Whether your idea of fun is a vintage JDM performance icon, a modern legend of the autobahn, or simply a car with little creature energy, we all want to drive something fun. Sure, a used Prius is a great way of getting from place to place, but you probably don’t have a saved search for one, yeah? It’s easy to fantasize about fried-egg Porsche 911s and spinning triangle machines, until the tether of reality holds you back. You can’t realistically expect something like a 120,000-mile BMW M3 to reliably get you to work every day without at least a few faults, and have you seen what the average used car loan costs in interest alone? The compromise, of course, is the certified pre-owned car.
We’re talking about manufacturer programs for generally well-kept used cars that charge a little bit of a premium, but often bundle in extended warranty coverage and subvented financing rates, primarily to appeal to more rational consumers. It sounds fairly pragmatic, and if you’re willing to cast a wide net and hop a cheap flight, you could end up with something that ticks those sensible boxes while delighting your senses.
However, you will want to watch out for what those certified pre-owned programs actually offer. Coverage can vary significantly, so here’s a quick run-down on five exceptionally joyful cars you can find under $25,000 with certified pre-owned stamps of approval, and what that fancy title really means in each instance.
Mazda MX-5 Miata
Let’s start with the distilled essence of sports car, the Mazda MX-5. We all know it as the best-selling sports car lineage of all time, and an update for 2019 with a higher redline made it pretty much the perfect affordable performance vehicle. While stick-shift certified pre-owned examples are thin on the ground, you can end up with something nigh-on perfect if you’re determined. Check out this 2023 model with just under 33,000 miles on the clock, up for sale in Virginia. It’s an MX-5 Club, so it gets the limited-slip rear differential and Bilstein dampers, along with creature comforts like heated seats and a Bose sound system. The asking price? A reasonable $24,543.
So, what does Mazda’s certified pre-owned program get you? Well, the headline item is a slightly extended warranty package. A one-year, 12,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty kicks in either when the factory three-year, 36,000-mile comprehensive warranty finishes or when you take delivery of a vehicle with no remaining factory limited warranty coverage. At the same time, the powertrain warranty gets extended from five years or 60,000 miles from the vehicle’s in-service date to seven years or 100,000 miles. A roadside assistance extension follows the powertrain warranty extension, while certified pre-owned models with satellite radio come with a three-month free trial.
Honda Civic Si
Need more space than a Miata but still want an absolutely stellar shifter? A Honda Civic Si is the obvious choice. No, it’s not a Type R, but it’s a sweet-handling compact sedan with 200 horsepower and a proper helical limited-slip differential. Certified pre-owned pre-facelift 11th-generation examples are now creeping below $25,000, and they’re pretty great. However, they do tend to have higher mileage. For instance, this 2022 model is up for sale in Delaware for $24,400, but it has 71,000 miles on the clock. This seems about typical for less expensive eleventh-gen CPO Si models, but it’s worth keeping in mind.
Still, the HondaTrue Certified program does offer real benefits. Not only do certified pre-owned models feature a powertrain warranty of seven years or 100,000 miles from the vehicle’s in-service date, but they also come with a comprehensive warranty of two years or 100,000 odometer miles. For vehicles with some factory bumper-to-bumper warranty left, this latter extension kicks in after the factory warranty’s done. For vehicles without, it kicks in when you pull off the lot in your certified pre-owned car, but expires after either two years or when the odometer reading rolls into six figures. As for freebies, Honda throws in two oil changes to be done within a year after delivery, along with roadside assistance matching the CPO extended bumper-to-bumper warranty and 90 days of free satellite radio.
Hyundai Elantra N
Is a Civic Si just not exciting enough for you? Believe it or not, there are now a handful of certified pre-owned Elantra Ns out there under $25,000. Fairly slow depreciation for a Hyundai, considering these sport compacts originally started just south of $33,000. But this isn’t your normal economy car. A 276-horsepower two-liter turbocharged inline-four and a nigh-on magical electronically variable limited-slip differential conspire with masterful chassis tuning to serve up a wailing good time. It might not be as quick as a Honda Civic Type R, but it’s the most engaging front-wheel-drive car you can buy, and that’s saying something. Just check out this DCT-equipped certified pre-owned 2022 model, up for sale in North Carolina for $24,250. With a little over 54,000 miles on the clock and a clean Carfax, it would make a sweet daily driver.
Does Hyundai’s certified pre-owned program come with an extended warranty? Sort-of. It’s complicated. While Hyundai does tout a 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty on its new cars, only half of that warranty term is normally transferable, typically capping out at five years. However, certified pre-owned examples do keep the full warranty term, so buyers will be covered for longer than if they bought from an independent used car dealer. Mind you, unlike most manufacturers’ certified pre-owned warranties, Hyundai’s does carry a $50 deductible. Does Hyundai throw anything else in? Yes. Three months of satellite radio, a year of telematics, and roadside assistance for 10 years from the car’s in-service date. While it doesn’t seem like subvented rates are being advertised for certified pre-owned Elantra Ns, having a warranty as a cushion while you’re making payments does give peace of mind.
