LCV Certified Pre-Owned programs: What you need to know

Buying a new Light Commercial Vehicle is expensive business. Not only do you have to pay for the vehicle, but you’ve then got thousands more to spend to set it up for work with a canopy or interior shelving and roof racks. If you’re just starting out or want to trim business costs, a used LCV can make much more sense.

Yet finding a good used LCV isn’t easy – it’s like trying to find a very small needle in a very large haystack. People buy them as a work tool, not for quiet Sunday drives. Finding a vehicle that hasn’t been knocked around too much or actually has been serviced is a win in the used LCV market.

The bad news is that Australia isn’t a market totally clued-in to CPOs – Hyundai, Renault, Toyota and Volkswagen are the only LCV brands that offer CPOs locally.

CPOs are better established in other markets: in the US, for example, there’s a 23 percent take-up rate for CPOs.

More manufacturers are planning to join the party, with Fiat Professional and Mercedes-Benz Vans to offer CPOs for their respective ranges later this year.

You can’t expect the cheapest deal when buying a CPO (compared with a private or auction purchase) but you do get more peace of mind. A vehicle that is likely to be of a higher standard, has a full service history and that has been properly checked-over as the CPO has must be worth the extra dollars.

What’s the age/kilometre limit on a CPO?

If you look through the CPOs offered on the respective manufacturer’s websites, you’ll see plenty of very fresh metal – often the vehicles have done demonstrator kilometres only. However, some manufacturers cast the net pretty wide. Toyota, for example, includes vehicles of up to 10 years-old and with up to 160,000km.

Volkswagen offers CPO vehicles of up to five years old, capping kilometres at 120,000km. Hyundai and Renault cut-off their respective CPO vehicles at three years old and with up to 100,000km.

Volkswagen will charge you $1100 extra for its 12-month warranty (which is bundled with 12 months roadside assist). This warranty matches NCW (New Car Warranty) except that it doesn’t cover flaws in paintwork. Volkswagen’s NCW covers paint for three years and corrosion for 12 years (six for Amarok).

Hyundai and Renault don’t have a CPO warranty as such – it’s really just whatever remaining NCW the vehicle has.

Renault’s LCV warranty is for three years/200,000km, so you’ll have to buy a relatively new Renault LCV to get a decent chunk of the remaining NCW (although some Renault LCVs have been sold with the passenger-car five year/unlimited km warranty, so you might get lucky).

Renault also has extended warranty for its LCV range – but you have to pay extra for it. You can extend the warranty for one or two years (that is, until the vehicle is four years old or five years old); for Kangoo, it’s $1090 (one year) or $1890 (two years), for Trafic you pay $1390 (one year) or $2390 (two years) and if you want to extend warranty on Master you’ll pay $1690 (one year) or $2890 (two years). While these warranties buy you extra time, all expire at the same 200,000km odometer limit as NCW. The Renault extended warranties are transferable.

While Hyundai has a five-year NCW for iMax and iLoad, unlike Hyundai passenger cars it is capped at 160,000km.

While Toyota doesn’t offer a factory-backed warranty, its dealers may be required to offer a statutory warranty. If applicable, in most states that warranty is for three months/5000km.

Hyundai and Toyota provide 12 months roadside assist with NCW (which would have expired with many CPO vehicles), so for extra peace of mind each company throws in a fresh 12 months roadside assistance as part of the deal. Volkswagen’s NCW includes three years of roadside assist. Beyond that, you have to buy a year of roadside assist bundled with a year’s warranty as mentioned above.

Renault is the only company that throws in free servicing: you get two annual/15,000km services as part of the Renault Approved deal.

Toyota CPOs that have remaining logbook services due in their service book are eligible for Toyota Capped Price Servicing.

Hyundai provides its Hyundai Certified Pre-Owned customers access to myHyundai, its owner site that features service information, driving tips, maintenance advice and exclusive offers.

While the number of LCV CPO programs today is relatively small and their features minimal (compared to the prestige and mass-market CPOs), they do offer the best peace of mind when buying a used LCV.

CPO programme Warranty period (months) Same as NCW Roadside assist period (months) Warranty t’fer Servicing included

Hyundai CPO 24 (min)* Yes 12 Yes No
Renault Approved NCW* Yes NCW* Yes Yes/2 yrs
Toyota Certified n/a n/a 12 n/a No
Volkswagen Das Auto Extra cost* No Extra cost* Yes No

*Hyundai Certified Pre-Owned vehicles are a maximum of three years-old and so have the balance of five-year/160,000km NCW remaining.

*Renault Approved LCVs are up to three years-old and have the balance of NCW – which is three years/200,000km, with roadside assist included for the warranty period. Extra warranty (with roadside assist included) of up to two years can be purchased – see copy.

*For Volkswagen Das Welt vehicles whose three-year NCW has expired, a 12-month warranty and roadside assist can be obtained for a $1100 fee.