If your car leaks fluids on your driveway, squeaks, shakes and shimmies, or is just plain old and worn out, it might be time for a new one. But maybe your budget isn’t ready for a fresh-off-the-assembly-line model. That’s where the used car market comes in.

Before you get uneasy at the idea of a used car and all the pitfalls that can come with shopping for a used car, take a deep breath; Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) vehicles are here to help save the day.

A CPO is a vehicle purchased from the original owner, and then certified by the manufacturer. Once the manufacturer has the vehicle, it gives it a good once over, performing certain maintenance checks, and the vehicle is then eligible for CPO status. That vehicle may come with some fancy limited warranties and roadside assistance packages, too.

So, great deal for everyone, right? Theoretically, but precisely how a car goes from a regular old used car to a CPO differs for every manufacturer. They each have their own program, and although they have similar approaches to certification, none of them are exactly the same. As a consumer shopping between programs, a lot of it becomes a dizzying numbers game: 10,000 miles of powertrain coverage here, $100 of daily roadside assistance there, and most importantly, points.

You’ve probably heard the voice-overs in commercials and radio booming about how every Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) vehicle passes a several-hundred-point inspection. 150-point inspection, 125-point inspection, 141-points. While every CPO vehicle becomes certified by meeting the requirements of a “service checklist” performed by a service professional, you might stop and ask, what’s the difference? More has to be better, right?

Not all points are created equal, and they serve as the foundation of your warranty — which means when you’re looking to compare CPO programs, it’s important to understand what has been inspected, and why.

Passing the Service Checklist

At the center of every CPO program is the service inspection, and how well a car scores against the OEM’s multi-point checklist to qualify as certified. Unpacking those “points” can get a little technical, so it’s useful to use a real-world program — let’s use Kia’s CPO program as an example.

Every Certified Pre-Owned Kia is six years old or newer, and these vehicles also can’t have more than 80,000 miles. But as you might expect, that’s just the starting point (no pun intended). From there it undergoes a rigorous 165-point inspection service checklist to ensure it meets the standards of Kia’s CPO program.

The very first part of Kia’s multi-point inspection is based on the vehicle’s history report. The use of a 3rd-party vehicle history report is extremely important because it can show damage to the vehicle caused by fire, flood, and accidents. It can also show any title, registration, or odometer issues the vehicle has or has had. The first points correspond to the history report: the vehicle must pass the vehicle history report in order to even qualify for the next phase.

Kia’s inspection continues with a litany of engine diagnostics, followed by the powertrain, exhaust system, and emissions system. Then structural integrity of the vehicle is reviewed by inspecting the frame and undercarriage, the HVAC system, and other accessories. Then electronics and lights, the tires and wheels, and the brakes and suspension get a check.

Some of the points included in the service checklist will just be visual checks or diagnostic sensing, but Kia also does a road test where a certified technician is required to drive the vehicle to report on ride quality, issues with the engine, transmission, and brakes. It’s also a time to test things like wiper blades, the horn, interior switches and buttons, and any other equipment the vehicle has.

For Kia, that all adds up to 165 check-points, and the vehicle needs a perfect score to be certified. Any element that doesn’t pass is an automatic failure, and must be repaired with factory-authorized parts and service procedures before the vehicle gets the factory-backed CPO seal of approval. If for some reason that check-point on the inspection isn’t possible, the vehicle won’t get the certification.

Who Certifies the Certifier?

The 165-point inspection is great, but that service checklist may only be as good as the specialist doing the actual checking. So, who runs the diagnostic checks, visual checks, road checks, and everything else? This is another important aspect of the certification process: the person certifying the vehicle must be a manufacturer-certified technician.

At Kia, only a factory-trained service technician can complete the 165-point inspection and officially designate a vehicle as a Kia CPO. The training these technicians receive goes beyond typical Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification – they receive dedicated training on Kia’s parts, software, and service techniques for Kia vehicles, and the company runs its own service training facility that offers brand-specific education beyond the typical two-year degrees most service technicians receive.

And don’t be fooled — you’ll see cars on lots across the country that have been “third-party certified.” Those vehicles are a different thing altogether, and a third-party certification could mean anything as far as what kind of inspections the vehicle received, who administered them, and what kind of training the technician had before they started. Also, because the OEM didn’t certify that vehicle, you won’t get the same CPO warranty offered by the OEM.

Adding up the Points

So when you add up all that extra labor and service work, it should also come as no surprise that CPO vehicles tend to be more expensive than non-CPO models. However, is a CPO vehicle still worth the extra investment?

Absolutely.

Of course that’s up to you to decide, but we really think so.