The bad news: Car prices keep going up. The average new car sold for more than $47,000 in December. High prices sent many would-be new-car shoppers to used car lots, where they pushed used car prices up as well. The average used car sold for more than $28,000 that same month.
The good news: Car quality keeps going up. Reliability studies from Consumer Reports, J.D. Power, and others continue to show that the average new car today is of much higher build quality than the cars of just a decade ago. And it shows. Americans are keeping their cars longer than ever – the average car on American roads is now over 12 years old.
Where do these two pieces of news meet? In certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles. And two automakers have recently expanded their CPO programs to account for the combination of high demand and high quality.
What are CPO Cars?
CPO cars are used but have been through a detailed quality inspection and are sold with warranties like new cars. They’ve sold so well through the current car shortage that some dealers had trouble certifying them as fast as they could sell them.
Related: Certified Pre-Owned Pros and Cons
Hyundai Expands its Offering
With cars lasting longer than ever, Hyundai has decided it can safely certify older cars.
The company will now certify used Hyundais up to six years old, with up to 80,000 miles on the odometer. Until recently, only vehicles five years old and younger, with less than 60,000 miles on the clock, could qualify.
Buyers of Hyundai Certified Used Vehicles (the program’s official name) can count on the remainder of the vehicle’s original 5-year/60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty and 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty.
Ford Adds 14-Day Trial Period
Ford, meanwhile, has restructured its Blue Advantage Certified Used Car program, adding a 14-day, 1,000-mile money-back guarantee.
Ford’s program covers two tiers of vehicles. It is run in partnership with Autotrader. Cox Automotive owns both Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader.
Gold-level cars are newer than six years old and have fewer than 80,000 miles on them. They are covered by a 12-month, 12,000-mile limited warranty and a seven-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty. At the less stringent Blue level, cars can be up to 10 years old and have as many as 120,000 miles on the counter. A 90-day, 4,000-mile limited warranty covers them.
