Toyota's certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicle program is now entering its twenty-first year. Once a small sub-set of used vehicles, CPO vehicle sales have become incredibly important to new car dealerships. Toyota has sold over 4 million CPO cars and this year became the first automaker to sell over 400,000 CPO vehicles in one year in America.
Certified pre-owned vehicles are newer models with limited miles that dealerships sell after an inspection and qualification process. While this process is often ridiculed by some in the business for being less than thorough (or not being performed at all according to some dealership employees), the full warranty that the cars come with definitely has significant value.
As the video below explains, the main advantage of a CPO vehicle compared to a used vehicle bought from a private party or from a used car dealer, is that the CPO car comes with a warranty. In Toyota's case, the comprehensive warranty is one year and 12,000 miles. This warranty is direct from Toyota and honored at any dealership. In addition, Toyota adds a 7-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty that extends the protection. Roadside assistance is also included through the end of the extended powertrain warranty.
Toyota's new milestone means that about one of every six vehicles sold at Toyota dealerships in 2016 were CPO vehicles. That is an amazing statistic, but Lexus' ratios is even more impressive. Lexus is close to a 1 to 3 ration of CPO to new car sales at its dealerships.