Ferrari certified pre-owned warranty

Ferrari’s certified pre-owned program explained

CPO vehicles are essentially used vehicles that are being sold in “like new” condition. To qualify as CPO, a vehicle must be under a certain age or mileage and have no accidents or major issues on record. Next, it must pass a dealership quality inspection, where a trained tech goes through it with a fine-tooth comb. Finally, CPO vehicles usually come with an extended warranty plus benefits like roadside assistance.

That’s what you can typically expect if you purchase a vehicle from a mass-market brand like Porsche or Lexus.

But the small volume, ultra-luxury and exotic car companies tend to do CPO a little differently, and Ferrari is no exception.

For starters, Ferrari calls its CPO program Ferrari Approved. To qualify, a pre-owned Ferrari must be under 14 years old. There’s technically no mileage limit, but when you consider that the average CPO Ferrari only has about 3,000 miles on it, it goes to show that the dealers are already handpicking low-mileage cars to begin with.

Next, the pre-owned Ferrari must pass a series of “extremely rigorous technical checks and controls drawn up by the factory.” If the licensed Ferrari technician finds anything that doesn’t meet Maranello’s standards, the part will immediately be repaired or replaced using genuine Ferrari components.

“On average, we spend about $15,000 certifying each vehicle,” one dealer told us.

Ferrari also states that a complete written evaluation will be left in the glove box, so you can look for that during your test drive.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, all Ferrari Approved vehicles come with two additional years of warranty protection and Ferrari Roadside Assistance. So let’s dive into the details of the warranty and how it stacks up to Ferrari’s closest rivals.

» LEARN: What does a car warranty cover?

How good is Ferrari’s CPO warranty?

Ferrari’s CPO warranty is one of the best in the entire auto industry.

“Ferrari Approved vehicles come with a two-year/unlimited-mile warranty, which kicks in as soon as the three-year/unlimited-mile factory warranty expires,” a high-volume Ferrari dealer told us. “Both the factory and Ferrari Approved warranty provide bumper-to-bumper protection.”

ConsumerAffairs confirmed this on Ferrari’s website, where the company states that all Ferrari Approved vehicles come with a “minimum of 24 months Ferrari coverage.” So even if you purchase a Ferrari that’s already past its factory warranty period, you’ll get another two years and unlimited miles of bumper-to-bumper protection from the date of purchase.

That’s a generous amount of coverage for an exotic car with extremely expensive parts and labor. It far outpaces most of Ferrari’s competitors.

How does Ferrari’s CPO warranty compare?

For context, the average CPO warranty across the entire auto industry is one year/12,000 miles of additional coverage.

With exotic and ultra-luxury cars, it’s usually one year/unlimited miles, presumably because these companies realize that you probably won’t be putting 12,000 miles per year on your Vanquish or Mulsanne any time soon.

So for Ferrari to offer double the usual coverage is quite impressive, and it’s far more than you’d get with an Aston Martin, Lamborghini and especially a McLaren.

We spoke to multiple McLaren dealers who claimed that the CPO McLaren warranty was an optional paid extra that wasn’t included in the cost of the vehicle. So if you’re comparing the cost of a CPO Ferrari to a CPO McLaren, you might want to keep that in mind.

» MORE: Best CPO warranties

CPO Ferrari benefits

In addition to the inspection, refurbishment and two-year warranty, Ferrari Approved vehicles also come with one additional benefit:

• 24/7 Roadside Assistance for the duration of your warranty coverage, which covers dead battery jumpstarts, flat tire assistance, lockout services, fuel delivery, “mechanical issues” and towing up to 100 miles to the nearest Ferrari dealer.

This is the part where we’d normally say, “Ferrari’s CPO program doesn’t include enough benefits,” and there is some truth to that.

For one, it doesn’t include a valet service like Rolls-Royce and Genesis have, where the dealer will come fetch the vehicle from your house for service appointments. It also doesn’t guarantee loaner vehicles or reimbursement for rental cars, although we did speak to a few Ferrari dealers who said they’d assist with alternate transportation as best they could.

Lastly, it vexingly doesn’t include trip expense reimbursement, which helps to cover the cost of meals, lodging and transportation if your CPO vehicle breaks down 100 plus miles from home. You may not plan on driving your Ferrari that far from home, but still, it’s a notable omission.

But the reason we’re cutting Ferrari a massive break on CPO benefits is that most new Ferraris already come with seven years of complimentary maintenance. Like the factory warranty, the Ferrari 7-Year Genuine Maintenance program automatically transfers to new owners. “So if you’re looking at a 2022 Portofino,” the dealer explained, “you’re looking at free annual service visits until 2029. Labor, lubricants, engine oil, brake fluid and all-original replacement parts.”

As mentioned, the Ferrari 7-Year Genuine Maintenance program isn’t technically a CPO-exclusive benefit, which is why it isn’t listed above, but it comes with most new, pre-owned and CPO Ferraris regardless, so it’s a benefit of Ferrari ownership as a whole.

Now onto the big question: Is it worth paying extra for a CPO Ferrari versus a regular used one?

