How much value does "certified" give to a FRS/BRZ?
 

I'm just curious how much value a certified tag gives to a FRS/BRZ? Also is a certified Toyota vehicle worth more then a certified Subaru, or the same? (Since Toyota has better service than Subaru) So let's just start with a ballpark of a $20,000 USD FRS/BRZ - How much of a markup would it be if it was certified vs non certified?

if the dealer was selling it? Maybe a couple of grand. When I got rid of my Fr-s they were able to give me more for it by transferring it from their subaru dealer to toyota because they could then certify it. I got an additional $2,000.

Almost impossible to answer that with an actual dollar value there Lup since prices can vary incredibly from region to region. A very quick check through Autotrader shows certified vehicles going for about 10-20% more then non certified through dealers. I kept private sales out of it because they can have a huge range of asking prices.
As far as the difference between the two models goes I would say it is zero. Although there may be a perceived difference in the service between the two most of that comes from anecdotal evidence and there is little fact or true data to support it. A certified used car is a certified used car regardless of who certifies it. Of course you are still going to have some that are better then others since not all dealers are created equal no matter what make.
The whole thing about the certified ones is the piece of mind that they at least claim to have checked it out and all is good. A noncertified or private sale car could have just been parked and a sign slapped on it.

Having worked in dealerships I can also tell you that "certified" more than often doesn't mean jack sh*t. Pretty much any recent model can be certified by a dealership, unless it is a real POC, or if history records aren't nowhere to be found.

Certifying a vehicle requires sometimes a very basic visual inspection, it doesn't mean that the car/truck will be trouble-free in the next few years.

Certification also means more $$ in the dealers pockets as they can sell it a little higher. Most of the time it is just playing with "words", to give customers peace of mind.

Also, a privately owned vehicle could be in better shape than a certified one, just make sure you go through an inspection if you don't know what to check...

I'm not 100% on the american system,
But in Canada the TCUV (Toyota certified used vehicle) does go over a 127 point inspection vs the regular 33 point inspection that is required by the ministry to pass a safety,
So stuff like tires and brakes have to meet atleast a 50% life left. As well they check in to a/c, electronics and a lot of stuff a regular safety wouldn't go threw. With the Canadian system as well you do get a small extended warranty as the part of the program and cheaper finance rates with Toyota credit vs. the regular bank used car loan. In most cases it will cost the dealer more money for reconditioning on a new model because if they were doing the regular safety stuff like brakes and tires wouldn't not regularly need replaced yet but because of the 50% rule or usually swapped out. In Most cases it cost the dealership more to recondition a certified used vehicle then a regular one but gives the customer piece of mind and sets us aside from joes used car garage.
Having said that with any used car you want to make sure you check it over, I can vouch for the practises at my store not others.

Its a feel good term to get you to purchase a used car at a higher price with a bundled warranty. Many times being a car that was initially leased.

Since most certified cars are being sold with an OEM extended warranty, I believe there is some added value. Its hard to speculate what that value is.

In general terms you have to look at the specific car, and your comfort with the risks associated purchasing a used car.

Personally I rarely purchase new cars, I purchase well maintained used cars that someone else has absorbed the initial depreciation hit.
However, in the case of this purchase I took into account that this is an enthusiasts car marketed at a younger demographic that may be more likely to mod the car and test its limits. There was such a little difference in price between new and used that I chose to go new with a clean slate.

I bought mine certified used end it can with a longer higher milage warranty than the scion warranty for new

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Toyota certified means it will go through a 127 point inspection, you will get 12 months of bumper to bumper warranty (this is usually irrelevant because if your buying a CPO theres probably more than 12 months of the original bumper to bumper left) and the power train warranty is extended to 7 years 100,000 miles.

This is all based on my area but the cost of the dealer to do a certification is $850. They will than try to upsell it by tacking on a few grand. Just call them out on it. When I went to purchase my Used Scion it wasn't certified but I wanted the extra warranty so I got them to certify it and only paid an extra $500.

IMO the toyota certification is great, especially if the car you are buying has no more bumper to bumper warranty on it. Just don't get ripped off by the dealer. It just takes some research before going in.

Dealers often lie and say they can't nudge on the price because than they wouldn't make a profit, just ask them to show you proof of what they bought the car for. They are required to show you this information (at least in my state).

IMO place your own value on the warranty offered, that's about all it's worth. And even then if you plan to do a bunch of work on the car the warranty may not be worth very much, so far this car is very reliable, I'd wager that the vast majority of 86's will never have any warranty work performed.

An inspection is only as good as the inspector, lots of things get a stamp of approval from the "certified inspector" that shouldn't from the jiffy lube down the street to NASA.

Buy certified and sell certified. You'll prob get a grand more but when someone buys it, it'll be marked up no matter what. Dealer tax.

When I was shopping for an FR-S there were 2 in the area. Both of them were the same year and had the same amount of miles. The only difference was one of them was previously a lease and now certified. They were both 19.5K so I went with the certified, it came with a one year comprehensive warranty that I ended up upgrading to 7 years.

Subaru is 3/36 new and 7/100 CPO. Guess which way I went? Got it for $7k less than new (window sticker was under drivers seat) with 14k on the clock.

Not sure what you mean by 3/36 new and 7/100 CPO.. I know CPO stands for Certified Pre-Owned but not sure what those numbers mean.

3 years/36,000 mile basic warranty compared to 7 years/100,000 miles.

I bought a certified used 2006 FJ cruiser in 2008. After about a week I heard some grinding noise in the right rear, followed shortly by some clanking and rattling sounds as bolts and pieces fell off. Brought it to the closest dealer to my work (not where I bought it) and they told me I should return the vehicle to where I bought it and get my money back. Turned out the truck had been in a major rear end collision and the owner decided to get it fixed (cheaply) by a 3rd party and then traded it in. I specifically asked if it had been in any accidents and the salesman said no. When confronted with new evidence, they claimed they would have no idea on the sales floor and the other dealership did me a disservice by disclosing the accident.

Anyway, the 2nd dealer (not where i bought it) fought for me with the rep and got it all fixed under warranty. Needed a complete rear end. Toyota USA would do nothing for me and told me I had to work it out with the dealer.

CPO is a joke and you are much better off checking it out thoroughly yourself first, and at the very least demand to see the service history if you buy CPO.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

The key word is "value". Value = how much someone is willing to spend to buy it.