Bargain CPO Cars That Used To Cost Over $100,000

Certified Pre-Owned is a term you've probably heard on car commercials without knowing exactly what it means. Basically, when a dealership takes in a used car with lower mileage under the same brand, it can put the vehicle under the certification process. This usually involves a full check of the car's systems including brakes, fluids, and various accessories, and can often include new tires, oil changes, and other various refurbishings.

When a car is finally put onto the lot as a CPO vehicle, the dealership is essentially selling a used car with a factory-backed warranty. This means you will are getting the best of both worlds - a nicely depreciated used car but with a factory-based warranty of a new car that can be fulfilled at any authorized dealer.

In our opinion, buying CPO is the best way to buy a highly depreciated luxury car because you can score an amazing deal without worrying too much about costly maintenance. To demonstrate these amazing deals, we've picked six cars that used to cost six-figures when they were new, but can now be had for much less.

Let's start with a big one, the Audi R8. It may not be the most common CPO vehicle under $100,000 but we managed to find two examples - a coupe and a spyder - under the six-figure mark with a CPO warranty. When it was new back in 2014, the R8 would have set you back $119,150 for the Coupe or $132,650 for the Spyder, both of which came powered by a 4.2-liter V8 producing 430 horsepower.

Today, used R8 can now be found for less than $90,000 with an Audi-backed CPO warranty. Audi's CPO warranty includes a one-year/unlimited-mileage warranty beyond the original four-year/50,000-mile warranty, meaning you can own an R8 for a whole year with no worries.

Porsche is already highly ranked in reliability but it doesn't mean the added security of a CPO warranty wouldn't be nice. The German automaker offers a phenomenal CPO deal, a six-year/unlimited-mileage warranty from the sale date. Now, apply this to the car we've chosen for this list, the Panamera.

There is no shortage of highly depreciated Panamera examples under $100,000 but we managed to find a 2017 Turbo with under 30,000 miles on it for less than six-figures. Even if the car was sold in 2016, you'd still be getting a three-year/unlimited-mileage warranty on a car that sold for at least $148,000 when it was new and comes with a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 producing 550 hp.

Buying a used luxury can be an expensive proposition if the vehicle ends up being unreliable. And in the case of Land Rover, this could end up being your reality given the company's spotty reliability record. But if the vehicle is newer than five-years-old and has less than 60,000 miles, it qualifies for Land Rover's CPO warranty - seven years and 100,000 miles past the original four-year/50,000-mile warranty, transferable to new owners.

With such a long CPO warranty, you can feel more confided going all out with a used example of Land Rover's top model, the used Range Rover. There are plenty of examples to chose from, including the 5.0-liter supercharged V8 model (originally $104,000) with 518 hp.

The Lexus LC 500 is the only model on this list to technically fall short of a six-figure starting price with an original MSRP of $92,000. Adding almost any option sends the LC beyond $100,000 which is why we decided to include it anyway. CPO examples now start in the low $70,000 and include a six-year/unlimited-mileage warranty from the original sale date. Lexus already has one of the best reputations for reliability, making this 471-hp V8 luxury coupe a complete slam dunk as a used purchase.

The BMW M5 has progressively become more expensive over the years and now starts at a whopping $102,600. Granted, you do get a lot for your money including a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 producing 600 hp. But you can now get a used M5 starting at around $85,000 with BMW's one-year/unlimited-mileage warranty beyond the original four-year/50,000-mile warranty. If you are willing to go older with the last-generation F10 M5, CPO prices start at around $50,000, nearly half the price of a brand-new model.

When it comes to the best bang for your buck, we've saved the best for last with the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe. Even a base S-Class Coupe is a major status symbol but we managed to find a 2016 S65 AMG (that's the 621-hp V12 one with an original MSRP of$233,525) for less than $100,000 with a CPO warranty.

Like Audi and BMW, Mercedes' CPO program only covers one year with unlimited mileage past the original warranty but depending on which model year you purchase, this could add up to almost five years of warranty coverage. The S65 we picked would only include one or two years of coverage but there are plenty of S63s and S550s to choose from.