Anyone gone the CPO (certified pre owned) route for a car?

[Initech]

I've found a few CPOs that fall within my price range and all are like fully loaded and have very low miles. This would be my first time trying this so I'm a bit skeptical. I'm looking at all the luxury manufacturers - Volvo, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, etc and they all have cars that would fall into my price range.

I figure that for $450 a month I could be driving a Toyota or I could be driving an Audi. The only thing I'm skeptical about is the long term maintenance. Has anyone tried it and have they had any success with buying a CPO?

[cannabis_flower]

1. No but..

I just bought a one-owner, top of the line 2013 Toyota Camry LXE Hybrid for $12,000 and am paying $329 a month and am quite happy with it.

[Lochloosa]

5. Nice find. I have 170,000 on my 05.

My mechanic told if I ever want to sell he gets first dibs.

Not a hybrid though.

[leftieNanner]

2. I only buy used cars now

The CPO route is a good thing to consider. It's usually cars coming off lease that still have some warranty left on them. And sometimes the dealer will give you an extended warranty on top of that. Do some research on the long term reliability of the models you are considering. I've had three Mercedes cars. The first one went 250,000 miles, the second one 325,000 miles. This most recent model only has 135,000 miles on it and it hasn't been as reliable as the other two. I won't buy another Mercedes.

Consumer Reports is a good source for indices of reliability.

Good luck and enjoy your "new" car!

[Initech]

3. The ones I've been looking at are service loaners.

Most of the time they turn around and sell the cars after they've had about 5K miles on them. That's what I am going after. I don't want to pay that much money for a car that has 45,000+ miles on it.

Something like a Mercedes C or Audi A4 or BMW 330i would be very nice.

[leftieNanner]

4. Sounds Great!

That's the best way to buy a car like that. You don't lose the instant depreciation from a brand new car.

Although my Mercedes GLK (2010) hasn't been terribly reliable, my local dealer has provided exceptional service!

[Moostache]

6. The thing about luxury brands is the maintenance costs are extreme...unless you do it yourself...

I have owned several Mercedes models over the past decade. Everything from a SLK230 convertible to a GL550 SUV, and the one thing I will say is that if you buy used and don't have a reputable repair shop that works on foreign and domestic luxury vehicles, you may need to become handy yourself to avoid that $450 a month becoming more like $750 a month to keep the thing on the road...

It is entirely luck of the draw...I had that aforementioned SLK230 for 8 years after buying it used and put 100,000 miles on it until my daughter drove it 20 miles with the RED STOP ENGINE LIGHT ON (she panicked and did not know what to do so she did what teenagers always do - the exact wrong thing first). I also had my wife's GL450 blow an engine the same month (turns out she had a check engine light for the oil levels on for 3 months and never said anything about it)...let me just say I did an awful lot of bottom lip biting to avoid ending up divorced and estranged from them both that month!

I was able to do some repairs myself to the SLK230 (killed by daughter), but the CLK500 (wrecked by same daughter), GL450 (engine killed by wife; replacement engine ran to 225,000 miles before selling), GL550 (wife's current) and ML320 CDI (my current) required professional shops or dealers to repair. I don't know about BMW or Lexus dealerships, but there is a reason Mercedes owners refer to the dealership as the authorized "stealership". They only work with OEM new parts, and those are ALWAYS priced about 50-75% ABOVE after market or equivalent parts that would get the job done.

My experience with the ML320 CDI (diesel) have been very mixed at best. Between an intermittently failing turbocharger (waste gate gets stuck and turbo will not engage, limits acceleration to next to nothing and caps the engine at 2,500 rpm...which oddly enough is still enough to hit 80 mph on the highway and allows me to run it without the turbo functioning) and a oil leak from the engine block - I have sunk a lot of cash into keeping the thing running. I had hoped to keep it going and have my other children use it until it died, but that is increasingly unlikely now. The benefit to that truck though is the diesel averages about 27 mpg on the highway (either from the engine itself or the limitation on acceleration and top end speed), so that was a small consolation.

I am a sucker for Mercedes styling, interiors, options and drive/handling/experience...but I have had to pay a pretty penny for it in the overall scheme of things. New or Used, luxury vehicles tend to be a lot more expensive than most assume at first...

[underpants]

7. CarMax

We own stock. 😁

Seriously we’ve bought both of the cars we now have there. There was a problem with a check engine light on my wife’s car and CarMax paid for the repair at a dealership. My car was a fleet car and I’ve had to problem. Just paid it off in January.

[Initech]

10. I've been checking Carmax a lot lately.

I really want to get a Kia Stinger and I have found a couple that I really like but they're all outside my price range. I have a strict budget and I'm sticking to it.

[yellowdogintexas]

17. even if you do not buy there, CarMax is great for preliminary shopping

You can drive any model car you wish at CarMax and comparison shop without trekking to a bunch of dealerships

I bought my 2007 Altima from CarMax, and it is still going strong. Almost 150K miles

[Meadowoak]

8. Buy a Honda, they run forever.

[Initech]

9. I'm looking at the Accord Hybrid, it's very high on my list.

[Meadowoak]

11. I had one, and absolutely loved it.

[TexasBushwhacker]

15. Toyotas too. I'm driving a 2006. N/t

[customerserviceguy]

12. We did

In 2008, my lady bought an Acura MDX that had less than 30K miles on it, we still drive that thing. She used to take the car to an Acura dealer in an expensive New Jersey suburb of NYC for maintenance, and it was costing quite a bit there. Now that we're in SC, she found a good mechanic recommended by a knowledgeable friend, and maintenance costs a bit more than half of what it used to.

If you have a good shop that is reasonable and honest, the CPO would probably be a good deal, but if all you have is the service department of a dealership in an upscale area, it might not be so good. At least she could afford the maintenance while she was working in NY.

[abqtommy]

13. X-Wifey had to have a Volvo but I wouldn't recommend one to anybody. What I do is shop the

field of my choice for the best price then pay cash. It works out most of the time...

[COLGATE4]

14. Bought a CPO Mercedes in 2013. Best purchase I have ever made.

During the past 7 years I have had exactly one problem with it - a faulty seat belt latch. Otherwise it looked, drove and behaved like new. I have been extremely pleased and will do it again this year.*

*On edit: I second the previous poster's comments about the VERY HIGH costs of maintenance if you use a Mercedes dealership (quite appropriately referred to as a 'stealership'). I have been fortunate in that I have a very good independent repair shop that specializes in German luxury cars and have been able to keep maintenance costs reasonable. For example, the "A" service at a Mercedes dealership will run you about $550. The "B" service is a lot more.

[TexasBushwhacker]

16. Used cars from car rental places can be good deals too

The cars get regular maintenance and they're squeaky clean. They usually sell them when they have about 30-50K miles.

[mnhtnbb]

18. Yes. My last 3 cars have been CPO BMW'S

Just traded my 2nd one, which was 2007 328i wagon bought in 2009, last December for a 2016 328i sedan with low miles. I had intended to keep the 2007 for probably another 2-3 years because I drive so little now, but had a problem with computer that controls ABS and estimate to replace it was more than the car was worth. So I decided to trade for newer model and got lucky finding the 2016 right away. I live downtown and walk everywhere. Sometimes I don't get the car out of the parking garage for a week! The 2016 maintenance is covered through this August. I have not bought an extended contract and I figure that's a good decision. I did have one for several years on the 2007, but did not get my money's worth out of it.

Good luck!