2007 Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles

A Certifiably Great Idea

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We just wrapped up our three-week Certified Pre-Owned email survey...and a BIG thank you to all of you who participated. We asked you questions that will help us ascertain your interest in Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) vehicles and their programs, and more importantly, where you find the most value or peace of mind.

When it comes time to purchase a vehicle, there are several decisions that need to be made well before you consider the color, model, or even the design. Back in the early '90s, Lexus recognized this and created "Certified Pre-Owned" as a third sales channel. Now the market has new, used and certified for buyers' consideration, and as of today, 29 different brands offer CPO vehicles to their shoppers. (Another benefit of CPO is the positive impact it has on a brand's residual or resale values, but I will leave that for a future column.) Last year, Cadillac (Best Luxury Program) and Volkswagen (Best Non-Luxury Program) took top honors in our study.

IntelliChoice will be celebrating its 9th Annual Certified Pre-Owned Awards announcement in October of this year, and we are very proud of how far this program has come. We were the first independent third-party resource that worked to help consumers understand and determine the best CPO program for their specific needs, and our annual awards have become a vital part of this specialized industry.

If you are in the market for a vehicle, you need to decide among new, used, or certified. New? It gives you the satisfaction of being the first owner of a new vehicle, with the comfort of full warranty coverage. Used? Allows the original buyer to take the hit on the bulk of the initial depreciation cost that all vehicles experience, and provides a lower purchase price. Certified? The best of both worlds, as the vehicle has been inspected and re-warranted by the manufacturer for new-vehicle-like peace of mind, but is offered much closer to a typical used vehicle price.

Posted on 2007-06-18 | Permalink | |

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