Dear All!
I am about to purchase a 2015 certified Honda CRV-EX. It has 33000 miles, clean carfax, and comes with 7years/100000 miles powertrain warranty. The out of the door prices is $21,200.
What do you think about the deal? I have butterflies in my belly. Should I go ahead or not. Thanks
Probably ok but you should keep 2 things in mind.
Carfax is not always entirely accurate.
Certified is only as good as the person who inspected it and the person selling it as certified.
If the person doing the inspection is barely qualified to inspect anything and the sales department rubber stamps the certification based on what the barely qualified person says then it’s a roll of the dice.
Certified Preowned - CPO - All that means is that it is certified to be a used vehicle and may have just a slightly better warranty .
At 21000.00 you are close to what some new vehicles cost so if you are concerned about used look at new.
Seems like a lot of money for a car that’s over 3 model years old. I would rather shop around for the best price on an new one.
The warranty would only be on the powertrain, engine and transmission. There are many more items that it does not apply to.
My opinion on CPO vehicles is they can make good sense. The Honda you are buying will come with a 1-year, 12K mile comprehensive warranty. That starts at the expiration of the standard comprehensive warranty. Plus, that Honda will also have a 7-year, 100K mile drivetrain warranty. That is from the date of first registration. Verify that is correct with your dealer (in writing). I can’t comment on the price since that varies with a lot of factors. I do know that a new 2018 CR-V EX 2WD has a price before discounts of $28,045. If you’ve shopped around, the COP car may be a great deal. At least you will have the solid Honda warranty to rely on. Let us know what you decide.
It seems a bit high. In my area(Montreal) they sell for $23,650 CDN ($18,289 U.S) for a low milage CRV.
CPO price is $21,718 in Central Maryland. As you may know, a factory certified used vehicle is checked against a list provided by Honda to be in excellent condition. The dealer price here for the same CRV without CPO is $20,464. If the extra cost is worth it to you for the additional protection, then buy it. They certainly are not overcharging you for it.
Nothing you wrote sets off an alarm in my brain saying, “NOO!! DON’T!!”
CRVs are everywhere around me (including my garage - AWD, '14, 67K miles).
You can get a idea if you’re paying a fair price via internet searches, Kelly Bluebook or just looking at other used cars at that lot or another lot. Some friendly advice - don’t ask around if you got a good price - there always will be a few that tell you that you got taken. If you get a car that you really like, what you paid for it will be largely irrelevant in 6 months. If you hate the car, no price would have been low enough.
And, regardless of what anyone will tell you, any used car is not a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity. There will be PLENTY more if this one gets gone or you want to pass.
It is probably fine, BUT you can get a 2018 brand new LX for probable less than $24K if you shop around (online). Esp if financing, the rates might be better on a new one. So factor this in.
Yeah like the others said. Check if you are getting a good price or not and do check out new. I don’t know what the warranty is on a Honda but I suspect somewhere around 3-5 years, bumper to bumper coverage, plus the same drive train warranty. Drive train is nice but not likely to have much problem with that. Also interest rates on a new vs used car can be lower. Don’t like to talk about monthly cost, but new sometimes will be within a few dollars a month from used and you have better protection and know the maintenance history.
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I like the idea of your buying a 3 year old car with 30K miles. That’s right in the sweet spot. The initial manufacturing defects have all been solved by now, but the normal wear and tear problems won’t start for another 50,000 miles or more. As long as you keep up the routine maintenance, which is no big deal for a CRV, you are golden. I can’t speak to the price, but you should have little problem judging whether it is competitive or not just by looking at what other similar vehicles are selling for. If it is price competitive, the consumer reports used car guide says it is average or better reliability, and it passes your own mechanic’s pre-purchase inspection, buy it.
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Is it advisable to get a pre-car inspection, in spite of the 182 point inspection done by the dealer?
yes. Otherwise you have to trust the dealer, and trusting a used car dealer/salesman is never a good idea.
