certified, pre-owned vehicles -- a good deal?

[razordog]

hi

is buying a certified, pre-owned car at a dealership a good buy?
where do these cars come from? are the usually cars that are returned from a lease?

will the engine be in bad shape? any advice would be welcome

thanks

 

[Fiveohhh]

I suppose it depends on the warranty the dealer is offering you on it..

 

[ElFenix]

it's just a used car with a warranty. there is nothing magic about it. cars are usually off lease but not necessarily.

 

[tnitsuj]

#1. It has a warranty, sometimes even longer than the new car warranty.

#2. It has supposedly passed a stringent checklist, and had all the fluids changed etc.

#3. They tend to be much much more expensive than an ordinary used car.

 

[Carver1]

A certified used car just means it has had an inspection buy the dealer selling the car. It's not worth it if it costs more. I sell off-rent cars. They are a better value because we have the complete history of every car on teh lot. All maintence, repairs, etc. Plus, the cars are alot cheaper than every other used car lot. I am not pushing the lot I work for, so I won't mention the name, but we do have the best deals Buy an ex rental, and you can't go wrong. You can get a full warranty for up to 100,000 miles for under $1500!

 

[Drekce]

Buy an ex rental, and you can't go wrong.

You are nuts. I would never buy a "retired" rental car. I don't care what kind of warranty it comes with.

 

[Kelemvor]

The main thing if you are getting a Warranty with it... Is make sure it's a MANUFACTURER's warrenty and not a Dealership warranty.

 

[Dunbar]

It's just a marketing idea to help sell used cars. The warranty should be as good as a new car warranty (I know BMW's is.) Then compare the price to a non-certified car. If you're going to pay $2000 more for a certified car I don't think it's worth it (that will buy a lot of repairs.) If it's only marginally more AND the warranty is good than go for it (and don't let them sell you an aftermarket warranty on top of that!)

 

[ggavinmoss]

Originally posted by: Carver1
A certified used car just means it has had an inspection buy the dealer selling the car. It's not worth it if it costs more. I sell off-rent cars. They are a better value because we have the complete history of every car on teh lot. All maintence, repairs, etc. Plus, the cars are alot cheaper than every other used car lot. I am not pushing the lot I work for, so I won't mention the name, but we do have the best deals Buy an ex rental, and you can't go wrong. You can get a full warranty for up to 100,000 miles for under $1500!

But aren't old rentals iffy because people treat rental cars like crap?

-geoff

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: ggavinmoss

Originally posted by: Carver1
A certified used car just means it has had an inspection buy the dealer selling the car. It's not worth it if it costs more. I sell off-rent cars. They are a better value because we have the complete history of every car on teh lot. All maintence, repairs, etc. Plus, the cars are alot cheaper than every other used car lot. I am not pushing the lot I work for, so I won't mention the name, but we do have the best deals Buy an ex rental, and you can't go wrong. You can get a full warranty for up to 100,000 miles for under $1500!

But aren't old rentals iffy because people treat rental cars like crap?

-geoff

exactly. everybody drives them like crap because they can get away with it. your particular lot may be selling them for cheap, but that doesn't make them a good deal. and i wouldn't say 'you can't go wrong' because rental companies have no idea how people drive the cars. they seem to only care about body/cosmestic damages more than anything else.

 

[GasX]

Any rental car driven by one of my friends has ZERO resale value...

 

[Thegonagle]

It just means they're not rejects and they've had all the maintenance brought up to schedule. They usually automatically extend the factory warranty as well.

Although good non-certified used cars exist too (usually for less money), if you're not experienced with evaluating a used car (and consequently deciding what to pay, if you buy it at all), they're good for peace of mind.

 

[Dunbar]

But aren't old rentals iffy because people treat rental cars like crap?

-geoff

I've heard this argument a lot and I disagree with it. Most people who rent cars are older and could car less about dogging it out. They drive the car just as gently as their own car. Sure, there are those that rag on rental cars but I know people who drive their own cars this way too.

 

[Carver1]

It is true some people rag on rentals, but with our company, NO ONE under 25 can drive our cars, we don't rent standard shifts, we only sell the best of the fleet, all cars have inspections, and any frame damaged cars, or major collitions are sent to auction. We only sell a very small number of the total rental fleet. Most of our customers are mid-upper class, and are repeat buyers.

 

[hahher]

any advice on buying used car?

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: Dunbar
It's just a marketing idea to help sell used cars. The warranty should be as good as a new car warranty (I know BMW's is.) Then compare the price to a non-certified car. If you're going to pay $2000 more for a certified car I don't think it's worth it (that will buy a lot of repairs.) If it's only marginally more AND the warranty is good than go for it (and don't let them sell you an aftermarket warranty on top of that!)

OTOH, Allison BMW here in Sunnyvale/Mtn View is offering 2.something% financing if you get one, and they'll pay the April and May car payments for you. Hmm...

 

[tallest1]

Make sure you have the term "certified" defined for you. My current car was 'inspected' and 'certified' by a Honda dealer, and 3 days after the purchase, the alternator was discovered to be dead

 

[astroview]

I don't trust the dealers, they may call it certified but they're in the business of making sales. If it's an ethical dealer they'll only resell a car that is in good condition, but I don't trust most of them to say certified means good condition.

 

[AbsolutZero]

Originally posted by: hahher
any advice on buying used car?

Google. I used this site for new car buying advice, very useful.

 

[michaelh20]

Whatever you do don't take the dealer's word for it. I got one of those cars with the supposed 150-200 point inspection, took it to a mechanic and they found $1500 dollars of work it needed, among other things : broken plastic on the fender (no bigee), rotor that needed honing (no bigee), leaking intake manifold (bigee), one tire that was pretty well worn, and some other miscellanious stuff.

Guy told me, well it's just that another mechanic will find stuff another one won't.

I still took the car, but they fixed the intake manifold and the rotor.

Take it to a mechanic if they allow you to.