I'm in the market for a Corolla. Due to prices increasing on… well… everything, I want to save myself as much money in the future as possible. A lot of Certified Pre Owned cars have longer powertrains than brand new off the lot cars, so thats the direction I think I'm headed.
I've never bought such a no-nonsense vehicle before. I plan on having this for many, many years.
Does anybody have any frugal tips for this sort of decision?
Thanks!
When looking for a budget car, specifically Toyota, has anyone ever had bad luck with a certified pre owned that made it not a frugal choice in the long term?
byu/AttachedHeartTheory inFrugal
Posted by AttachedHeartTheory
9 Comments
Toyota is easiest to fix especially early 2000 models
“Certified” doesn’t mean much these days. Each brand is different just google it. Big thing for me is when I bought our rav4 you can transfer the warranty over.
Our 2014 Toyota Corolla dropped dead on year 10. It had preventative maintenance and lots of repairs before we finally decided that it was no longer cost effective to continue on with it.
It’s a good choice, but not necessarily going to last many many many years.
This is, of course, our personal experience. We also have a 2007 Toyota 4Runner that is still going strong!
I just researched this yesterday regarding a CPO 2022 Highlander. The CPO warranty for the powertrain is 7 years or 100K miles from date it was purchased new, not starting when you buy it. In my case I would have just under 4 years and 50K miles of coverage.
Check for car’s history and ownership. I’ll pass on those with too many accidents or owners. Certified pre-owned means little these days. They may have missed critical inspections that didn’t show up in the report. Toyota is known for quality and reliability. It’s best to find an imported Toyota from Japan, as they conduct thorough inspections. I assume Toyota has put their hybrid technology into every model in their cars. It’s better to get a hybrid to save on gas like a Prius.
Obligatory not Toyota:
Got a certified pre owned Chevy vehicle from a dealer a few years back. All reports totally clear, no accidents.
Found out two years in that it definitely had been in an accident. The frame was cracked, and someone had gorilla glued it together. You couldn’t see the crack without taking out a few things, so no inspection had ever caught it. Related problems ended up in a 7k+ expense on a 18k vehicle. Could have just bought new.
My husband had bought a Nissan Altima from a dealer a decade ago for 12k. Certified pre owned. The whole electric harness had issues that made it stall randomly in the rain. He spent about $8k trying out various fixes on it before it died.
But, my brother in law bought a new hybrid electric Subaru. His battery was a lemon, and he spent over $10k in repairs within the first year. So even new cars aren’t guarantees.
I have a 2013 Prius that has needed a lot of maintenance, which has seemed to be oddly pricey compared to other models. I have found the Toyota dealerships in my area scammy and a ripoff.
I bought my 2008 Corolla in 2009, certified pre owned. It’s still going! 150K miles. You will not regret it. And PS it’s a dream to park in tight parking spaces.
I drive a 1993 Corolla. My mom bought it secondhand in 2001 en then passed it on to me when I got my drivers license about ten years ago. I love it and I rarely need to replace something.