Kevo1914

I went into a Lexus dealership yesterday and was told that if I drop L/certification on a used 2015 GS, it would only provide 1300.00 in savings off the overall asking price. Sounded a little shady being that they justify their price point via this certification. Has to worth more than 1300.00 in savings to go without. What do you guys think?

DallasDave

iTrader: (1)

It doesn't seem like that is enough discount. I've had mine for about nine months and I think I remember my Salesperson mentioning it costs them just over $3,000 to "certify" the vehicle for CPO. That doesn't exactly answer your question, but might be helpful. It might also be worth noting that if they DID invest anything to be granted the Lexus CPO status, I don't think they would get that money back if they sold it as a non-CPO car. Just my two cents.

I wonder how much it would cost for an extended warranty (non-Lexus). That might be a better number to focus on. If it's $2,200 for a comparable extended warranty, than I would expect AT LEAST a discount of $2,200 (if you purchase the car as a non-CPO).

There seem to be quite a few of these cars on the market (mine is a 2015 too), so don't feel pressured to buy one too quickly. The best advice for purchasing a car, there will ALWAYS be another great deal just around the corner...don't feel pressured to buy something quickly!

Good luck!

Kevo1914

Great advice. Thanks!

joedaddy1

iTrader: (1)

What's so dishonest about it?

I always thought the the saving was around $2k, but I don't see the issue here.

if you don't like the price, walk away. He'll call you if you are needed.

jtrue28

It's a 2015. How many miles are on it? Should still have 2yrs of factory warranty left. Lexus vehicles are very reliable. Extended warranties are scams. YMMV.

yardie876

The CPO certification was removed off of my car when I purchased it without me knowing. I didn't find out for over a year later. It was the "discount" they gave me when I was haggling. Guess I should have asked where the discount was from...

Kevo1914

The vehicle had about 26k miles on it. I just thought 1300.00 of for declining the CPO was a little low.

yardie876

IIRC it was roughly $1100 off the price of mine.

MustangSal

Not if they actually pay off while under warranty (extended or original factory). It's a dice roll. Like anything that provides a hedge of protection, it could just go the entire life of the warranties and never need to be used. The Lexus brand has a Rep for low warranty problems. Certainly low in the "extended" arena.

OP, CPO is more than just the extended warranty it provides. See what it would affect on your car of choice to have it or not and then see if it matters then (which you're probably doing already).

dano

As a former Honda and Acura salesman I was told that certifying a vehicle cost on average between $1200-$1600. The the cost is comprised of 2 expenses. The first is the actual needed repairs like brakes, fluid changes, tires, etc. so that amount varies with each vehicle. The 2nd is essentially an insurance contract sold by the manufacturer to the dealer for any unforeseen problems with the vehicle in the future. I was told this runs around $300-$400, probably depending on the vehicle (a Civic vs. an Acura MDX). I imagine Lexus's certification is more expensive due to the premium cost of its parts, although given that most are extremely reliable the insurance cost may not be any different than say a Corolla.

oldcajun

It sounds like the car is already certified. That means that any required inspections and repairs have already been done and all you would save is the cost of the warranty. Why jump to the conclusion that this was dishonest?

Kevo1914

New to Lexus, so I was inquiring.

bclexus

The CPO certification is said to cost $1,395. Most every car will require some degree of reconditioning, which adds X amount of additional expense by the dealer. Many dealers have a maximum budget of $2,000 (over-and-above the CPO cost) for reconditioning expense. Some dealers might spend as much as $3,500 on reconditioning (brakes, tires, painting bumpers, removing dings, repairing wheels, etc.), but those cars must have jacked-up prices where they are over-priced and often remain on the lot more than 90 days.

Reference (from a Lexus pre-owned salesman): https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...ml#post9451641

AJLex19

I once had a Lexus salesperson tell me dropping the Certification would only save me like $800 off the sales price.

Its not really dishonest, it just depends on how much they've invested in reconditioning the car. Its interesting because if they felt confident about their car to sell it with a certification for a higher price, they would've already spent the money to "recondition it to standards" but if you asked to drop the certification, you just wouldn't get the extended warranty but probably are getting a good car.

If you dropped the certification, you'd potentially get a reconditioned car in overall good/very good condition for less. Within the certification period, the dealerships know that the warrantied items rarely fail and will be willing to take the risk because its more likely that you buy the car for the certified, higher price...down the road, you'll probably will need way less in warranty-work during the certified period.

lildann

Just FYI. I'm a tech at a Lexus Dealer. When I was looking at a CPO GS350, they told me that employee cost on the CPO warranty is only $1000. So the price you were quoted doesn't seem bad to me. Also, now when you buy a CPO Lexus, you also get the next 4 recommended services for free. A 30k service is a major service and probably costs $400 or more. Then you get the next 3 free also. Two would be rotate only services so they wouldn't be very expensive. But with the 30k service and the other services included it's actually more like $600-700 for the warranty. So honestly it seems like a pretty good deal. Just my two cents.