Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
It's easy to figure out just what the cost is for a certified vehicle vs. going out and having a car inspected on your own and buying a warranty on your own - compare that to what the dealers ask, and I think it's way too much.
When I sold my lexus Es300, the buyer wanted it "certified" by the dealer. For $135, Lexus put the car through a very simple check list, none of which included engine compression. This, they told me, was the same list they use to "certify" their used cars. I thought it provided very little value to the customer. But seeing he purchased my car at a private party price, he did well.
A friend of mine just purchased a 1 year old Honda - she insisted on getting a "certified" used car from the dealer.
Actually they call them "pre-owned" (marketing spin). I told her since the car is still covered by the manufacturers warranty, that she'd be better off finding a private party transaction - she could of saved $2,000 in my opinion and still had a car covered under the factory warranty.
I guess my goal is to avoid the dealer unless I have service that is covered by the warranty.
I'm new to buying cars so any help is appreciated. I'm looking to purchase an 2005.5 Audi A4 2.0T Quattro, 4 cylinder, 6-speed manual with only standard features. The car is pre-certified with only 4,000 miles on it. I researched many places to figure out the true value of the car (kelley blue book, edmunds, etc.), but if anyone is familiar with what a good starting negotiation price is, I could use the help. Thanks!
On 5/22/06 I picked up my 2004 certified Yukon XL Denali,however we were sold this vehicle with lots of features including nav. system,dvd system etc...we drove 3hrs to the state of NJ from Long Island NY to pick it up when we were ready to leave we wanted to set the nav. but it would not work,when we asked the the manager he said it did not have a disc and he would try to get one(nothing yet)no wireless headphones,bad tires that their serv. mngr. stated they are not good (shouln't this be covered by my warraty?) and to top if off no registration and plates that we paid for so they could process and their temp registration expired with no extension options.So now I can't drive my car, GMC can't do anything for me and the dealer won't help.
Who can I contact? :mad:
I've had so many dealers do this exact same thing (offering me the lowest while demanding the highest for the car they are selling) that I can't even remember them all.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
dealers are notorious for expecting a 20-30% ding below "wholesale" for a trade to "cover" their costs to "prep" the car, when in fact they usually just send them off to auction. The same car will typically wind up on a lot asking 50% above what someone got for it from the dealer.
cadillacs are probably the worst of the bunch when it comes to depreciation and resale hit when you combine it with the old timer loyal GM buyers who lack modern negotiating skills.
yes, some buyers will want to pay invoice and get blue book, but most dealers do the opposite for a living.
I noticed dings in the hood right away, and the dealership made me bring the vehicle back to them for repairs instead of fixing it locally (which would've been a helluva lot more convenient for me, and which would have been more fair, considering I thought they should have caught said dings during the "150-point inspection" process," but I let that slide...)
During the past 12 months, I've replaced all four tires and all four brake pads. It could be argued that these items are due to driver's habits, so I'm willing to absorb these costs (even though they were supposed to be checked, again, during the 150-point inspection). However, what I find a little hard to swallow is the cost of yesterday's...$689 condensor!
Yes, my A/C refused to yield cool air even though I had it wide open after work (it's Texas hot around here). So I went to my local Honda dealership for service, and they showed me the problem. My A/C condensor was crushed from a full-frontal road hazard impact; looks like the CR-V was involved in a head-on collision. The freon has been leaking out slowly ever since. A piece of metal has rusted, the coils are crushed in, but a previous owner ever so thoughtfully replaced the tell-tale front chrome grill. How thoughtful of them.
My question is, how could the Honda dealer who sold me the CR-V have missed this obviously dented-in condensor (well, now that I've been shown it after driving around for half a day in bad Texas heat) after performing a 150-point inspection checklist? With one item which clearly states, "Condensor free of rust and no road hazard damage?"
I no longer trust the Honda dealer after the paint damage on hood fiasco. Will Honda help me resolve this problem? Has anyone had any experience with them? Does anyone know who to call? Any words of advice before I prepare to do battle? Grrr..... :sick:
If the condensor should have been checked, and it wasn't, then you certainly have a valid complaint. If the dealer is no help in this matter, than call Honda directly.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Maybe most of us American consumers ARE fat, lazy, stupid sheeple who'd rather pay a premium than do our homework. But when I pay around $1500 under new-auto retail for a used vehicle, I expect something for my money, dagnabbit! They promised me the car would be checked out from stem to stern; forward and aft...the condensor would be free of rust, with no road hazard damage.
I've called Honda Motor Company's Customer Service. They've assigned a case number and will be back in touch with me in a couple of days. Hopefully, it'll be with good news.
Meanwhile, I really believe the Honda dealer, aka "Fast Buck Freddie," did exactly as I suspected he did all along. He didn't provide me with the 150-point checklist when I first bought the car. Only when I returned a couple of days later to have the hood dings touched up did he give me the checklist, at my insistence. At the time, I had the feeling it took him all of, oh, 3 minutes to zip through the darn thing out of sight a &%#@ problematic customer like me...
I hope you harped on the issue that a CPO comes with a checklist and the dealer should have done it and this should have been noticed, etc, etc.
