Where to Buy Used Cars That Best Fit Your Needs and Budget

This could mean negotiating a deal with anyone, from a friend or relative to someone who has put a “for sale” sign on their car or listed it on Facebook Marketplace or a car-sale website.

Pros: A private sale is most likely how you’ll find the lowest-priced vehicles, especially when paying cash for older, high-mileage cars—like a 12-year-old model with 120,000 miles.

Cons: There are limited financing options and a greater risk of mechanical problems, particularly if the car is older than 10 years with more than 100,000 miles on the odometer.

What to watch out for: If you’re buying from someone selling on a website like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, meet in a well-lit, public location like a gas station, police station, or supermarket parking lot to ensure your personal safety. As with any used car, ask to see maintenance records and a vehicle history report. Request that the buyer let you bring the car to a trusted mechanic for a prepurchase inspection (PPI). Financing can be tricky. The seller may want cash rather than a certified bank check.

See: The Best High-Mileage Cars and How to Find Them

These are used-car dealers who aren’t affiliated with any particular brand of automaker. They can be well-known national chains, like CarMax or Carvana, or small-scale local dealers with generic names.

Pros: They may have lower prices than a manufacturer’s dealership, and financing options are usually available. Carvana, for example, offers a seven-day money-back return and a 100-day, 4,189-mile warranty.

Cons: These retailers lack manufacturer backing, so you have less recourse if you purchase a problem car. In-house financing can also be expensive.

What to watch out for: Independent dealers have varying standards as to what constitutes a good used car. It’s important to have the car you are considering inspected by a reputable mechanic, either before you buy, or within the return window. Before you go, arrange preapproved financing with your own bank or credit union. You may get better terms from the dealer than from your bank, but without a benchmark, you’re at the dealer’s mercy.

Branded dealerships—your local Ford, Subaru, or Nissan retailers, for example—sell used models from their namesake brand and others. Some of these vehicles, however, won’t be certified by the manufacturer, which means that they lack the extra layer of warranty protection that a CPO vehicle provides.

Pros: These cars are generally cheaper than CPO alternatives. The car may have been recently serviced by the dealer, and financing options are available.

Cons: Non-certified cars at branded dealerships are typically more expensive than cars bought in private sales or at independent dealers. If the car comes with a warranty at all, it likely won’t be as inclusive as you’d get with a CPO vehicle.

What to watch out for: “Unlike CPO cars, there’s no manufacturer requirement that the car has to be checked according to an official inspection list,” says Michael Crossen, a certified mechanic and manager of auto testing at Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center. “Most dealers do perform at least a basic inspection on non-certified cars, but to be on the safe side, you should ask for the car’s vehicle history report and service records, and have it checked by a mechanic you trust.”

These cars, sold at branded dealerships, go through rigorous inspections and come with manufacturer-backed warranties and other perks. They’re generally among the highest-quality models and cost about 2 percent more than non-CPO models.

Pros: CPO vehicles are typically 2- and 3-year-old models coming off a lease, which means they’re newer, have low mileage, and are usually in top condition. They come with one- or two-year factory-backed warranties that kick in when the original factory warranty ends. The seller’s mechanics will address and repair any issues found during the CPO inspection. (Cars with serious damage from a flood or crash, for example, do not make the CPO cut in the first place.)

The number of items on the CPO inspection checklist varies by manufacturer. Lincoln, for example, performs a 200-point inspection, while the Infiniti CPO inspection covers 167 points. “Don’t get hung up on the number of items on the inspection list,” Crossen says. “All manufacturers have the same goal, which is to make sure everything works so that it’s unlikely you’ll have to call the warranty into service.”

Most CPO cars come with additional perks, such as free roadside assistance. Lexus offers free maintenance and oil changes for two years, and several brands offer a free satellite radio trial subscription. “As with the warranty part of the CPO contract, you should read the fine print on any prepaid maintenance plan to see what’s included,” says Crossen. “A free maintenance plan could cover a year’s worth of full factory-recommended scheduled services, or it could just be oil changes.”

Over the past few years, some automakers have also started giving CPO status to older, higher-mileage used cars, allowing buyers with tighter budgets to get more warranty protection. Acura, Ford, Toyota, and others do this, though their options may differ in terms of the extent and length of the extra warranty coverage. Toyota, for example, offers a category of CPO cars that can be up to 10 years old and have as many as 125,000 miles on the odometer. The one-year/12,000-mile limited powertrain warranty included with these cars provides protection long after the original warranty has expired, though it’s not as comprehensive or as long as the warranties Toyota offers on newer CPO cars.

This extra layer of protection against surprise repair costs makes CPO cars an especially ideal choice for luxury vehicles, which are often more expensive to fix and maintain than cars from mainstream brands. 

Cons: Paying extra for a CPO vehicle might not be worth it if you’re buying a car known for high reliability and low repair costs, like one of those in our “Great Cars to Buy Used” list above. “You could put that money aside and use it for repairs or put it toward the cost of your next car,” Crossen says.

What to watch out for: While a CPO warranty is essentially an extension of the original factory warranty, it may contain more exclusions and could have hidden costs, such as deductibles, that you won’t catch if you don’t read the contract carefully. BMW, for example, offers a four-year, 50,000-mile warranty on its new cars that “covers all defects in parts and workmanship.” Its CPO warranty extends that coverage an extra year, with unlimited mileage during that time, but excludes coverage for most suspension components (as well as a few other parts), which can be expensive to repair on those cars. Similarly, Toyota’s CPO coverage excludes most suspension parts. Acura’s CPO warranty, on the other hand, covers many of them.

Crossen says that the more high-tech, expensive-to-fix gadgets a car has—things like heated and cooled seats and interior LED mood lighting—the more valuable CPO protection can be, as long as the warranty covers those pricey bells and whistles. He recommends making sure those items are not listed among the exclusions in the CPO warranty. “You should also be on the lookout for exclusions like sliding roof panels, convertible tops, infotainment systems, and the electronic control modules, which are all very expensive to repair or replace,” Crossen says.

Should you consider it a deal breaker if a CPO warranty doesn’t cover something important? “There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer,” says Crossen. “All CPOs have exclusions, but most do a good job protecting you from large, unexpected repairs. In general, you can trust the CPO warranty and buy with confidence.”

Some dealers not affiliated with automakers may advertise used cars as “certified,” but their warranties aren’t factory-backed. The terms may be confusing, with sneaky coverage omissions. Consumer Reports’ recommendation is to only purchase a CPO vehicle from a dealership affiliated with that car’s brand, and to always ask for paperwork that confirms that the car’s warranty is factory-backed.

• Should You Buy a New, Certified Pre-Owned, or Used Car?
• Is Age or Mileage More Important When Buying a Used Vehicle?
• How to Finance a Used Car
• How to Avoid Hidden Damage on a Used Car
• Consumer Reports’ Used Car Marketplace