I am shopping for a 7th gen Maxima, and in the process I have noticed that some Maxima's are CPO, and some are not, even though they seem to fit the requirements. Why is this?

 

Some customers like the security of having an extended warrany, hence CPO. If I was looking for a used Maxima I would not buy a CPO because the extended warranty is factored into the price that you pay and the car already has an above average reliability. You may be better of buying a Maxima with some life left on the warranty but pay attention to the service record to see if the car had major issues.

 

I bought my maxima used at 31,600Km's on it and when I asked for the service records on it, the dealership told me they can't as it has something to do with Privacy laws here in Canada. I didn't want to argue but it is strange a vehicle history is under the privacy laws act. I bought the car anyway, as when I did my own search on it I found out the last owner names etc etc, called them ans asked them about the car. That part the dealership was not lying about as they leased their cars every three years and hardly drive it anywhere. I saw that they took care of the car and the kicker was the low mileage for me.

That was back in June of this year, now I'm pushing almost 28,000 km's.

 

I think that only a Nissan Dealer can "certify" a Nissan vehicle. They probably perform an inspection and replace any worn parts with OEM parts, performed by a certified Nissan mechanic. The ones you see without a certified designation are probably in other dealerships, that are not qualified for Nisssan, but are probably qualified for the brand they carry. Look for the right car with the features you like, if you find a certified model at a Nissan dealership, great, if not, then you could always buy an extended bumper to bumper warranty for piece of mind. Good luck!
I coulb be wrong about this, you could probably learn more in Nissan.com or edmunds...

 

Thats where I'm confused though. Specifically, there is a Nissan dealer in Wisconsin, where I saw a few Nissans I am considering. Only some of them are certified, and others aren't, although they seem to be just as qualified as the others do. And this is at a Nissan dealership.

Silberma makes a good point though, these cars have above average reliability anyway, so I wont make an issue of it.

 

i didn't bother extending my warranty cause most of the common issues aren't too bad. the severe mechanical problems seem rare at best which is good.

 

From the website ...

Only Nissans that meet our high standards qualify for Certified Pre-Owned status. They must be less than five years old from the original in-service date, with less than 60,000 miles on the odometer.
Plus, they must have a clean, non-branded title and, most important, pass a comprehensive 150+ points Certified
Pre-Owned inspection.
Benefits of buying a Certified Pre-Owned Nissan include:
7-year/100,000-mile limited warranty[*]
24-hour Emergency Roadside Assistance[*]
Car Rental Reimbursement and Towing Benefit[*]
Genuine Nissan parts
CARFAX® Vehicle History Report™
SiriusXM Satellite Radio with 3-month trial subscription[*]
Optional Security+Plus® Extended Protection Plan[*]

http://www.nissanusa.com/apps/cpo/

When I bought mine a month ago the (Nissan) dealership offered to CPO it for a couple grand more which incidentally was about the same price as purchasing an ESC through them. I had two people independently inspect the car and then declined the CPO offer as well as the ESC.

FYI, you can always purchase an extended warranty after you buy the car.

I don't know why some cars are CPO'd and other similar cars are not but I suspect that it might have to do with how the dealership acquires the car.

 

That's it. Good info.

 

Thanks for the replies. Makes sense. I plan on buying an 09 or newer Maxima. For those who have bought one, did you have it inspected by a third party before purchasing it?

 

The dealer has to pay the factory for the CPO designation as all repairs will then be paid by the factory.
I know that the Jaguar dealers have to pay about $1700.00 to CPO a car.
I am not a big fan of CPOs or ESCs. I'd rather hold on to the cash and self insure and pay as I go for any repairs.
Given the reliability of the Nissan products I would not buy an ESC or require a CPO car.
Good luck

 

find a used one that's still within the factory bumper to bumper warranty period, I think it's 3 years and less than 36,000 miles. It's more useful than the CPO warranty, which is nothing more than a extended drivetrain warranty.

many owners here have had no major issues with the car including myself. it's been a very trouble free car since I bought it.

 

be very careful with the Extended Warrenty, mine had 31 when i bought it and now it has 65 and my tilt motor assembly broke on my steering wheel and they won't cover it even though i opted for the Extended +plus which says it caovers steering, but come to find out only certain parts of it, what a bunch of malarky! I m soooo pissed.

 

ya the extended warranty's are a joke in many ways, the finance guy will tell you it's the same as the bumper to bumper and try to scare you into buying it.

by the time you find out the warranty you bought was just a extended drive train warranty, it's too late.

the bread and butter of warranty is the 36k mile bumper to bumper warranty.