Certified? Yes -- Satisfied? Not always
Christopher Jensen, New York Times
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Getting halves of two cars was not what Paulette Day expected when she bought a red 2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo that year from a dealership near Detroit for $22,000. The car was used, but it was a "GM certified" car, meaning it had supposedly passed a rigorous inspection by the dealer. As General Motors says in its marketing material, buying a certified car means "the reliability of new and the affordability of used."
Not in this case. Day said she became suspicious about the car after noticing the paint did not match. After a mechanic put the car on a lift and saw the welds, Day learned that the car included pieces from the front of one Monte Carlo and the rear of another, both seriously damaged in crashes.
"I thought, being certified, there are supposed to be so many checkpoints to make sure the car is safe," she said. "I think they skipped over all of it. They would have had to notice that."
Certified used cars have become popular over the last five years, favored by consumers worried about getting a lemon when they buy used. A guarantee from an automaker that the car checks out is peace of mind for which an increasing number of people are willing to pay extra, sometimes $2,000 or more than a comparable used car. But some consumers are finding that certified does not protect them and some, like Day, are filing lawsuits…
One problem for consumers is that there are no industry standards to define what "certified" means. Anyone from a major new-car dealer to the owner of a small used-car lot can say a vehicle is certified. Also, most automakers allow vehicles that have been in crashes to be certified if the damage was properly repaired and did not involve damage to the frame.
"So long as the damage has been repaired, most vehicles can be certified," said Virginia Y. Calderon, a San Diego lawyer who often handles complaints about certified cars. "You always have to be concerned about that."
In some lawsuits, automakers have denied responsibility by saying the dealer -- not the automaker -- certified the vehicle. The only guarantee with a certified used vehicle is that the dealer and the automaker make more money, said Cliff Weathers, deputy editor for autos at Consumer Reports magazine.
With relatively new vehicles in particular, certification makes little sense because they are likely to be relatively trouble-free anyway, Weathers said.
Calling a used vehicle certified suggests it is better, but there is no way a consumer can be sure of that, said Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, a California-based advocacy group.
Shahan lobbied the California Legislature to enact a Car Buyer's Bill of Rights, which took effect last year. It includes a certified used-car section that prohibits automakers from certifying a vehicle with frame damage.
"There are some problems with the manufacturer programs where they have been lax," Shahan said. She also said that because the dealer paid the expense of any repairs, there was a built-in conflict of interest not to make them.
In Day's case [the] system failed, said Dani K. Liblang, a Birmingham, Mich., lawyer representing Day. It is hard to imagine how mechanics at Rowan Pontiac GMC could not have known that the Monte Carlo was two vehicles, Liblang said. "It took our expert less than five minutes to figure out that this vehicle was two vehicles welded together with two different vehicle identification numbers," she said.
Shahan of the California consumers group said that buying a certified used vehicle was a waste of money and suggested that consumers use a different strategy. "Basically you are paying a lot to have somebody else do an inspection," she said. "Instead, spend $100 or $200 and get your own inspection done." […]
Day, who still has her Monte Carlo, had some advice for those who find certified used vehicles alluring. "Whether they say it is certified or not," she said, "take it somewhere and have it checked because you never know what you are getting."