VENICE, Calif. -

A new third-party certified pre-owned program has hit the market and organizers say it can give dealers a shot in the arm amid today’s supply-restricted environment, thanks to eligibility limits that go up to 15 years and 150,000 miles.

The president and chief executive officer of the company behind SureSale Certified spoke with Auto Remarketing on Wednesday afternoon to share more details about new program, which in addition to including a wider array of eligible models, offers a simplified online CPO process and requires no reinsurance from the dealer.

When asked the impetus for his company bringing this new program to the market, Mota Motors’ president and Jeffrey Schwartz boiled it down rather concisely.

“Market needs,” he said in the interview with Auto Remarketing about the reasoning behind SureSale Certified, whose launch was announced Wednesday.

“The biggest issue that dealers have today is that there’s not enough inventory available for certification. We think there’s a really big consumer need out there,” Schwartz noted. “We think there’s a really big opportunity — that’s a consumer opportunity — that relates to consumers having high desire for purchasing certified pre-owned vehicles and frankly not a lot of inventory available.”

Thus, SureSale Certified has expanded the realm of certifiable vehicles — including year, make and mileage — that can be included.

It’s this and three other key elements that make SureSale Certified stand out from other programs, Schwartz said.

Among these pieces is the fact that the entire certification process can be done online and without having to get reinsurance

“The whole process is delivered through an online application,” Schwartz explained. “The dealer goes online, imports his inventory, orders his vehicle inspections, prints out his window stickers and all his collateral material.

“And then when it comes time to attach the limited warranty and the extended service contract plans, it’s all done within the system, all re-contracted, no paperwork at all,” he continued.

Delving into reinsurance, Schwartz went on to note: “Most dealers don’t want to put higher-mileage vehicles into their own reinsurance account. … As we’ve been out talking to dealers and signing them up, we’ve found it’s really attractive to dealers to be able to sell cars that they previously would have wholesaled because they didn’t want the hassle of having the car come back.

"But they can sell the car with an inspection, with a comprehensive limited warranty and service contract and keep it outside of their reinsurance program … in essence, what they do is transfer the risk to SureSale,” he added.

Another key difference, Schwartz said, is that SureSale offers “franchise within a franchise.”

“It’s really not just a vehicle service contract with a window hanger on it. It really is a total CPO marketing program that includes customized point-of-sale materials, online syndication and marketing, and then marketing on behalf of SureSale to create consumer awareness,” he stressed.

Schwartz also stressed that what makes the program stand out is its independent inspection.

“We think that’s really really important,” he noted, pointing out that all inspections are done by a SureSale technician, not the dealerships themselves.

“The consumer knows that their vehicles they’re purchasing have been certified by a third party, and it also frankly has a pretty dramatic impact on the pricing of our limited warranties and extended service contracts,” Schwartz said. “To put it bluntly, we’re able to get much more comprehensive coverage and better pricing because our inspection is an independent third-party inspection.”

More Program Details

Sharing more of the nuts-and-bolts of the program, there is a five-month/5,000-mile limited warranty, which covers all major vehicle components. There is a five-day/500-mile buy-back guarantee, which not only can gives a little more reassurance to buyers, it provides dealer restocking fees.

Also offered are vehicle service contract upgrades, including major mechanical coverage up to 36 months, emergency roadside service, rental car, and trip reimbursements, among other benefits. This, again, not only can lift consumer confidence, it gives the dealer another revenue opportunity.

Additionally, the program includes a comprehensive auto report that validates purchase protection and quality assurance, while offering details like vehicle specifications and extended protection plan information.

The company provides a dedicated SureSale platform for training and customer support.

Dealer Enthusiasm

As far as dealer response to SureSale, Schwartz would not disclose how many dealers have signed up, but did emphasize that dealerships have been strongly receptive to the program, calling the feedback “extraordinary.”

The company has brought on large franchised dealers, dealership groups and independents, alike.

“We started this business with the motto that it was ‘CPO for All,’” he noted. “And what ‘CPO for All’ means to us is that we can certify a car to anyone. We can certify car to a franchised dealer, we can certify a car to an independent dealer, we can certify a car that’s a private-party car … we can certify a car at the auction. We can certify a car to a financial institution, if it wants access to the inspection report.

“So we’ve created basically a Web services approach to certification,” Schwartz added. “We’re bringing CPO to all.”

 For more information about the program, call (866) 306-6462 or visit www.suresalecertified.com.