Infiniti certified pre-owned warranty

Infiniti’s certified pre-owned program explained

If you’re new to certified pre-owned (CPO) programs in general, here’s a brief summary of how they work.

In order to qualify as CPO, a vehicle must be below a certain age and mileage, pass a dealership inspection and include some sort of extended warranty (known as the CPO warranty).

Every major automaker has its own CPO program, and Infiniti is no exception. To qualify as Infiniti Certified Pre-Owned, a used Infiniti must be under 5 years old, have fewer than 60,000 miles on the odometer and pass a rigorous, 167-point inspection.

CPO Infinitis also include one of two CPO warranties: six-year/75,000 miles or six-year/unlimited miles, both bumper-to-bumper (we’ll discuss why there are two separate options in the next section). You’ll also get roadside assistance, a year of prepaid maintenance and other benefits that we’ll discuss in further detail below.

Before we move on, it’s worth mentioning that Infiniti actually has several “levels” of CPO.

• Infiniti CPO is the main CPO program as described above.
• Infiniti CPO Select is like “CPO lite” for Infiniti vehicles up to 10 years/100,000 miles old. Repairs require a $100 deductible, the inspection is cut in half (84 points instead of 167) and it only comes with a 1-year/12,000-mile powertrain warranty. Still, you get a free oil change and tire rotation, and you get to keep the $50 rental car per diem if your car has to go in for warranty work.
• CPO Select is essentially Infiniti CPO Select for non-Infiniti vehicles that come into the dealership. So if someone trades in a lightly-used Acura MDX, the dealer might inspect it and sell it as CPO Select. The two main differences are that the powertrain warranty gets halved (six months/6,000 miles) and your rental car per diem drops to $42.

But for this article, we’re going to be focusing on the primary CPO program, Infiniti CPO.

For many folks, the main draw of buying CPO is the added level of quality assurance. There’s comfort in knowing that your vehicle has been inspected and includes a longer warranty. But not all CPO warranties are the same (some are total smoke and mirrors), so let’s take a closer look at what Infiniti has to offer.

» LEARN: What does a car warranty cover?

How good is Infiniti’s CPO warranty?

As mentioned above, your certified pre-owned Infiniti will come with one of two warranties. Both provide bumper-to-bumper coverage, meaning virtually every car part will be guaranteed against factory defects. The only exceptions to bumper-to-bumper coverage are usually gaskets, cosmetics and routine wear-and-tear parts (e.g., brake pads, wiper blades).

The only difference between the two Infiniti CPO warranties is the length. One lasts for six years/unlimited miles, while the other lasts for six years/75,000 miles.

Naturally, we asked our local dealer to explain why some cars come with unlimited-mile warranties and others don’t.

“It’s usually up to the service department,” a representative told us. “They’ll consider the model, the engine and the maintenance record, and if the car has a high lifetime expectancy, they’ll come to us and say, ‘Hey, this one’s good for unlimited’ or, ‘Hey, this one’s good for 75.’”

Another point of consideration is how the CPO warranty works in tandem with Infiniti’s factory warranty. For context, all new Infiniti vehicles come with the following manufacturer’s warranty:

• Four years/60,000 miles bumper-to-bumper
• Six years/70,000 miles powertrain (which only covers a few dozen parts in the engine, transmission and drive axles).

Factory warranties automatically transfer to new owners, too, so when you buy a used or CPO Infiniti you’ll get what’s left of the factory warranty.

That also means that the six-year/75,000-mile CPO warranty will overlap with the remaining factory warranty. So when you buy a CPO Infiniti, you’re essentially getting:

• Two years/15,000 miles of extra bumper-to-bumper coverage
• Zero years/5,000 miles of extra powertrain coverage

While that may feel deceptive, branding warranties this way is actually common industry practice. Just be aware that if you buy a CPO Infiniti, you’re not getting six years/75,000 miles of coverage from the date you buy the car, but from the date the car first went into service.

Plus, two years of added bumper-to-bumper coverage is solid for a CPO program. Let’s see how it stacks up with Infiniti’s rivals.

How does Infiniti’s CPO warranty compare?

Your CPO Infiniti comes with an extra two years/15,000 miles or two years/unlimited miles of bumper-to-bumper protection. As you’ll see from the chart below, the standard for the industry is around one year/12,000 miles, so Infiniti is a standout.

That said, Acura, Lincoln, Lexus and Porsche all add two years of bumper-to-bumper protection to their luxury vehicles, so all five are worth considering if you want maximum warranty protection with your shiny new investment.

