In a search for a new car for my wife, I have confirmed the continuing availability of a bizarre quirk in the used car marketplace. That quirk is the Certified Pre-Owned used car (aka "CPO").
In an attempt to help dealers make more profit on used car sales, most manufacturers have created CPO plans, whereby late-model used cars can have an extended FACTORY warranty, thus warranting a premium price. The customer pays more, the dealer gets more, and the dealer kicks back some to the factory for the parts coverage over the extended term.
But there are cases where the CPO warranty on used cars is actually BETTER THAN the new-car warranty was on that exact same car!
For example, you can get a warranty through 70,000 odometer miles on a used Mercedes. But you can find used Mercedes' with less than 10,000 miles on them, giving you - at least theoretically - a 60,000 mile warranty, which is better than that car carried when it was new. In the Mercedes example, there is a time limit - I think it's four or five years from the in-service date - so this would only be advantageous for a high-mileage purchaser.
I am looking at a used Jag with about 4,000 miles on it. The CPO warranty goes through 7 years or 70,000 miles, and also includes all factory-required maintenance for the first 50,000 miles. The car is only a couple months old (the reason for the trade has not been established), so as I said above, the warranty on this car is better than new.
You car guys will point out that Jaguar has a well-deserved reputation for being, in some ways, junk, but this particular dealer is very reputable and provides loaners when your car is in the shop. Since I'm now retired, I really don't care if I have to take it back a couple times a year for repairs under warranty.
CPO is a pretty cool thing, I think.
Any experiences with it out there in USMB-land?
In an attempt to help dealers make more profit on used car sales, most manufacturers have created CPO plans, whereby late-model used cars can have an extended FACTORY warranty, thus warranting a premium price. The customer pays more, the dealer gets more, and the dealer kicks back some to the factory for the parts coverage over the extended term.
But there are cases where the CPO warranty on used cars is actually BETTER THAN the new-car warranty was on that exact same car!
For example, you can get a warranty through 70,000 odometer miles on a used Mercedes. But you can find used Mercedes' with less than 10,000 miles on them, giving you - at least theoretically - a 60,000 mile warranty, which is better than that car carried when it was new. In the Mercedes example, there is a time limit - I think it's four or five years from the in-service date - so this would only be advantageous for a high-mileage purchaser.
I am looking at a used Jag with about 4,000 miles on it. The CPO warranty goes through 7 years or 70,000 miles, and also includes all factory-required maintenance for the first 50,000 miles. The car is only a couple months old (the reason for the trade has not been established), so as I said above, the warranty on this car is better than new.
You car guys will point out that Jaguar has a well-deserved reputation for being, in some ways, junk, but this particular dealer is very reputable and provides loaners when your car is in the shop. Since I'm now retired, I really don't care if I have to take it back a couple times a year for repairs under warranty.
CPO is a pretty cool thing, I think.
Any experiences with it out there in USMB-land?
