Was helping a friend looked for a luxury CPO (ended up with a nice Jaguar XLJ with the supercharged 5L V8) and curious to get your perspective of what the best CPO program is and the worst?

For my money (just my 2 cents) best is Porche for 6 years unlimited mileage (from in service date) AND the fact it is transferrable in a private party sale. Lexus with 6 years (from in-service date) unlim miles and 4 maintenance visits is a close 2nd, the key suck factor is the non transferability of the Lexus warranty.

The worst I'd say is the FCA family - to talk about how unreliable their cars are, they back their CPO cars with a 3 month/3000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty (there is a 7yr/100k mile powertrain from in-service date...). To spend money for a CPO and only get 3 months bumper to bumper is dismaying, might as well not certify it to begin with.

 

This might not be the answer you are looking for, but, IMO, the best CPO is one where the dealership actually DOES the 160+ inspection/condition/repair/replace steps outlined in the official factory-CPO process, and doesn't cheat, neglect, or try to evade some of them.

I have seen a number of "CPOs" that, IMO, were not true CPOs.....they simply had a label on them.

And sometimes that happens simply because of a lack of facilities or capacity......the dealership, with its service-bays already full of regular customers's vehicles getting repairs or maintenance, simply may not have have enough extra room or technicians to spend all that time (and 160+ steps) on each CPO...they have to do the regular customers' vehicles first.

 

I bought a CPO Elite BMW 4 years ago. It still had 3.5 years and 45,000 miles left on the factory warranty; plus CPO Elite added 1 year + 25,000. But the key was that it came with the balance of the factory included maintenance (at the time 4/50); I have not paid for regular maintenance (or even wiper blades) since I bought the car. I've been very happy with this program. But.....

Since my purchase date, BMW's included maintenance has dropped to 3/36; all CPOs are 5 years/unlimited miles; and I'm not sure if CPOs still include the balance of the factory maintenance.

 

The best CPO program is the one where you bring your own mechanic to inspect the car. The worse CPO programs are the ones where you, well, just buy on blind faith.

 

I think you mean 5.0L supercharged.

 

If I'm not mistaken, when BMW went to 3/36 included maintenance they also dropped a couple of covered items. Two that I seem to remember are brake pads and wiper blades. There might be one or two more, not sure.

 

sorry - yes corrected =)

And agreed - not all CPO's are created equal. CPO's for most dealerships are just margin padders without the proper due diligence, I've read of horror stories even for Lexus CPO's that didn't get properly done.

Side note; did you know Mitsubishi has a CPO program? Apparently (can't remember where I saw this) they sold like 180 CPO cars over the course of a whole year recently...

 

That's correct as of MY 17. But I'm not sure if they include the maintenance in CPO sales anymore.

 

Yep, do your due diligence. How much you want to bet, you buy a car, say a Lexus, from dealer A. You take the same Lexus, to dealer B, and when dealer B does a multi-point inspection, since this car is new to them, you leave with $1,000+ of recommended services? One has to look at car sales like crime. Means, motive, opportunity. Even insurance cos. play risk both ways, betting on your death, and life. We can get into it again if needed, but CPO is severely limited when compared to bumper to bumper. Some say misleading, others say no. The only thing we can agree is they got us like a puppet show.

 

It shocks me that they sell any cars...

 

Maybe be biased, but CPOs for the most part are worthless, as you are:

1) still buying a used car from a used car lot from a used car salesmen so dont expect anything different.
2) Trusting the selling party has done the so-called inspection process, a thing usually left to you the buying party to handle
3) Paying a premium for essentially an extended warranty direct from the MFG, but whose point person is the servicing dealership.

Personal anecdotes:
1) Most dealerships dont do the 1000 point inspection checklist, its usually the same amount of time a dealer will invest in a non-cpo vehicle with the pages signed off. All thats really important it looks clean on the outside, and inside, and nothing is truly broken.
2) CPO vehicles sometimes have been in fender benders etc. Good dealers report them, some dont (caz carfax doesnt report things instantly).
3) the CPO warranty is not inclusive of all parts of the vehicle. Reads the T&Cs and as always a good service adviser is your best friend on these things like getting all your possible issues you might not know exist right before the warranty is up.
4) If you expect a CPO vehicle to be a new vehicle, dont buy a CPO.

 

That's what I have long-suspected from a number of the CPO's I've looked at, although, in general, tires on CPOs are usually new or otherwise in good condition. In general, the body/paint/trim is also in better condition than non-CPO's, but often not to the standards that the ads for them suggest. Engines tend to be a little cleaner, too, but one has to take a lot of care in cleaning today's engines, with all of their underhood wiring, electronics, computers, and water-sensitive hardware. Gone are the days when you could just spray the whole block down with Gunk-cleaner and hose it off.

 

For an FCA product, unless its something really rare, the 3 month is the extension is the max amount of money a dealership can put into a used car before they hit the red. Poor resale