Certified Used Toyotas...

Hello all -

I'm shopping for a used Toyota RAV4, 2002-2004, and was interested in their "certified" used vehicle program.

Would anyone who has bought a used, dealer-certified Toyota care to comment on the experience? Is it worth hunting for one of these, vis-a-vis, a "non-certified" vehicle?

Also, if anyone has purchased a used, certified Toyota and had problems, were they resolved satisfactorily under the warranty program?

Thanks,

- John

Reply to
John Albert
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I can't remember the particulars, but in order to be Certified, the car:

Can't have ever been in an accident. Gets a THOROUGH cleaning, up to removing the seats and carpeting if required. Gets ALL fluids changed. Goes through a 200 point inspection (100 point is usual for non ceritfied) Has tires with no less than 75% tread remaining. Any belts, hoses, etc are replaced if they even look worn, or the lettering is missing. Also gets a warranty. I can't remember if it's 1,2 or 3 years, three years

36,000 miles seems to stick in my head. in addition, these cars get inspected by a Toyota rep bedore being deemed Certified.
Reply to
Hachiroku

Half of my duties involve doing all the certificatoins for the used car lot at out dealership. There is a litany of items that need to pass, around 180 or so. I'm not going to list them all, but here is the short of what I look for every day:

-Everythig has to work. I know that's a broad statement, but thats it. All the little gadgets, lights, accessories, levers, switches, engine mechanicals, so on and so forth. If anything is broken, missing, scuffed, or scratched, I replace it. And, all four tires have to match with 5/32" tread remaining.

-I check under the valve cover for sludge. This is a particular item of note on the 1MZ-FE V6, as everyone here will tell you.

-All recalls must be complete.

-Accident damage. Here are the specifics - the car cannot have any more than 3 body panels (excluding bumpers) repainted "by standard bodyshop practice". This means that if three panels were just blended to cover up a big scratch, it would pass. But if three panels were missing VIN stickers and had tape marks around the edges, it is not eligible. Frame damage of any kind is a disqualification. Same for flood damage.

Personally, I think we sell nice cars at my dealership. The average bill per Certified car is around $1000.00, and I kick about 20% of the potential canditates to the curb. I do enjoy knowing that folks who aren't real knowledgeable about how to get a nice car can get a good one after I'm done sorting them out.

Reply to
qslim

I bought a 1997 Toyota Camry LE 4 with 62K three years ago. It had a

90 day warranty and I believe it was certified. I noticed smoke blowing out the tailpipe in the mornings. They checked it out and basically rebuilt the engine. New valve stem seals, piston rings, rod bearings and a few other things. They had the car for two weeks and loaned me a Prius to drive. The Camry has been okay since that time.
Reply to
badgolferman

I bought my '98 Avalon as it came in from a 3-year lease. The dealer ran it through the certification p4rocess, and I bought the 6-year powertrain warranty as well.

The factory's 36-month, 36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty had expired a day or two before I bought the car, of course. That's a drawback to buying off a 3-year lease.

I'd had the car about 6 months when the 98's well-known A/C bug kicked in. It's an expensive repair, and it's not a powertrain issue. My dealer fixed it free.

That's why I went back to him to buy the '05 Prius as a replacement for my wife's Forester.

Best wishes, John.

Brent

Reply to
Brent Secombe

I thought the certifieds had a 5 (or 6) year 100k mile warranty. The clock starts when the car was (first) put into service. Which usually leaves you very little time and you usually pay 1500 more for a certified. Not worth it to me.

CP

Reply to
Charles Pisano

I thought the certifieds had a 5 (or 6) year 100k mile warranty. The clock starts when the car was (first) put into service. Which usually leaves you very little time and you usually pay 1500 more for a certified. Not worth it to me.

CP

Reply to
Charles Pisano

Thanks for the info....found your post very informative dc

Reply to
doncee

gslim wrote:

Reply to
John Albert

You could absolutely expect a Toyota dealer to charge a premium price for certified car, but not above whatever the market price is. Most of the cars on this lot sell at or very close to KBBs 'excelent' condition price. You could certainly find a cheaper price on a newer Toyota on another dealers lot or from a private owner, and you can find one that is in just as good shape as the Toyota Certified cars.... you just have to know what to look for. This is basically the service that Toyota dealers charge the small premium for on their certified cars; you know you are getting a straight car that should leave you no or very little suprises down the road. I think that is the primary benefit to the average consumer who is not trained to spot excessive mechanical wear & tear and repaired body damage. But to answer your original question, you shouldn't pay any more than what the highest used car market value is for any particular model.

Reply to
qslim

A few years ago my wife and I considered looking at a couple of Lexus's at Carmax. Top of the line models. Anyway they stunk so much of smoke we stuck with new cars.

Reply to
Art

Ve haff vays to mak you tal...er of removing smoke odors.

What I generally do is open the car doors usually overnight, and then 'bomb' it with a Stink Bomb (deodorizer) but these have a smell of their own and some people (myself included) may not loike it. So, I leave it open again and then run an ionizer on it. An ionizer is something like a Jacob's Ladder (the thing in the old SciFi movies where an arc climbs up between two pieces of wire). It creates 'ioniozed' are, or ozone, like the smell yuou get after something arcs. The ionozed air is blown into the car with a fan and neutralizes everything. It kind of smells like a spring day when you're done.

I have had 2 cars where NOTHING worked; I don't know if these people kept their dogs in the cars 24/7, but, especially a Volkswagen Jetta wagon that was loaded with dog hair, after 2 days open, being bombed and running the ionizer for 48 hours we still couldn't get the smell out. The sales manager called me over to see what I could do with a car they sold, and I took one look at it (the Jetta) and said, "Oh, boy". I told him the story and the Service Manager, who had been listening in told him, "48 Hours on an Ionizer? You're ph@cked!" Volkswagens did seem to be the worst for removing odors. Usually I can get tobacco smels out no problem.

Guess Carmax either didn't care, didn't have the right equipment, or the people didn't know what they were doing...

Reply to
Hachiroku

...sst: John, do you think there might be a more honest appraisal in "suckers@suckersdotcom ;-)

Reply to
Derald

Was this before your hated Avalon or after?

Reply to
badgolferman

A certified 2003 Echo with ~40Km miles goes for about $13.5K around here. It was $13K new, but you can't buy them any more. But at least it holds its resale value. :-(

Reply to
kgold

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