Of course, you can get a used car warranty from reliable dealers, such as Ajax Mazda, and manufacturers. But the matter can be complicated and complex, as is the case with any warranty and guarantee so here’s a basic guide to start with.
CPO in Your Advantage
Certified pre-owned car warranties (CPO) are great news for owners because factory warranties are actually backing the vehicles. But there’s a catch – manufacturer vetting, which means that a CPO-covered car must be in satisfactory to very satisfactory shape to be insurable. This is because car companies are only able to offer CPO to their customers because of the profits being made on the aggregated warranties – otherwise, no profits, no CPOs because they are in business, after all.
Think of car companies as health insurance companies in the sense that both want to insure healthy patients. But the former has an advantage over the latter as it can make thorough inspections before insuring the property.
You, as the consumer, will benefit from the CPO program, too. Since the car company has already determined that the pre-owned car is in good condition, you can partly rely on such assurance. You must, nonetheless, still perform your own thorough inspection of the pre-owned vehicle as your responsibility in the transaction, not to mention that there may have been changes between the time the car manufacturer inspected it and the time you looked it over.
Shopping for CPOs
You should also compare CPOs as not every program will be in your favor. Keep these tips in mind:
- Look at the deductibles. You will find that manufacturers charge widely differing rates, such as Lexus and Mercedes zero while Chrysler and Ford can charge as much as $150 depending on the model.
- Check transferability. You may want to sell your car before the warranty’s expiration, thus, you have to ask whether its warranty is transferable or not. Many car manufacturers will not allow it but many others will permit it albeit with a fee.
- Read the fine print. As with anything related to cars from purchase to sale, you have to read the terms and conditions since there are many that will not work in your favor under certain circumstances. Look out for issues about financing and leasing a CPO car, availability of roadside assistance, and other deal breakers.
In the end, you have to decide whether you want the warranty especially when it comes at a cost. Just remember that under Murphy’s Law, everything that can go wrong will go wrong and you don’t want to be in the middle of it without the protection of warranty.
