what is the difference between certified and just used? what is the cost difefrence between the two if the cars are the same?

CERTIFIED CARS ARE BROUGHT UP TO FACTORY SPECS @ INCLUDE AT LEAST AN EXTENDED POWERTRAIN WARRANTY-THE COVERAGE DIFFERS FROM ONE MANUFACTURER TO ANOTHER-SOME OFFER A WRAP-A-ROUND AT +COST

you don't gain much for the extra 1000-1500 that you pay for certified- the car already has 3 years/36000 bumper to bumper and 5 years/100000 powertrain with roadside assistance- if you want longer coverage get a good extended warranty with a reputable company- you can usually get more coverage for the extra you would spend for certified. I hope this helps.

Richard.......The following is how I understand it. Lets use Kia as an example. A new car buyer gets 5year 60K in coverage bumper to bumper and a 10 year 100K limited powertrain. Pretty much the power train involves anything that is necessary to get the vehicle to go forward. Examples would be, air conditioning is not part of the power train because the car can still drive without it so the air conditioning ends at 60K. A covered powertrain example would be broken motor mounts. The motor mounts if broken can cause problems with the vehicle being able to run properly so is a covered item until 100K. If you buy the car used you only get the 5 year 60K bumper to bumper. If you buy the car used but Certified Pre Owned, then you get the powertrain limited warranty to 100K too. Lets say you buy a Kia with 40K miles. You get 20K bumper to bumper and then powertrain until the odometer reaches 100K.

By the way, IF I AM WRONG, i would like a detailed explanation as to what I am wrong about. People throw numbers around and do not clarify if the warranty they are talking about is from when they take possession or what the odometer reads or will read or if it is the original new car warranty you are now getting or something different. I have done a lot of reading on the net trying to find out what exactly CPO mean and the above post is my understanding but I admit virtually every explanation I have read lacks clarity and have several generalizations so I admit, I could be wrong too.

we can only speak from our experience (in my case GM)- Hyundai and Kia would not apply because they don't continue that long warranty to the second buyer or beyond like GM does (it follows the car, not the buyer). I stand by what I said on the extended warranty part- see how much extended warranty you could buy for how much extra the certified car costs (typically 1500 to 2000 more- then make your decision.

I don't dispute your "what you get for the money" scenario, it is a fair conclusion. The only thing I am trying to understand is what does a CPO mean. From what you say, I guess it means different things depending on the car brand.