Luxury car companies like Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz has introduced a new word or phrase into the lexicon of the used car market -- Certified or Pre-Owned.
These are basically used cars that were coming off leases . They had been inspected, refurbished, and offered with an extended warranty. A study by J.D. Power and Associates showed that sales of certified used cars have jumped 46 percent since 2000.
Now as it is with every product, there are good ones and not-so-good onces. Perennial list-maker Forbes has identified the best to be:
- Honda Accord
- Toyota 4Runner
- Acura TL
- Subaru Impreza
- Lexus GS
So-called "worst" include the (now discontinued) Saturn Relay, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Volkswagen’s New Beetle, and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
Rating system can be found above. Only one car got 15 points -- the Honda Accord. The vehicles with the worst score of 3 were the Saturn Relay and Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Our take? Reading the article showed us that the editors were really reaching into the bottom of the barrel to get nitpicky. The vehicles, objectively, were fine. Differences in some cases are razor-thin: one editor's bad day can mark down a perfectly fine vehicle.
As the saying go, let the buyer beware....