Honda, Jaguar certified programs - ranked as the best in industry

To see Intellichoice's ranking of the top certified-used car programs,click here.

To see a complete overview of the manufacturers' certified programs, click here.

PRIMEDIA's IntelliChoice announces the winners of the third annual ranking of certified pre-owned vehicle programs. The list of winners reveals that manufacturers are responding to consumers' desire for quality pre-owned cars. Overall, Jaguar was judged the best Luxury program and Honda the best Non-Luxury program. This is the third year in a row that Honda has had the best program in the Non-Luxury class. Jaguar has achieved this honor in two out of the past three years.

Programs are rated according to the inspection lists, warranties, roadside assistance benefits, and return/exchange policies to determine the programs that offer the most benefits to the consumer. Since the target markets are different between Luxury and Non-Luxury vehicles, the 23 different programs available have been split into two classes - Luxury and Non-Luxury.

"Several of the Luxury vehicle manufacturers have made significant improvements to their offerings," says John Hammond, president of PRIMEDIA's IntelliChoice. For example, Audi, Jaguar and Volvo made improvements to their inspection list and Audi further improved their program by extending their warranty. As a result of these improvements, Jaguar moved from fifth to first and Volvo from sixth to second in the program rankings.

The top five Non-Luxury manufacturers retained their rankings from last year. "A real opportunity exists for the Non-Luxury manufacturers to differentiate themselves," says Mr. Hammond. "Ford, Mercury, Volkswagen and Saturn could all compete with Honda for the top spot by making strategic consumer oriented improvements to their programs."

The most important considerations for consumers shopping for certified pre-owned vehicles are the inspections and warranties offered by the manufacturers. The best manufacturer programs in these two categories are:

Lincoln — Best Inspection List

Honda — Best Warranty.