The dealer is presumably trying to sell you a good car, but has a first priority to sell the car, second priority is to inspect it for defects. Your own mechanic is not involved in the financial transaction. Their first priority is trying to assess the car’s condition for your benefit. Different things. I’d want to have both services myself. But many folks don’t bother with the pre-purchase inspection, especially when buying from a used car dealership offering a warranty. Your choice.
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" Humanity and Kindness still exists in the world"
We were unable to get to the car today. 10 Minutes before the destination…my 2003 Subaru Forester stalled in the middle of the road. The commute to the dealership was 50 miles from home. It drove fine initially but then felt like it was sluggish and we were not sure why. Suddenly, the brake light and battery signs flashed on the dashboard. It was hard to turn the steering wheel and the car would not move.
A father and his young son stopped by and asked us what’s going on. We opened the hood and noticed that the drive belts were off the pulleys, just hanging loose. Next a truck stopped by and out comes a young man in a camouflage suit. His name was Andrew, an Army reserve. He looked at the engine and the loose belts and said that it is the Harmonic Oscillator. The dilemma was either to have the car towed home, pay $ 145 towing charges OR have the car fixed at a local mechanic shop. He told us that it was an easy fix and he can do the job. He said he would charge us 25 bucks. But we have to drive the car to his house. He mentioned that the car can be driven but the steering wheel would be hard to maneuver. So, we drove to his house. He purchased the part for 85 bucks and installed it in less than 20 minutes. I am amazed at his kindness and willingness to help. We thanked him for his service ( fixing the car and serving the country) and paid him.
Then we test drove the Honda CRV. The car was in an excellent condition and drove smoothly, excepting the occasional vibration of the engine ( I guess that was the number one complaint of 2015 Honda owners). That’s all for today.
Regarding that 182 point inspection, I will reiterate.
In a perfect world that inspection would be done by the most competent of mechanics who would thoroughly check all 182 items.
In the real world, you have no idea if this inspection was handed off to a so-so mechanic or to a mechanic who just got screwed over on a previous job and is simply pencil whipping the inspection.
There’s a lot of BS going on in dealer service departments although the general pubic sees very little if any of that BS.
It shouldn’t be that way but unfortunately the sad truth is that it is. Some former dealer techs such as db4690 know exactly what I’m talking about.
I worked for one dealer (VW and Subaru) who sold CPO cars and not a single one of those cars ever entered the shop.
Occasional vibration of the engine on the CR-V? What if that vibration turns out to be tight valve lash? You then open yourself up the possibility of cylinder head damage.
Am I to assume this CR-V was classified as CPO vehicle with a known vibration? If so, why isn’t that duly notated and/or fixed during the 182 point inspection?
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Do you trust the dealer to do the full inspection? If so, buy a CPO vehicle. If not, don’t buy a CPO vehicle. Why pay extra for a CPO if you aren’t going to believe it?
Such as actually finding problems with vehicles
Where I was at, ALL vehicles which met the mileage and no-damage criteria were expected to receive CPO status
One time, a car was traded in with 4 bald tires
On the inspection form, I stated the tires did not meet the minimum criteria for cpo status
Apparently, every car was only allotted peanuts to bring it up to snuff. And 4 new tires would completely blow the budget, so to speak
The manager verbally took out his frustration on me
Another time a trade in had a shattered headlight
Again, I indicated this on the inspection sheet, rejected the vehicle, and was chewed out verbally by the manager
I’m not making any excuse for mechanics . . . but it’s possible some guys simply got tired of being yelled at by their managers for performing a PROPER inspection, and eventually caved in and started performing shoddy inspections
I don’t condone it . . . but I theoretically understand it
There’s only so much unwarranted verbal abuse a guy can take from his manager before something has to change
That change could involve any number of things, such as leaving for another job, caving in to the manager’s improper demands, etc.
Some of you guys may think I’m either lying, or I’m crazy . . .
In my case, I eventually stopped doing cpo inspections. When asked if I wanted to stay and do them, I said NO. They were usually done after 5PM, which was the normal close of business. I told them I’m not doing any cpo inspections, because I’m cleaning up at 5PM, and then going home
Stress eats away at a guy, and it might be a good idea to minimize it, even if it impacts you financially.
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I am purchasing from a Honda dealer with a good reputation.