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Re: What soes CPO mean? Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Wed, 19 Jul 2006 05:07:55
In Reply to: What soes CPO mean?, swede-murphy   [Profile/Gallery]
, Tue, 18 Jul 2006 20:52:09
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As others have said, CPO is Certified Pre-Owned.
Recent Saabs (the only ones that can be covered by CPO) have a 4 year / 50K new car warranty. As others have said, a Saab dealer (and only a Saab dealer) can "CPO" a used car. This involves a checklist of inspections to make sure the car is good. There are other requirements, as the car can't be more than 4 years old and must be less than a certain mileage (60K, I think). Go to the Saab USA website for details under Certified Pre-Owned - I haven't looked at it for a couple of years. This typically adds about $1K-$1.2K to the price of the car.
For the price of the CPO, you get an extended warranty. This extends the original 4 year warranty out to 6 years, and the original 50K mileage out to 100K. Per usual, the CPO warranty dies at the first of 6 years/100K.
Unlike other extended warranties, it is excellent. It is the same bumper-to-bumper as the original, and it is no questions asked if you get the work done at a dealer. No pre-authorizations like aftermarket warranties, and none of this 'only oil-washed engine components, so you'll have to pay for that alternator yourself, sir.' As warranties go, it's great.
Saab did this, like many other similar cars (BMW, etc) because they get a LOT of lease cars back, usually with only a year and 10K miles left on the warranty. It's a lot easier to sell them if they can promise the new buyer 3 years more of coverage and another 60K or so miles.
An individual or a non-Saab dealer can't CPO a car. I am pretty sure the CPO warranty DOES NOT transfer when the car is sold.
In general, CPO is a good deal. In specific, it depends. Yes, the dealer is supposed to do a multi-point checkup, and only the best cars are CPO'd. In reality, I have seen a wide range of CPO'd cars, depending on the dealer. I've seen some dealers that will CPO anything that still has a minimum of 3 tires and doesn't smoke too badly. I've seen dealers whose CPO cars are indistinguishable from the new cars on the lot. In my opinion, always go for the best car in the best condition. If a dealer is sloppy about their CPO process, how do you think they will be on warranty work? And a warranty is still no fun if the car is lousy.
The other thing to look at with a CPO car is In Service Date. This is the date when the car is first sold/leased to a customer, and when the warranty 'clock' starts. The dealer should be able to provide you that date, and some even put it on the sticker. It is 2006, so say you're looking at a 2003 car. Three years is three years, right? Not so. 2003 cars started showing up in September of '02. If the car was sold/leased then, it has maybe 2 months left on the original warranty, so the CPO is only good for two more years - 26 months total. Now, if the car has 48K miles, and you drive 25K miles a year, you'll hit the 100K right about the same time as the warranty dies. But if you drive 10K a year, the warranty will time out when the car has only 70K miles on it.
But that 2003 may have sat on the lot, and not sold until the deals of the summer of 2003. It may be only 36 months since in-service, so it has a year of factory left. Add in the CPO, and it's good for another 36 months. That's 10 months of warranty 'for free.' And I've seen cars that sold well after their model year was up, providing a lot more warranty.
So look at the car mileage and in-service date, and think about how many miles you'll put on the car.
Since CPO cars are sold by dealers, they will, in general, cost more than a private party sale. Or a private party with any ideal of the real market. Dealers usually sell cars for more than a private part, and the CPO does add cost.
Would I buy a private party car? Yes. If I had solid documentation that the car had been regularly serviced. Not just regularly, but fanatically serviced. I'd want to see oil changes no more than 5K miles (the severe service interval), and that all fluids and filters were changed on time - coolant, brake fluid, you name it. And the car would have to be in perfect shape. And I'd want a decent discount over the dealer to cover my unexpected costs. With a CPO car, I'd want to know I had one of the good dealers, and that the car looked like it had had regular servicing. I'd want the car to look great, and not to be priced that much higher than private. I know the CPO should only add about $1.2K.
I do a lot of work on my Saabs myself, and know them pretty well. I like to think I can tell the difference between a good and bad one. Even with that, if I were in the market for a 'new' used Saab (only after the last good 9000 is gone!) I would probably go CPO from a dealer, unless I could find a private party that had fanatically serviced their car from new, and was at least $5K cheaper. Just my opinion.
posted by 192.249....
, Tue, 18 Jul 2006 20:52:09
, Thu, 20 Jul 2006 13:51:12, Wed, 19 Jul 2006 05:07:55 <-- Viewing This Message, Wed, 19 Jul 2006 07:42:27
, Tue, 18 Jul 2006 22:13:09, Tue, 18 Jul 2006 20:53:10
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