landtuna
Registered Member
After reading about the unfortunate 2012 Base 3.8 CPO buyer who experienced a plethora of problems with his ride I thought some discussion of exactly what makes a CPO vehicle is in order.
First, CPO (Certified Pre-Owned) is NOT a new car. It is a used car just like all the others but with an insurance policy bought by the dealer as sort of an extended warranty. CPO's are usually very clean, visually anyway, and are low-mileage.
A CPO warranty may or may not cover the used car buyer on problems that an ordinary used car warranty would not. It is very important to read the details of the CPO before purchase. Most of the time it comes down to the dealer as to whether you get push back on a claim or not.
The CPO warranty has a cost of course and it is added to the retail cost of the vehicle in addition to the CPO markup itself. A CPO'd vehicle will always be listed at a higher retail than a non-CPO.
A CPO warranty does not remove the car from the responsibility that the previous owner took extra special care of the car. I know a guy who traded in his low mileage and clean Santa Fe after 18 months but had never changed the oil. The dealer CPO'd the car nevertheless. Potentially bad deal for the buyer and the CPO warranty will not protect in that case because non-maintenance is considered lack of proper maintenance. I've known people who leased their rides for 3 years and never maintained anything unless it broke. Personal advice - never buy someone else's troubles unless you know the previous owner and car history personally.
If you buy a CPO vehicle you will be paying extra for a warranty that may or may not be an asset and you are still buying a used vehicle. And used is not the same as new - ever.
The aforementioned Genesis 3.8 buyer also compared his used Genesis to a new "Japanese luxury brand" and is also not a valid comparison. He would have been much further ahead to have bought a new Genesis or a new Japanese brand up front and not had to deal with a used car of any brand.
First, CPO (Certified Pre-Owned) is NOT a new car. It is a used car just like all the others but with an insurance policy bought by the dealer as sort of an extended warranty. CPO's are usually very clean, visually anyway, and are low-mileage.
A CPO warranty may or may not cover the used car buyer on problems that an ordinary used car warranty would not. It is very important to read the details of the CPO before purchase. Most of the time it comes down to the dealer as to whether you get push back on a claim or not.
The CPO warranty has a cost of course and it is added to the retail cost of the vehicle in addition to the CPO markup itself. A CPO'd vehicle will always be listed at a higher retail than a non-CPO.
A CPO warranty does not remove the car from the responsibility that the previous owner took extra special care of the car. I know a guy who traded in his low mileage and clean Santa Fe after 18 months but had never changed the oil. The dealer CPO'd the car nevertheless. Potentially bad deal for the buyer and the CPO warranty will not protect in that case because non-maintenance is considered lack of proper maintenance. I've known people who leased their rides for 3 years and never maintained anything unless it broke. Personal advice - never buy someone else's troubles unless you know the previous owner and car history personally.
If you buy a CPO vehicle you will be paying extra for a warranty that may or may not be an asset and you are still buying a used vehicle. And used is not the same as new - ever.
The aforementioned Genesis 3.8 buyer also compared his used Genesis to a new "Japanese luxury brand" and is also not a valid comparison. He would have been much further ahead to have bought a new Genesis or a new Japanese brand up front and not had to deal with a used car of any brand.
