Consumers in the market for a bad credit car loan got some good news last week when it was announced by General Motors that Saturn certified used cars will be available for sale at Chevrolet Buick and GMC dealers
Affordable and reliable used cars
Here at Auto Net Financial we know that with the cost of new vehicles rising every year, most credit-challenged customers decide that it makes more sense to go with a 2 or 3 year old pre owned car. With the quality and durability of cars at an all-time high, this decision makes sense. Now they’re faced with another decision: should they buy a regular used car or a certified used car?
This decision became even more difficult (which is a good thing) when General Motors released a statement last week that GM Certified Used Vehicles was announcing the addition of Saturn models to their lineup of GM CPO vehicles.
According to the GM press release, “All Saturn model years 2005-2010 are now available for purchase at any of the 3,400 Buick, Chevrolet and GMC GM Certified Used Vehicles dealers across the nation.”
CPO vehicles
If you’ve read any of our previous articles, you know how we feel about certified used cars – known in the industry as certified pre-owned or CPO vehicles. We believe that, for the most part, certified used cars are a good choice for credit challenged consumers.
Most certified used car programs work this way: if a vehicle meets certain age, mileage and inspection requirements, dealers can use a trade-in vehicle purchase back a lease turn-in and sell either one with an extended service contract that is very similar to the warranties found on new vehicles - except that the number of miles and years can be extended past the original warranty date to cover additional months and miles the amount of which depends on the manufacturer and the program.
Because of this built-in warranty coverage and other perks (such as roadside assistance), the dealer can (and usually has to because of the program costs) sell these CPO vehicles at a premium over non-certified used cars.
In the case of GM’s program, this means that every GM Certified Saturn comes with a GM Certified 12-month/12,000-mile (whichever comes first) bumper-to-bumper warranty as well as a fully transferable 100,000-mile/five-year Powertrain limited warranty.
More perks
Other perks of the program include a free vehicle history report on your vehicle, 24-hour roadside assistance, a three-day/150-mile customer satisfaction guarantee (GM’s return policy) and a 3-month trial subscription to both the OnStar service and XM Satellite Radio – such a deal!
A reminder
Remember that the program we’re discussing here is part of the manufacturer’s (in this case, GM) certification programs. Just because a dealer advertises a car as certified does not necessarily mean that it is certified by the manufacturer. Anyone can “certify” a car, since the word, itself, really has no meaning. So make sure that the “certified” car you are buying is certified by GM. If not, you may be required to pay for any repairs up front and submit the receipts to the warranty company for reimbursement – a process that is much less desirable.
The best Saturns
One other thing that we’re more than a little bit nit-picky with around here is keeping your bad credit auto loan payment affordable and, fortunately, many Saturn vehicles fall into this category.
Although the Saturn Sky roadster and Saturn Outlook crossover are beyond the budgets of most bad credit buyers, the Saturn Astra compact sedan, Saturn Aura mid-sized sedan and possibly even the Saturn Vue compact crossover are all vehicles that may very well work.
In order to qualify, all vehicles must be six years old or newer and have 75,000 miles or less. In addition, each goes through a 117-point inspection and reconditioning process.
As we see it
Keep in mind that certified pre-owned vehicles are usually more expensive than their non-certified counterparts. The costs of an inspection, the required replacement of warn and defective parts as well as a fairly expensive service contract all add to the price of a CPO vehicle. Before buying one, it makes sense to do some research and compare the selling prices of both certified pre-owned vehicles and their non-CPO counterparts. Ultimately, you will have to decide for yourself if a CPO car is worth the difference in price.
For more information on bad credit car loans and the bad credit auto loan buying process, visit our web site at www.autonetfinancial.com.
