Honda, Acura extend certified used programs to include 10-year-old cars

LOS ANGELES — American Honda Motor Co. is expanding its certified pre-owned program to include 10-year-old Honda and Acura vehicles.

The extended programs, called HondaTrue Used and Acura Precision Used, are designed to draw younger, budget-minded shoppers to dealership lots.

“We wanted to make it easy for new buyers to experience our brand,” Dan Rodriguez, manager of auto remarketing at American Honda told Automotive News. “We really look at this expansion as a critical way to bring in new customers to our brand — kind of a gateway product.”

The older Honda vehicles, which have no mileage limitations, only receive a 100-day or 5,000-mile manufacturer-backed warranty. That’s significantly less than the 7-year/100,000-mile powertrain coverage provided on HondaTrue Certified+ and Certified vehicles, which together cover lightly used, current model year vehicles, as well as 2- to 5-year-old Hondas.

On the Acura side, Precision Used vehicles receive a 6-month/7,500-mile warranty.

Acura Precision Certified vehicles, which are up to 6 years old or 80,000 miles, get the same 7-year/100,000-mile powertrain coverage.

But the extended certified programs are meant to give buyers confidence on the front end of the buying process, knowing that their older vehicle has been certified by Honda technicians.

Each HondaTrue Used vehicle goes through a 112-point checklist that is posted online for customers to review.

“We’re going through an extensive checklist to make sure that the car is brought up to a certain standard,” Rodriguez said, citing brake pads as an example. “The technicians are required to note the level of wear on the brake pads, and if they’re not within a certain standard, those brake pads will be replaced.”