What’s the Best Used Car Out There? The Accord, Forbes Says

By Marty Padgett February 28th, 2008

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The capitalist tools at Forbes have spoken--and when it comes to used cars, the Honda Accord really gets them excited.

Of all the cars available through "certified pre-owned" programs, Forbes says, it's the Accord that topped its survey, which was largely based on reliability data from Consumer Reports magazine, along with safety performance and available warranties. Running just behind the Accord were the Toyota 4Runner, Acura TL, Subaru Impreza and Lexus GS.

The worst of the bunch, Forbes says, are vehicles like the Saturn Relay, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Pontiac G6, VW New Beetle and Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

Certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles are taken back on lease or in trade by auto dealers when they look to be in sound mechanical shape and have low miles. The makers refurbish them if needed and re-sell them to the public, often with a limited warranty included. J.D. Power and Associates says that the practice is booming, with CPO sales up 46 percent since 2000.

Honda Accord tops 'Forbes' best certified used car list - USATODAY.com

Posted in : 2008, Acura, Honda, Jeep, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Pontiac, Saturn, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen |

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4 Responses to “What’s the Best Used Car Out There? The Accord, Forbes Says”

I bought a CPO Lexus LS400 in 2000 for just over $30K. It was a very bad experience. The car looked perfect but had severe drivetrain/transmission shuddering and vibration problems, and neither the dealer nor Lexus stood behind the so-called warranty. It was very uncomfortable and noisy at speeds over 50mph. I don’t believe that the vehicle had been subjected to any presale inspection whatsoever.

The dealer “offered” to buy it back for $19K and to sell me another CPO LS400 for $32K!!! I traded it on another brand of new vehicle and lost about $5K on the LS400.

A friend of mine bought a Lexus LS400 coupe a few years ago. When he took it in for a service at a different dealer than he bought it from, the service advisor pulled up the service history and showed my friend that the vehicle had the odometer rolled back about 60,000 miles. After being threatened with a lawsuit, the selling dealer took back the car and paid my friend $10K in compensation.

I have also seen CPO Lexus’s on dealers lots that had previous accident damage.
I won’t buy a CPO vehicle again, or another Lexus for that matter. I think the CPO hype is just that - a ploy to lull the consumer into a false sense of security to pay more for a used car thinking that are getting an accident-free vehicle that has been subjected to a rigorous inspection and had corrective repairs done all backed by a warranty.

Not in the real world!

Buyer beware!

Response to Al, Al just curious. The day you purchased the Lexus, did you test drive it? Did you notice the shuddering/vibration problems at that time?

Honda Quality is a sham. My wifes Odyssey is loaded with quality problems like failing transmisions, seat heaters that don’t work, sliding door falling off its track onto my sons foot, stalling, leaking oil. This was a new van when I bought it. Why would I want to buy someone elses problems/ I think Honda should find the drunks that slapped this garbage together and fire they’er butts. Then fire the service manager for not fixing the problems until my face is red from yelling at thim.. Better yet, I will be buying a Town & Country next time and avoid all of these problems altogether.

I purchased a CPO 2005 Toyota Avalon and I am convinced that the dealer did absolutely nothing to the vehicle before passing it off as a better value. With the new electronic key, they did not even make sure the battery was good. You cannot start the car with a dead battery and I was with clients when it would not start. Then they sell you on Roadside Assistance, but when you call because the car can’t start with a dead key battery they tell you to call a dealer. Then you find out that there is severe hesitation when you try to accelerate; Toyota had release a Maintenance Bulletin about the problem. They no longer notify customers about potentially dangerous matters; they just hope you never bring them to account. How is that the transmission problem was not discovered with their thorough however many point check of the vehicle? It’s a total fabrication and I would never bother with CPO or with Toyota again.