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Used or new, buying a vehicle is a big investment. Follow these important Certified Pre‐owned Vehicle Purchasing Tips as you begin your research.

All manufacturers’ certified pre‐owned vehicles must pass a certification inspection. If you are interested in a CPO vehicle, ask the dealer to give you a copy of the inspection list. The list will indicate exactly what has been inspected and should list any repair or maintenance work that was required to bring the vehicle up to certified standards.

Note the mileage and find out the remaining warranty for the vehicle. Depending on the program, you may receive no additional benefits beyond the new-car warranty, or you may receive up to 36 months/50,000 miles of additional certified warranty. Read the certified warranty information carefully to know what additional coverage (beyond any remaining new-car warranty) you will receive with the vehicle and if there is a deductible. Review our program overview to get an idea of what coverage exists based on typical mileage; this will vary based on the exact mileage on the vehicle you’re considering.

Intellichoice recommends 12 SUV / Crossover vehicles that have a better value purchased as a used vehicle versus new.

How can I get the best deal on a vehicle? There are many ways to ensure you get a good deal and various factors to be considered before one can answer. We took one approach by analyzing the various factors and have identified vehicles that are better off purchased as a used car versus new. IntelliChoice's used car ownership costs cover the latest three used model years (the most likely years offered as certified under manufacturer pre-owned vehicle programs); however, they are still based on a five-year projection of what a vehicle will cost to own and operate during that time. A vehicle in the most recent used year is assumed to already have 14,000 miles, and so on. Notably, most used vehicles have already taken the heaviest hit on depreciation costs, so many one- to three-year-old models will see that cost level off, while the areas of maintenance and repairs will rise as the vehicle ages. Bottom line, let someone else take the hit on depreciation costs.

A Brief History

Certified Pre-Owned programs were created back in the 1990s to help dealerships sell used vehicles coming back from leases. Most of the early CPO programs were from premium brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. However, by the end of the '90s most manufacturers offered a CPO program, though some were more developed than others.

IntelliChoice handed out the first CPO Award in 2000 and the winner for the best premium program was a tie between Lexus and Jaguar, while the popular winner was Honda. Over the last twelve years of awards IntelliChoice has crowned three different popular winners (Honda, Volkswagen, and MINI) and five different premium winners (Cadillac, Jaguar, Lexus, Lincoln and Volvo).

For the auto industry, 2012 was significantly better than 2011, which itself was a bounce back from 2010, which in turn saw carmakers pick themselves up off the floor, after having been KO’d in 2009. See a pattern here? The recovery continues, and in fact, is gaining steam.

Huge news, Dear Readers! As a bookend to the six guys we hired in the first half of 2011, whose average age was 22.2 years, we are welcoming two seasoned pros whose combined age doesn't quite equal that of all six boyos. But almost.

It sounds like a case of deja vu: Audi is introducing the 2013 SQ5 at the Detroit auto show, less than a year after the automaker revealed the SQ5 TDI at Le Mans. Yet the final three letters explain the distinction between these two versions of Audi's performance crossover. Whereas the original SQ5 TDI uses a diesel engine and is sold only in Europe, the new SQ5 has a gasoline powerplant and will be marketed in North America, Asia, and South America.