08 2.4l Camry 24Ks dealer certified car GOOD BUY?

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I have a chance to get a 08 Camry 4dr LE with the 2.4L engine auto trans with 24,000 miles from a dealer with toyota certified warranty.its a one owner car driven just 6k per year. very clean carfax, with all service intervals taken care of. Anything I should know about these cars before I say yes...The price is 14,800.

also what would anyone recommend about what i should do the car if i buy it?
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
"Certified" doesn't mean anything.


"Certified with Toyota Warranty" confers some very meaningful benefits on a used car to the new owner. It means that for a period of time, someone else pays (Toyota) in the event of mechanical failure. In fact "Certified" means plenty.
 
Originally Posted By: lucerne06
I have a chance to get a 08 Camry 4dr LE with the 2.4L engine auto trans with 24,000 miles from a dealer with toyota certified warranty.its a one owner car driven just 6k per year. very clean carfax, with all service intervals taken care of. Anything I should know about these cars before I say yes...The price is 14,800.

also what would anyone recommend about what i should do the car if i buy it?


From what you have suggested, this car sounds like it is minimally-equipped. I would look closely at the deals that might be available on a spanking-new 2011 model that has little optional equipment. In the East there is cash back, and plenty of these cars on the lot. I bet that you'd find a way to stretch your budget.

Based on the assumption that you can get into a new Camry for $20k (which may be wrong, I think that the price on the 3 or 4 year old car is steep. CPO is cool, but new is better. Good luck.
 
A 2011 LE AT invoice is just below $21500 including destination.

It has low miles, and I guess you do get an extended warranty that is "worth" about $1000.

I'd say that this is on the high end of what it is worth, but if it is a really good example (like new), not a dent or speck of dirt, then why not?

But Id haggle it down a bit or get smething else thrown in like new tires or smething.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
A 2011 LE AT invoice is just below $21500 including destination.

It has low miles, and I guess you do get an extended warranty that is "worth" about $1000.

I'd say that this is on the high end of what it is worth, but if it is a really good example (like new), not a dent or speck of dirt, then why not?

But Id haggle it down a bit or get smething else thrown in like new tires or smething.


Just to complete this info -- there is either $1,000 cash back on new Camry's or 60 month 0% financing. No doubt there are dealer incentives also. $20,000 (equivalent) does not seem out of whack to me.
 
A Toyota "Certified" used car means it is supposed to go through a somwhat extensive checklist to make sure it qualifies for the "Certified classification The quality of the
"Certification" procedure depends on how thorough the person
checking the car out is. It pays to run through YOUR OWN
checklist to verify the condition of the car.

We went to purchase a "Certified" Camry for our daughter
and during OUR "certification" process found that the transmission fluid barely touched to bottom of the dip stick
( the trans fluid had been changed ), the power drivers mirror
did not work, and the spare tire amd wheel in the trunk
were the wrong size and did not match the new tires which had been installed.

We pointed all the items out to the dealer and everything was taken care of to our complete satisfaction. The car has been ompletely free of any problems.

You should attepmt to negotiate the price down a little but be aware that used cars are up 10-15% because of the relative shortage of new cars. As with ALL purchases, it's Caveat Emptor so be sure do check the car out thoroughly yourself.

The 08 Camry has a very good trouble free frequency of repair reputation. Good Luck !
 
Obviously there is no difference between a "Certified" and a non-certified car. Did the previous owner know it was going to be "certified"? Did they baby it so the dealer could certify it, because the certification status of the car they just sold was important to them? More importantly, did they explain to other people who may have driven it to be extra careful as to maintain the vehicles ability to be certified in the future?

What it does include is some warranty protection, though, the value of which is up to the buyer.

The miles are low, but it is a 4 model year old car for 75% of the price of a new one. If you like the car it's a fair deal, but not a fire sale by any means. The current car market has used car values high and new car values low because new car sales have been low for the last few years and a gloomy economic market has people trying to be frugal.

If it were up to me, 15,000 for a 4 year old car or 20,000 for a new car... and the new car probably has better financing. I'm in the same boat, it's a difficult decision to make.
 
If you know a competent mechanic and dealer agrees to let you take the car there for inspection, I would pay $100-150 for a complete check the car before negotiate the price.
 
Originally Posted By: bepperb
Obviously there is no difference between a "Certified" and a non-certified car. Did the previous owner know it was going to be "certified"? Did they baby it so the dealer could certify it, because the certification status of the car they just sold was important to them? More importantly, did they explain to other people who may have driven it to be extra careful as to maintain the vehicles ability to be certified in the future?

What it does include is some warranty protection, though, the value of which is up to the buyer.

