Certified Pre Owned Programs Compared - Listed by Manufacturer

Here’s a list of all the certified pre-owned programs that exist, listed alphabetically by car brand. You’ll see that automakers have different ideas on how many items should be covered in an inspection as well as how old and how many miles a car must have in order to be considered certified. Age and distance also vary when it comes to warranty coverage, and how much you should pay for items covered under warranty.

The oldest CPO car you can find comes from Porsche, which offers cars as old as 8 years, or have as many as 100,000 miles on the odometer. On the other end of the spectrum, Cadillac offers the least used certified pre-owned vehicles, with their oldest cars aging just four years, and having no more than 50,000 miles on the clock.

CPO cars that come from Audi have been inspected very closely, with cars subjected to an inspection that covers more than 300 items. Lincoln, BMW and MINI offer the next most in-depth inspections featuring 200, 196 and 195 items that must be checked off before becoming certified.

Vehicles from the Chrysler group feature the highest deductible for warranty service. Getting a Chrysler, Dodge, Ram or Jeep CPO car serviced under warranty will cost $150. Many automakers feature no-charge warranty service.

When it comes to driving distance, Lexus offers 100,000 miles of limited warranty coverage from the date you purchase the certified pre-owned car, though that limit expires in 36 months. Porsche offers 50,000 miles of coverage, or 24 months, while Mercedes-Benz offers 100,000 miles of limited warranty which expires in just 12 months.

Take a look at the list below for more details:

Qualifications: 6 Years old or newer, Under 75,000 miles, inspection covers 125 points.
Warranty: 3 months/3,000 miles after new car warranty expires, or from certified purchase date. Powertrain is covered for 7 years/ 100,000 miles from original in-service date for 2010 and newer models, while 2009 and older models get 6 years and 80,000 miles of coverage from the original in-service date. Coverage includes 24-hour roadside assistance and a report of the vehicle’s history. Warranty deductible costs $150.

A warranty deductible is how much an owner will pay to get an item fixed under warranty, assuming the repairs cost more than the deductible.

A powertrain warranty covers specific items that are related to the vehicle’s powertrain. These usually include components in the engine, like the cylinder block and heads, the manifold and locks, oil pans, oil pumps, timing chain, factory installed turbochargers or superchargers, as well as transmission and drive components like axle shafts, driveshafts, bearings and housings. Programs that don’t have powertrain warranties specifically mentioned may have them covered as part of the limited warranty.