Certified vs Pre-owned

If the carfax is clean, is the CPO worth the extra $$? Toyota seems to last...

 

yes it is. CPO give you warranty till 100k on drivetrain. preowned doesnt.

 

I would say no. They do very little to "certify" those special cars...but they charge you a significant amount more.

 

I think it depends on who's doing the certifying. The local Toyota dealership I talked to really did a lot of work I considered unnecessary for a vehicle with only 25K on it. Like putting on new brakes, belts, plugs, PCV and changing absolutely all the fluids: transmission, differential, brake, anti-freeze, power steering as well as engine oil and all the filters...air, oil, transmission, and fuel.

They also detailed it so well that even underneath it looked like a new truck. (Yes, I was crazy enough to almost crawl under the truck on the lot to look at it.) I even noted fresh white lithium that made me think they actually DID all the 'check, lube and adjust' crap they charge $600 for at the 36K mile service the dealer tries to sell you!

Does it really NEED all that? maybe not...and like you say it IS a more expensive used truck. But you're still getting a nice discount on the new price (otherwise look at new, stupid!) and it's nice knowing it WAS all done so you can relax for a while as though it were new.

If they give a nice warranty with it then that adds value hard to ignore; iirc they give a bumper-bumper 12 mo. 12K mile on certified in addition to residual mfr's warranty.

 

Depends on how close to new the truck is, how much you plan on driving it or how long you're keeping it. Also I wouldn't listen to generic comments of "not worth it" or "they don't do anything to it" any reputable dealer will give you a copy of the service repair order if you ask for it and you can judge for yourself. Sure, things get replaced during certification before they really need to but if you don't want to worry about having to get hit with a big repair bill after owning for a couple months then certification is a wise move.

 

IMHO, CPO is nothing more than a warranty. While the CPO "checklist" is normally available, what they actually do is dependant on who is doing it and the mood they are in that day. That being said, the only value I put to CPO is the warranty, if the CPO is cheaper then the pre-owned+similar warranty, then it makes sense, otherwise pre-owned and buy your own warranty.