As originally appeared in Automotive News Canada on November 19, 2025
Author: David Kennedy
Certified pre-owned vehicle programs offer dealers and automakers a way to boost sales and build long-term relationships with buyers, at a time when consumers are searching for affordable vehicles they can still rely on.
Dealers applying a strictly transactional model to used-car sales and not offering the same experience they do on the new-vehicle side, are setting themselves up to lose long term, said Jake Stacey, executive vice-president of sales and OEM performance at LGM Financial Services.
They are watching their service, oil change and tire business “walk out the door” to the likes of Canadian Tire, Mr. Lube and Great Canadian Oil Change, she said.
“CPO is really what wraps that customer on the used-car side of the business into the same loyalty and retention concept as new-vehicle sales.”
LGM runs several automaker-branded CPO programs in Canada, as well as numerous programs offered by dealership groups and smaller used-car shops.
Given the run up in used-vehicle prices over the past five years, Stacey said used customers — rightfully — have higher expectations than ever.
“We’re not talking $15,000 cars anymore for the most part. So, we as an industry need to hold ourselves to a higher standard.”
That means standardized programs that deliver consistent used-vehicle quality, warranties and peace of mind, she said.
Automakers are coming to the same conclusions, as they look for ways to attract increasingly cash-strapped buyers to their brands.
Matt Girgis, managing director of Volvo Car Canada, said the luxury brand’s CPO program has found traction this year, in part because of the affordability challenges that consumers are facing.
“We’re actively bringing more people into the showrooms to have conversations.”
Mainstream buyers
The focus on CPO is drawing in mainstream buyers that would not necessarily gravitate to Volvo under typical conditions, Girgis said. But with the right monthly payment offerings, CPO is “resonating,” allowing Volvo to start building relationships with a new set of customers, he added.
Through October of 2025, Volvo Canada CPO sales climbed to 5,635 vehicles, up about 30 per cent from the same period of 2024.
Accelerating sales and increasing profit are two other reasons automakers and their dealer partners should be homing in on CPO, said Jessica Todd, director of sales at Hyundai Auto Canada.
CPO vehicles sell 30 per cent faster than typical used cars, and customers looking at CPO vehicles are willing to pay more, she told attendees at the Automotive News Canada Retail Forum in Toronto in October.
“That shows us that the customer is willing to pay for assurance.”
Other brands are embracing on the opportunity as well. Honda Canada, for instance, has long offered CPO on vehicles up to five years old, but added a second tier to the program in February to extend automaker backing to vehicles up to 10 years old. It gives customers buying older vehicles peace of mind with a six-month/12,000-kilometre powertrain warranty, whichever comes first.
At the dealership level, Birchwood Automotive Group COO Kevin McNeill, said the benefits of CPO extend well beyond the sale itself.
Typical used-vehicle customers will not return to the dealership after they purchase their vehicle, but Birchwood sees good retention for CPO customers, he said at Retail Forum. This opens up other sales avenues down the line across the group’s two dozen new-car stores across Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
LGM’s Stacey said the future sales opportunities that come from CPO are significant, making any groundwork at the dealership and brand levels well worth the effort.
One dealership group that offers CPO vehicles through LGM, for instance, has seen 68 per cent of CPO customers return to the store for their first oil change, one year after introducing the program. That compares with just a 15-per-cent customer return rate beforehand, Stacey said.
The “magic” of the car business on the new-vehicle side, Stacey said, is converting customers from one-and-done shoppers to those who view the dealership as theirs — the place they go for all their vehicle needs. Done right, CPO can extend that customer loyalty into used-vehicle sales.
“Whether you come through the front door or the side door, you get the same experience. For me, that is the opportunity of CPO.”