Road Tripper

Last Saturday, the leading provider of automotive cost and value analysis, Intellichoice.com (which is also a part of Source Interlink Media) announced the winners of their 2007 ranking of certified pre-owned (CPO) manufacturer sponsored programs. For the luxury category, Volvo topped Cadillac and Jaguar, both brands have been head-to-head in the competition in the previous years. For the Non-Luxury program, Volkswagen reigned for the fourth year. The announcement of the rankings was made in the 2008 National Remarketing Conference & Used Car Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“The luxury field in CPOs is very competitive, but Volvo edged out Cadillac on the basis of a strong compliance program,” said James Bell, publisher and editor of IntelliChoice.com.

“In general, the top luxury programs offer similar car warranties, and many received high scores, which shows that Volvo had that extra edge over the competition.” Bell added.

Among the non-Luxury contenders, Hyundai made the greatest leap from the last place last year to third this year. “Hyundai’s inspection score went from 58 to 90,” said Bell. “They accomplished the feat of climbing up out of last place by making several positive changes, including new special car financing offers, requirement of a VHR, and the expansion of their car warranty from 6 years to 10.”

The vehicles that made it to the intellichoice.com list are cars, trucks, and sport-utility vehicles that have been leased and traded before they were sold. As of great help for consumers, Intellichoice.com inspects these vehicles because the company knows that CPOs plays a large role for consumers, car dealers and automakers.

“CPO programs hinge on used car inventory,” Bell said. “Leasing has not been very popular for the last few years, and that limits CPO vehicles that are on the market today. However, car leasing is gaining in popularity this year due to rising interest rates, and we expect the same will happen in 2008. This in turn will drive CPO inventory in the years to come.” Bell added that this year’s criteria for the CPO awards differ from last year’s, primarily to accommodate consumers’ demand for comprehensive auto warranty programs on CPO vehicles derived from their proprietary Used Car Cost of Ownership Analysis.