During a stellar month that put Vanguard Kia near the top of the brand's sales rankings, the dealership in Arlington, Texas, set a new regional record for certified pre-owned (CPO) sales with 84 units.
Driving the news: CPO sales were 15.5% of the market in July, according to Cox Automotive.
Through the first seven months of the year, CPO sales were 1.8% below 2025 levels, but sales have increased in recent months.
In July, the market even saw CPO sales hit 223,676 units, a nearly 14,000-unit jump from June.
Kia CPO program: The brand hit 1 million CPO sales in 2025, with its program offering a 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty, 1-year, 12,000 miles of its platinum coverage, bumper-to-bumper coverage.
CarGurus noted Kia CPO is available for vehicles that pass a 165-point inspection, are within six model years, and have fewer than 80,000 miles.
Building CPO sales: Vanguard Kia General Manager Justin Villa explained that the dealership is committed to the CPO program and has buy-in from the staff.
He points out it starts with his “rockstar” used car director and used car manager, who have both bought into the program.
“If we can sell a ton of CPOs, that just allows us to do more new car business because we can take the trades,” Villa said.
Additionally, Villa noted that vehicles that qualify for CPO but can’t be certified are not stocked to avoid confusion with the sales staff.
Context worth noting: Over the past few years, CPO sales slid because of a lack of available inventory from vehicles coming in off-lease.
That started to change earlier this year, eclipsing more than 200,000 per month in maturities, according to Manheim data, and is expected to hit 262,000 in 2027.
The mix of maturities has shifted toward EVs, as highlighted in June with Kia’s “Keep Your Kia” campaign, which offered buyers up to $9,000 off to buy out their leased EV.
Villa said it can bring in several units off trade as a high-volume store, as shown by August’s 252 brand-new car sales and 187 used car sales (both store records), and purchase directly from Kia.
His salespeople averaged 22 sales last month.
Vanguard Kia currently has 60 CPOs in stock and tries to keep a good mix.
“I feel like people don’t want to come look at one Telluride, but if they see you’ve got eight or 10, it’s like, ‘Hey, we need to go there because we can look at all of these,’” Villa said.
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Zooming in on the numbers: Villa points out that there are reconditioning costs that come with committing to a CPO program. Admittedly, these are costs he says that some used car managers will not want to shell out.
For example, his store spent an average of $2,482 to recondition a CPO vehicle in July, up from the average $2,021 spent on regular used vehicles.
Kia also charges $599 to certify CPOs.
He noted F&I runs $400 better on CPOs because warranties are less expensive.
“It’s only $400 more per car, which isn’t terrible… And then we get good value when we’re selling. People are obviously shopping for CPO like crazy,” Villa said, adding, “Most of our lenders give us a $2,000 extra advance for CPO. There’s a lot of help in that space when it comes to lending.”
Marketing CPOs: Kia’s website, Villa said, pushes customers to available CPO inventory in their area.
Third-party sites will also note if a vehicle has been certified.
“I wouldn’t say we’re doing anything extra. Almost every site gives you the ability to search for CPO,” he said.
Bottom line: With more inventory coming in off lease, CPO opportunities are increasing, as Cox Automotive data shows.
As Villa explains, it takes the right inventory and top-down commitment to run a successful CPO program.
“You’ve gotta get that buy-in,” Villa said.
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