The miles are low, but it is a 4 model year old car for 75% of the price of a new one. If you like the car it's a fair deal, but not a fire sale by any means. The current car market has used car values high and new car values low because new car sales have been low for the last few years and a gloomy economic market has people trying to be frugal.

If it were up to me, 15,000 for a 4 year old car or 20,000 for a new car... and the new car probably has better financing. I'm in the same boat, it's a difficult decision to make.


I would say that in general, certified pre-owned vehicles tend to be in better shape than non-certified vehicles. Certainly some non-certified vehicles are in better shape than some certified, but I rarely see true junk being sold "certified".

With that said, it's not a practice I agree with or use (the "CPO" deal). I'd rather save the money and go over the vehicle myself to assure it's in good condition.
 
here is what Certified is they told me,
12 months bumper to bumper
7 yr/100,000 powertrain
7 yr/100,000 roadside assistance
2.9% financing for 48 to 60 months
12 months scheduled maint.

The car also has 4 new Fuzion HRi tires. It's actually the lowest priced camry I have been able to locate with under 36,000 miles within 150 miles of me. unless of course I look at other cars that have been used as a rental vehicle or from the new york city area or has been involved in an accident. i considered a 2011 option but mainly just higher end se and xl models reain and they are above 25,000 dollars.
 
As long as it wasn't a daily rental, sounds like it might fit your needs.

I'm questioning the need for new tires at that mileage. Sounds like there never was a tire rotation. Which sounds like a daily rental, or poor maintenance. Or both.
 
Originally Posted By: MrCritical
As long as it wasn't a daily rental, sounds like it might fit your needs.

I'm questioning the need for new tires at that mileage. Sounds like there never was a tire rotation. Which sounds like a daily rental, or poor maintenance. Or both.


It might of had a mis-matched tire... or two.

Some people don't believe in patching a tire, and will buy whatever is available, at wherever they stop when a tire goes flat.

A lady that I know has four different tires on a fairly new car. Something different one each corner. All different brands, nothing comes close to matching.

When she trades it in, it will likely get a new set of tires. And she didn't really do anything wrong, except spend money that she could have kept for something else.
 
As stated by others, Toyota "Certified" used cars are usually
in better condition overall than most on their used car lot.
And, they're backing it with a decent "Warranty." But you still need to check it out thoroughly yourself and not rely
on just a salemans pitch. Ask who the previous owner/s were
and if it was a "program" car ( usually a leasd car which doesn't make it bad ). Check the maintenance history if you can
to see what regular and other maintenance was done. If it
was not used and abused as a rental for the dealership or
otherwise, you may have found a good used car.

You can check on the Fusion HRi tires on the Tire Rack site.
IIRC, they were tested a while back by Tire Rack and found to be a bit noisy with that tire tread....just FYI. The Camry we purchased had brand new Good Year Integrity tires ( Absolute JUNK )on it and we were able to negotiate a cost allowance on the Integrity's and have New Michelin Primacy MXV4 installed and purchased through the dealer at a fair and competitive price.

Try to negotiate the price down ( beginning about 10% ) and see where you can reach an amenable compromise for a "win-win" situation.
 
mainly I think it's because of the cheap oem tires that are put on the car originally. I know the oem tires on my lucerne were junk, and I put new goodyear triple treads on with in two yesr and only 12,000 miles on the car
 
actually the car was listed at 16,000 and we settled on 14,800.
all service was done at the dealership from which I am buying the car. they also said they would give me a complete copy of all past service records on the car since new. the person who owned the car I am told bought another one(camry) a local bussiness person.
 
$14,800 is a very fair price as long as it's in good, well maintained condition and has been in no accidents. Nice used
"Certified" LE's are going for around $17,500 here ( Chgo suburbs ) and $14,500-14,600 Private Party according to KBB. ( Kelley Blue Book ) Sounds like you found yourself a car !

BTW.....Not all MFR's put "el cheapo" tires on their cars.
It may depend on the model, but one of our prior new LXE model Camry's came with Michelin Energy Plus MXV4 ) Predecessor to the Michelin Primacy's )tires from the factory. They were great and lasted for 60K.
 
We got 60k out of our OEM's on our '06 Pontiac G6 GT.

Good to know you had a 1 owner car.

Unfortunately, the biggest reason for 4 new tires on low mileage, late model cars is that they were daily rentals. They never check tire pressure and never rotate the tires, so they are worn out rather quickly.
 
Assuming the reason for new tires on late model cars is because
they were daily rentals is a false assumption. There are many, many owners of late model cars that are more derelict in regular maintenance procedures, including checking tire air pressures and regular rotations than rentals.
 
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