Toyota has expanded its certified pre-owned program requirements to include vehicles that are up to 10 model years old and have up to 125,000 miles. The newly-introduced Silver Certification level will include significantly reduced warranties compared to the reassurances granted to cars eligible for the already-established certified pre-owned level, Motor 1 reports. The expansion highlights how long Toyotas are remaining on the road, the knock-on effect that reliability has had on the brand’s used car inventory, and how affordable new cars are for a large segment of buyers.
Besides the looser age and milage eligibility requirement, Toyota’s silver-certified vehicles will only need to meet a 136-point minimum on the automaker’s quality assurance inspection. For comparison, gold-certified vehicles have to hit a 160-point minimum during the inspection.
The less restrictive criteria do come at a cost. These certified pre-owned cars come with a transferable 12-month, 12,000-mile limited powertrain warranty, which is far better than nothing. Gold-certified vehicles have a 7-year, 100,000-mile limited warranty for their powertrains alongside a 12-month limited comprehensive warranty.
In all, it’s a good thing that Toyota is trying to increase its used-car inventory and make car ownership more attainable in light of inflation and the stagnant economy. It also speaks highly of the vehicles that it produces if the automaker is willing to attach a warranty to a product that has spent up to a decade in use. Honda implemented a similar pre-owned expansion in 2022, and later started leasing certified pre-owned cars. It makes me wonder if every new car will just become a premium offering.