I believe isellhondas (a regular poster here, if you didn't already know him) says that Honda takes their CPO very seriously, so I would think a dealer who does not do it properly would not be looked upon favorably by corporate.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
All this does is help support my feeling that CPO is a silly marketing spin to make people fear going private party.
If the car is still under the manufacture's standard waranty, don't waste your money on the CPO mark up. And if the warranty has expired, you're much better off having your own mechanic check under the hood for maybe a hundred bucks.
A) Does anyone have any significant negatives to point out assuming there is sufficient mileage remaining, etc?
Does anyone know the best websites to find those individuals looking to transfer their lease to me?
Vickie with Honda Customer Care finally called back to let me know that Honda considered this to be a "goodwill consideration" since my Honda has just slipped out of its 12-month/12000-mile CPO warranty. She also gave me little hope of reimbursement from Honda, or the dealer: "A/C's aren't covered under the 150-point inspection process." When I said the problem wasn't with the A/C, it was with the condensor, she back that train up: "Well, condensors aren't covered, either. I checked."
My natural-born blonde Gracie Allen tendencies aside, at the rarefied age of 45 I've finally learned to hold me tongue, so I did this time. When she calls back to say no-go, it may be useful at that time to point out to Vickie's SUPERVISOR that "Item 49" of Honda's "exhaustive 150-point mechanical and appearance inspection" states that "A/C condensor-corrosion, road-hazard damage" (was to have been checked/corrected). And if Ms. Vickie wasn't aware it was on the checklist, maybe the %$#@ Honda dealer didn't know it, either.
Wish me luck. Otherwise, so far, folks, Honda hasn't impressed me in the least. Their clever marketing words are all just yadayadayada. Just so much claptrap. I had better luck with Ford. A battery here, a starter there, and I was always good to go. If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy a year-old Ford from some Joe Schmoe and save literally THOUSANDS.............
I don't know how an aluminum condensor can "rust" but if it was dented up, it should heve been noted and replaced.
The tires and brakes are a different story. We have to replace tires and brake pads if they are worn more than a certain point. We throw away perfectly good brake pads that would probably last me, given my driving habits, another 20,000 miles.
I have no idea how many miles you have put on that CRV since you bought it but if the tires and brake pads were passable at the time, it's not unreasnoble that they would need to be replaced after a year of driving.
And I wouldn't be so confident that a Ford would solve your problems given their repar records.
why- the best place for the most selection of used Freelanders i found was the LR dealerships, i also like their attitude (oh boy i know should not let myself get taken in by this).
my question is- can i request the maintenance history on the car i want to buy? assuming i've established that the car came off a lease? or that at least hoping that the previous owner brought it back to LR for maintenance and warranty issues, shouldn't LR have the history for said vehicle? can i as the new buyer request all the records for the car? is the dealer obliged to disclose these? could they actually keep any "problem" issues from me? say if the car has come in 3x for an electrical problem.
anyone know about this?
many thanks!
They should print them out for you. I always have them printed when someone asks.
Sometimes if the car was serviced at another Land ROver dealer not all of that information is loaded up to Land Rovers system so there might be some gaps in the service history.
i think also me mentioning a specific make of cars may have weighed the reply, rather than in the broader sense of actually speaking to any dealer.
the more basic question is wether a dealer is required to disclose as much of the history of a car as it possesses? would that be an argument FOR purchasing a CPO? can a dealer pass of a car, if it knows that a car has been serviced repeatedly for the same reoccuring problem? is there some sort of industry, or business law?
thanks again.
In my experience any Freelander is going to have a pretty extensive service history. Only about 20% of Freelanders seem to be "good" vehicles and even those have issues.
You should check out the Freelander forum... Some of the ownership experiences are truly painful..
It is too bad... a pretty neat little SUV (in theory).
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
A better tranny alone would have made the Freelander 10 times better.
We recently took in a Freelander that leaked water badly. We dumped it at the auction.
These are kind of a wannabe Rover, aren't they?
You probably don't know this but the freelander orginialy started out as joint project between Honda and Land Rover when Honda had a 20% stake in Rover AG.
That all ended when BMW bought the other 80% of Rover AG from British Aerospace in 1994. I don't think the project had progressed past the brainstorming stage when BMW shut Honda out.
If Honda had finished the co-development with Rover on the Freelander it would have been a great vehicle. The chassis of the Freelander is pretty good. It is very strong like t-boned by a Semi-truck, flipped several times end over end and the girl walked away strong. It handles great much better then any of the other trucklet SUVs around on the market.
We will not sell a used freelander without an extended warranty. All of them get the CPO warranty and we recomend anyone that has their factory or extended warranty about to expire on the freelander to buy an extended warranty.
The new LR2, Freelander 2 in the rest of the world, should be great I am really excited about it.
Pretty cool Freelander video if you are interested.
Good luck . I am in search of one too!!
:shades:
I am a regular to these forums for quite a while. Cant even describe how helpful these forums are.
