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Traditionally, the certified pre-owned cars you find at a dealership – those that must pass a more rigorous inspection and come with a factory warranty and roadside assistance – have been no more than three or four years old.
Not anymore: Honda says it's expanding its CPO program to cars as old as 10. (No, this isn't an April Fools' Day joke – and yes, we checked.)
The older cars won't be labeled as certified pre-owned Hondas or Acuras; they'll be called HondaTrue Used and Acura Precision Used. The goal for both programs is to attract younger, first-time buyers who might not otherwise be able to afford a new or CPO vehicle from either brand but want to own a car with a reputation for quality and durability.
The automaker, which says 53% of certified pre-owned customers are new to the brand and 42% later return to buy a new Honda vehicle, hopes this keeps them in the Honda family for years to come.
ARE USED CAR PRICES DROPPING? Not soon enough on many makes, models
"We're trying to build a relationship that lasts a lifetime," Dan Rodriguez, who leads Auto Remarketing for American Honda, tells USA TODAY by phone. "We look at it as a way to bring (young buyers) in through Honda TrueUsed, graduate them to CPO, which is a little bit newer car, and then eventually, bring them to a new car."
Putting Carvana, Carmax on notice
With the new program, which is already in place at some dealers with the rest of the network to follow by June, Honda is taking on not just other carmakers but third-party services like CarMax and Carvana.
Rodriguez says Honda had already been looking at the warranties and inspections on cars bought through third-party services like CarMax and Carvana – and found room to improve. "We put together a warranty that was competitive with what they offer" – if not more so.
And with new car prices up, used ones at record levels and no end in sight to supply chain woes, the timing was right.
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Here's what buyers get
One thing buyers need to understand up front: Neither the older Hondas or Acuras come with the same yearslong bumper-to-bumper and powertrain warranties you'd find on newer CPO vehicles. But they still come with more assurances than you'd get buying a regular used car.
HondaTrue Used vehicles, which are between six and 10 years old and don't have to meet a mileage requirement as long as they pass inspection, are the third tier of the automaker's CPO program, below its HondaTrue Certified+ (2021-2022 model years) and HondaTrue Certified (2017-2022) offerings. Vehicle listings on HondaCertified.com are now designated by tier and will soon appear on dealership and third-party sites like Autotrader.