Purchasing a new car certainly has its appeal.  I mean, a whole lot of people will comment on you buying a new car than when you bought a used car.  Plus, there's also that unique feeling that you are driving a car that no one else has driven. But what if you can only afford a second hand car? Not to worry because there are a lot of used cars out there which can be purchased at a fraction of a new one but have the same features and is still in pristine condition.

IntelliChoice recently named which automakers are offering the best certified pre-owned vehicle program, that's what they call used cars by the way. According to the automotive information site, the competition in the pre-owned vehicle market is heating up.  Two years ago, Jaguar has the best certified pre-owned vehicle program in the luxury division.  The British marque has occupied the trop spot for some years before 2005.  But last year, General Motors took the top spot with Cadillac edging out Jaguar. This year though, FoMoCo is once again in the lead with Volvo pushing Cadillac off the top.

James Bell, publisher and editor of the aforementioned site had this blow by blow account of what is happening in the luxury segment: "The luxury field in CPOs is very competitive, but Volvo edged out Cadillac on the basis of a strong compliance program.  In general, the top luxury programs offer similar car warranties, and many received high scores, which shows that Volvo had that extra edge over the competition."  The list is topped by Volvo followed by Cadillac, third place goes to Jaguar while Saab and Lexus rounded up the top five.

For non-luxury vehicles on the other hand Volkswagen once again took the crown for the fourth straight year. But the automaker better watch out for Korea's entry. Hyundai overcame its shortcomings last year to leap from last place to third this year.  Only Volkswagen and MINI upstaged Hyundai. Meanwhile, Honda is showing that it is the Mr. All Around in the auto industry ranking fourth and Scion rounding up the top five.