Is a CPO Ferrari worth it?

In a general sense, it’s more likely to be worth paying extra for CPO if:

• The vehicle you’re considering is known for average or below-average reliability.
• The cost of buying CPO over used isn’t much more than the average for the industry (6%).
• The CPO warranty and benefits justify the added expense.

We’ve already established that Ferrari Approved vehicles come with industry-leading warranty and benefits. You’ll get two extra years of bumper-to-bumper warranty protection, an average of $15,000 in cleaning and refurbishment and the peace of mind knowing that a Ferrari technician has personally signed off on the quality of the vehicle.

But how reliable are Ferraris to begin with? And how much are dealers charging for Ferrari Approved versus vanilla pre-owned models these days?

How reliable are Ferraris?

Since Ferrari only produces about 8,400 vehicles per year (compared with Porsche’s 320,000), it can be hard to pin down just how reliable modern Ferraris might be in the long term. On top of that, Ferrari owners tend to put very few miles on their cars (most own multiple exotics, including a daily driver), so it’s difficult to say how well a 296 or a Roma might age past 30,000 or even 50,000 miles.

That said, scattered anecdotes from owners, technicians and racing instructors all seem to suggest that Ferraris are pretty well-made. But even if modern Ferraris are built to a high standard, that doesn’t necessarily negate the value of buying CPO.

Keep in mind that multiple Ferrari dealers told us that they spend an average of $15,000 refurbishing each pre-owned Ferrari to CPO standards, which implies that there was $15,000 worth of refurbishment to be done in the first place. That may include the most recent service, a deep cleaning, new hoses, new ceramic brakes, a fix of that hidden leak and countless other tiny issues that could’ve become major problems within the next 5,000 miles.

So it’s safe to say that you’re probably getting around $15,000 in value from buying CPO right off the bat, not including the warranty and additional peace of mind. But how much are Ferrari dealers charging extra for CPO these days?

» MORE: Ferrari maintenance: cost, plans and service schedule

How much does a certified pre-owned Ferrari cost?

We found 163 used Ferraris on the east coast with an average asking price of $401,225, and 36 CPO models with an average price of $412,539. The data suggests that on average, dealers are asking $11,314 or 2.8% more for CPO (compared to the 6% industry average).

If we narrow it down to the more “affordable” CPO Ferraris – the Roma, 488 and Portofino – the average used and CPO prices fall to $242,685 and $258,120, respectively. That’s still a difference of only $15,435 or 6.4%.

To calculate this, ConsumerAffairs searched Cargurus and Edmunds, online car marketplaces, to compare the average cost of a CPO Ferrari to its regular pre-owned equivalent with similar age and miles. We also filtered out any vehicles with major accidents or issues reported, as well as any vehicles listed for over $1 million that might skew the results.

$15,435 can buy you a lot of gas or track time, but Ferrari owners seem to agree that buying CPO is worth it.

“Yes you pay more, but Ferrari also spends more money on the car to make sure it’s good enough,” said a user on r/Ferrari. “Peace of mind is worth it I think.”

Multiple r/Ferrari members also touched on a hidden benefit to buying a Ferrari Approved vehicle versus a used one from Fred’s Car Lot. In the former case, buying a CPO vehicle from an actual Ferrari dealer can help you build a relationship with both the dealership and Ferrari as a brand, resulting in preferential treatment for allocations.

“Generally you’re not going to get allocated the most in-demand models without first having purchased another car or even several cars for the most highly coveted releases,” wrote a user.

So there you have it. Ferrari Approved vehicles come with an average $15,000 worth of refurbishment, one of the best warranties in the car business (exotic or otherwise), 24/7 roadside assistance, peace of mind and the increased possibility of getting an allocation on a newer Ferrari later on.

Before we wrap up, let’s briefly touch on your options for extended warranty protection beyond the CPO period.

Do you need an extended warranty for your Ferrari?

As long as your Ferrari is still under warranty (CPO or factory), you’ll have the option to purchase one of three Ferrari-backed extended warranties:

• The Ferrari Extended Manufacturer’s Warranty provides the same bumper-to-bumper coverage that the factory and CPO warranties provide. You can purchase 12 or 24 months of FEMW coverage at a time up to seven years from new.
• The Ferrari Power15 Warranty provides limited coverage for your engine, transmission and all other major mechanical and electrical components for up to 15 years from new.
• The Ferrari Power15 & Maintenance Program combines the Power15 warranty with eight more years of Ferrari factory maintenance for a total of 15 from new.

The cost of these plans will vary greatly by model, but one owner told us they were quoted $4,000 for a one-year Ferrari Extended Manufacturer’s Warranty. On an exotic supercar with eye-watering repair costs, purchasing extra coverage may not be a bad idea, even if modern Ferraris are considered more “bulletproof” than ever.

But you have some time to decide. If you purchase a Ferrari Approved vehicle, you’ll have at least two years until your CPO warranty expires, during which time you may decide to sell it.

Either way, you can enjoy the Ferrari ownership experience knowing that Maranello has your back.

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