QuestionWhen buying a certified pre owned vehicle, should an extended
warranty be included in the price, or is the extended warranty we
would have to pay extra for.
AnswerThanks for your question. My answer depends on how you define extended warranty.
By definition, certified, pre-owned vehicles will have at least the balance of the original factory warranty. The fact that it’s certified may only mean that the dealer has gone through a comprehensive checklist, that they should be able to show you, confirming that there are no known issues, and that the vehicle is within factory specifications.
More likely, a certified, pre-owned (CPO) vehicle has had this comprehensive check, and receives an additional CPO warranty, that varies by manufacturer. In December, 1999 I purchase a certified, pre-owned (1999) BMW that had 10,000 miles on it. In addition to the balance of the original 50,000 mile warranty, I received an additional 5 yr/50,000 mile CPO warranty. And, four months before it expired my A/C compressor died—sometimes it does work out.
The answer to your question is yes, you should have a CPO warranty (which is technically different than what we typically refer to as an extended warranty), which you should not have to pay an additional amount for. Since CPO vehicles are a manufacturer’s program, local dealerships do not have the authority to alter them. If you have a dealer offering a CPO vehicle, and asking you to pay for an extended warranty, I would be concerned that it’s not truly a manufacturer backed certification.
Thank you for your questions; I hope this helps you.
Regards,
Ron