I am looking to buy a CPO Infiniti FX35, but there a very few dealers who list infiniti's as CPO, I dont know why. :confuse: I live in the midwest in Iowa, and i found a dealer in Dallas,TX ( way too far) who has some CPO FX35's. I have been keeping a look on the prices of the FX35 available in midwest ..all the way to chicago. they have a huge collection, but no CPO's. . Also if I buy a CPO from lets say 600 miles away, there is no way I can go to that dealer (from whom I bought car) for regular Maintenance, are other dealers helpful in maintaining vehicles certified by other dealers?
I am looking to buy a 2005 FX35, What according to you guys is the price range i should be paying for a CPO vehicle.
Its very easy to find just a non-CPO for 30,000-32,000.
Any help.
Thank you.
You'll want to check the BMW M3: Problems & Solutions discussion to get feedback from those who own this vehicle.
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
Need help navigating? kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
Share your vehicle reviews
they might be able to help getting it inspected.
he helped one of his friends buy an older m-3.
my neighbor has an '02 that he tracks 4-5 times a year.
it is pretty reliable. any used vehicle is it's own reality.
Actually, Ford vechicles are known for having exemplary AC systems. At the least, kdkat wouldn't have to deal with that particular fiasco with a Ford.
It's buyer beware out there with private party AND the dealer - especially a dealer
Save your self a couple grand and the frustration you will have when you find the CPO didn't cover a $689 repair bill as a recent post describes.
If you must, go buy an extended warranty on your own, again avoiding dealer mark up and commission.
the information let me know alot about the warranty and other issues that are helpful in purchasing a certified vw.
I told him that this concerned me and the dealer said that he is backing up the car with the certfication (150 pts inspection) and will sell it a Honda certified car. The bumper to bumper warranty is for 1 year and the power tain warranty last for 7 years/100,000 miles.Should I buy the car? What are the pros and cons?
Please help. Thanks.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
There is no such thing as a bumper to bumper extended warranty. Be sure you understand exactly what is covered (and not covered) by this service contract. (it's not the same as what a new car comes with)
As said above, most used cars are sold without maintenance records. I think I've had about 5 requests for records in the time I've worked at a dealership (6 years).
Mitzij,
You are right ther is no such thing as Bumber-to-bumber warranty for this car.
Honda's website says the following about the warranty on certified used cars:
"Honda Certified Used Cars come with a 7-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty and a 12-month/12,000-mile limited non-powertrain warranty."
I will have to study the details non-powertrain warranty.
Also could you recommend when should I consider getting the extended warranty? Should it be after the 12 month/12000 non-powertrain warranty expires?
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
if you must absolutely have an extended warranty, then get the hondacare warranty (although i'm not sure you can on a vehicle with 41k miles). if you even think about 3rd party warranties, you should first read the several threads here on edmunds from those who have been shafted by them.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
I would not recommend any service contract. If you must buy one after the 1 year CPO contract, get the HondaCare, as it is backed (though indirectly) by Honda. For my opinion on Warranty Direct, I recommend you read the last few dozen posts on the "Extended Warranties" thread. I recently finished a circular conversation with a person convinced of WD's quality. The "Warranty Gold Claims" thread is also a good read.
Also could you recommend when should I consider getting the extended warranty? Should it be after the 12 month/12000 non-powertrain warranty expires?
Any service contract you buy now (or in 12 months) will be pricy, since you're out of factory warranty. I'd recommend parking that money in an interest-bearing account.
Rule of thumb? I might go $400-$500 higher on my first example and ~$1200 higher on my second.
Now, to a dealer, its going to cost them about the same to certify both vehicles ... but their cost should be of no concern to you. Its worth what its worth to you, period.
I've bought 2 CPO vehicles. The first one I paid right around the same price that I would have paid for a non-CPO (volvo). The second one, I paid about $700 for a 74k mile cpo warranty on a car with 30k miles (lincoln) ... but, as a CPO at that time, it came with a much lower interest rate as a special deal, so it really only cost me maybe $200 more.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
b. How to negotiate this. I would love their special financing; but I always heard that first you negotiate the price of the car and then find out about the lower than bank-rate financing.
Can/would a dealership like Lexus try to sell a car that had been in a major accident? Would getting the check list cover me legally?
Thanks for answering all my questions. I really would like to buy a pre-owned a/k/a used car; but am nervous about the process and worried that i could be stuck with a lemon.
Thoughts?
I sold my used lexus to someone who first paid Lexus to put it through their "certified" process. The cost was $130. If you ask me these "152 checks" are mostly fluff - checking things like lights, fluid levels, air pressure....
one thing they did not cover was engine compression.
Lexus models already have a 6 year 70,000 mile powertrain warranty and Lexus warranties tend to be fairly cheap because Lexus models don't break down that often.
The CPO Lexus warranty is only three years from the date of the CPO purchase so if you buy a 2005 CPO RX330 with 20,000 miles that is only been in service for a year or so then you aren't getting any extended warranty.
The CPO warranty starts when you buy the CPO so the factory warranty is going to expire at the same time as the CPO warranty.
Unless you are going to put 80,000 miles on the RX in less then three years then the CPO is worth nothing to you.