO or part of a remaining factory warranty.

Depends on the manufacturer.

For Hyundai and Kia it is the difference between getting just the 5/60 bumper to bumper, or getting the 5/60 plus the 10yr/100k power train warranty.

Essentially in want to compare between Hyundai, Honda, and V (diesel specific). Looking for a full sized sedan, (Sonata, Accord, Passat) to replace for a family sedan. Essentially seeing what brand would offer me the best "bang for the buck" with used / pre-owned vehicles. Sonata gives great driver experience Honda gives quality experience, and VW offers rrefined driving overall.

I just want something that will cover maintenance and normal expenses while not breaking the banks upfront.

At the Hyundai dealer I work at, a CPO hyundai gets a 10 year/100,000 Mile warranty. to complete the CPO there is about 150 things that need to be looked over. ALL CPO Hyundais HAVE to have genuine Hyundai parts too

you work at the clinic. you should drive a prius and only drink diet soda, no?

honestly, i'd go on a car by car basis, not a CPO versus no warranty basis. unless you get a VW. then get all the warranty you can get.

patgizz wrote: honestly, i'd go on a car by car basis, not a CPO versus no warranty basis. unless you get a VW. then get all the warranty you can get.

I have heard some horror stories about the newer VW HPFP grenading and putting metal particals all over the fuel system, including the injection pump no real data available when it happens though, have seen from 30k-75k miles

In reply to patgizz: Haha I do work at the Clinic but I'm not the diet soda and Prius type. Not looking for a hybrid, we want more room than that. The Clinic does have charging stations for electrics though, that's pretty neat.

In reply to tjbell: I've heard some of that too, but on the VW forums and other places online and in real life I haven't heard of it being too much of a worry.

In reply to tjbell:

The Hyundai does have the best CPO program but we found the interior quality of the Sonata rather lacking. There was a lot of wear on most of the plastic pieces with the soft-touch coating and overall it felt thin, if that makes sense.

Honda had better quality interior and we've got a civic now. VW came highly recommended and we want to compare it to the others still.