» MORE: Best CPO warranties

CPO Infiniti benefits

In addition to the warranty, your Infiniti CPO vehicle will come with a nice handful of benefits:

• 24/7 roadside assistance, including battery jump-starts, flat tire changes, gas delivery (up to two gallons) and lockout assistance up to a maximum of $100 per claim.
• Towing assistance to the nearest Infiniti dealer, up to $100 per claim.
• Trip interruption coverage which will reimburse you up to $500 total for meals, lodging and transportation if your CPO Infiniti breaks down over 100 miles from home.
• One year of prepaid maintenance, including inspections, oil changes, tire rotations and other minor things (according to the dealer we spoke with). You won’t get an alignment or new brakes out of it, but even still, two visits covering the basics can save you up to $500.
• Rental car reimbursement of up to $50 per day ($250 maximum) to help cover the cost of a rental while your Infiniti is in the shop for warranty work.

All told, these are excellent benefits for a CPO program. The prepaid maintenance alone adds about $500 of value to the CPO package, and roadside, towing and trip interruption lend extra peace of mind. Several other CPO programs include rental car assistance, but a $50 per diem is one of the highest we’ve seen.

With a lengthy warranty and solid benefits, Infiniti CPO is shaping up to be a good deal worth considering. But how much more will it cost you to buy CPO versus used, and is it worth paying the difference?

Is a CPO Infiniti worth it?

In general, buying CPO is more likely to be worth it if:

• You place a high value on peace of mind.
• The warranty and benefits justify the added cost.
• The make and model you’re considering has a troubled history of reliability.

So, to help us decide, let’s look at how reliable Infinitis are in general and how much dealers charge for CPO vehicles.

How reliable are Infinitis?

In its 2024 Vehicle Dependability Study, J.D. Power ranked Infiniti 22nd out of 29 brands overall. According to the outlet, the average 2021-model-year Infiniti experienced 219 problems per 100 vehicles after three years of ownership, compared with the study average of 190.

Consumer Reports, which draws data from a wider range of model years, ranked Infiniti 13th out of 30. According to the outlet, the Q50, QX50, QX55 and QX60 all earned a Predicted Reliability Score of 3 out of 5, while the titanic QX80 earned a 2 out of 5.

For its part, RepairPal data suggests that Infinitis do tend to visit the shop more often than other cars, at an average of 0.67 times per year versus 0.4 across the industry, but the repairs they need aren’t more expensive than your average car.

Given the brand has a checkered reputation for reliability, having two extra years of CPO warranty protection might be a good idea. But how much are dealers charging for CPO these days?

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

How much does a certified pre-owned Infiniti cost?

When we looked, there were 589 CPO Infiniti vehicles listed for sale within 500 miles of New York City, with an average asking price of $38,767. Within those same parameters, there were 1,120 used Infinitis for sale with an average price of $34,720.

To find this out, we compared the cost of a CPO Infiniti to its direct, pre-owned equivalent on Edmunds.com. That means we set filters for age (2019 or newer), mileage (under 60,000), accident history and more to ensure the closest comparison possible.

The data suggests that, on average, Infiniti dealers are charging $4,047, or 11.7%, more for CPO versus used Infinitis. So you’re paying about $4,000 more for:

• An inspection
• A two-year extended warranty
• One year of complimentary basic maintenance
• 24/7 roadside, trip interruption and rental car reimbursement

While the basic maintenance helps cover $500 in value, we’re not sure the rest of those perks are worth $3,500. You can always order your own, unbiased inspection of a used vehicle by scheduling a pre-purchase inspection for around $200. Roadside is included with a basic AAA membership, and the max payout for trip interruption/rental car reimbursement is $750, assuming you ever use it.

That means you’re essentially paying $3,000-plus for a two-year extended warranty on a used Infiniti. We established above that having some sort of extended warranty protection might be a good idea, but is $3,000 for two years really a good deal?

Do you need an extended warranty for your Infiniti?

In our full breakdown of Infiniti's extended warranty, we found that the average cost of extended warranty protection for an Infiniti hovered around $1,125 per year of bumper-to-bumper coverage. That’s much less than paying $3,000 for two years with CPO, and it’s possible you can find an even better deal than that by shopping around.

That said, if you really like the idea of owning a CPO Infiniti, you can always try negotiating with the dealer to get the price down. To learn how to negotiate with dealers the easy way, check out Step #8 of how to buy a used car.

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