Ford Mustang
Alright, wildcard time. Since 2024, you haven’t been able to buy a new Mustang Ecoboost with a row-your-own manual transmission. However, that just means you now have an opportunity to score a three-pedal, 310-horsepower Mustang on the low. We’re talking zero-to-60 mph in about five seconds, a limited-slip differential for responsible hooliganism, seating for four, and a huge aftermarket when your warranty expires. Sure, you might have to do some travelling to extract maximum bang for your buck, but check out this certified pre-owned 2022 Mustang Ecoboost up for sale in Florida. It might be a low-option car, but it’s also barely used with just 18,752 miles on the clock. Plus, it’s part of the Ford Gold program, and that’s important.
See, Ford offers two somewhat confusing tiers of certified pre-owned programs. While Blue Certified vehicles are up to 10 years or 150,000 miles old and come with 90-day or 4,000-mile warranties, Gold Certified is the whole enchilada. We’re talking Ford vehicles less than six years or 80,000 miles old, equipped with some significant perks: A one-year or 12,000-mile comprehensive warranty kicking in when the factory warranty expires or, if it’s already expired, when you take delivery. In addition, Ford provides a powertrain warranty for seven years or 100,000 miles from the vehicle’s in-service date. Are there other perks? Yes. Three months of satellite radio, extended roadside assistance, a full tank of fuel, fresh wiper blades, a fresh oil change, and 22,000 FordPass points to spend on servicing or accessories. However, the big one is a current offer of 4.99 percent financing for 60 months, far better than the 7.15 percent average Bankrate reports for Superprime customers with credit scores north of 780.
Subaru BRZ
Okay, this one’s cheating a little bit because there’s currently only one certified pre-owned BRZ in America under $25,000. However, there are several out there between $25,000 and $26,000, so if you’re a shrewd negotiator, the next step is up to you. When Toyota and Subaru teamed up on their second generation of affordable sports coupes, the result was pretty much the perfect tin-top sports car under $75,000 or so. Not only is it quick enough thanks to a 228-horsepower, 2.4-liter flat-four engine, but the inputs and suspension tuning create the best non-convertible sports car this side of a Porsche 718 Cayman. It’s more engaging than a C8 Corvette Stingray, plus it has an emergency-use rear seat and decent cargo capacity. This certified pre-owned 2023 BRZ Limited is up for sale in Florida for $24,911 with a mere 26,747 miles on the clock. When you think about it, that’s nearly new. Plus, it ticks the right boxes. It’s a stick-shift car with the fancy headlights and heated seats. Job done.
So what does Subaru’s certified pre-owned program get you? Well, the headline item is a powertrain warranty extension to seven years or 100,000 miles from the vehicle’s in-service date. In the case of this BRZ, that’s powertrain coverage until September of 2030, provided you keep a lid on the mileage. In addition, Subaru throws in three months of satellite radio, one year of basic telematics, and roadside assistance matched to the warranty term.
New enthusiast cars are expensive, but you might actually be able to justify a joyful certified pre-owned car, provided you’re willing to search far and wide. If you have to finance a car, the safety net of a factory-backed powertrain warranty is huge, because nobody likes paying for major repairs while they’re still making payments. Just remember to read the fine print and be aware of a vehicle’s in-service date.
Top graphic image: Thomas Hundal
The 2022+ VB WRX can easily be found under $25k, especially in the lower trims. Not to mention VA (205-2021) which are way under $20k now.
Don’t sleep on the new(ish) Integra, it’s starting to approach $25k even on CarMax.
You’re going to need as much of that CPO warranty as you can get with a used VA WRX. Legitimately the least reliable car I have ever owned, and I’m keeping an eye out for the eventual class-action lawsuit for the FA20DIT engine as I kept the cracked pistons and bent rods from the stock engine. VB fixed a lot of the VA’s problems.
No one ever said the WRX life was easy.
Off today to look at some (sadly not sub-25k) CPO Integras. A ’24 A-Spec with 9k miles for under $28k sounds like a pretty good time to me.
It’s a terrific car. The 6MT in that fixed the ratio issues that the ILX had. I’m not sure I like the 1.5T as much as the K24 from a driving perspective, but I do like better efficiency for a daily driver. Also the hatchback format is terrific.
I actually bought that A-Spec yesterday. Performance Red. It’s a CVT which I was apprehensive about but I was surprised at how well it drives… no rubberbanding at all and it’s always ready to play. I’m pretty much leaving it in sport all the time since that kills auto-stop and I like a little more weight to the steering. Interior is a little dour but I have some P2M checker floor mats on the way. It’s not a tech package so it doesn’t get a lot of the toys, but what IS there is beautifully made and seems to work well. I’m coming from a totalled ’24 Forte GT which was quicker and absolutely loaded with toys, but just didn’t feel anywhere near as planted or well engineered as this.
There are a few blue certified GTs for under $25000. I would take that over the Ecoboost.
I’m really glad the Ecoboost Mustang exists and has real performance. That said, V8>turbo I4 every single time.
I may get laughed out of here, but I picked up a CPO ’22 Volvo XC40 Recharge for a little over 24K and it’s a hoot–402 hp and 486 lb ft of torque in the last car anyone would ever expect to be quick. Best seats I’ve ever had in a car, very good Harman/Kardon stereo, admittedly marginal range. As a CPO car it came with 2 extra years of warranty with no mileage limit.
Nah, it’s amazing how many people are sleeping on cheap lightly used EVs.
When I bought my wife’s S90, I REALLY wanted the T8 which is what they called the plug in hybrids before they renamed it Recharge. 2.0 4-cylinder with a turbo, a supercharger and the rear wheels are powered by electric motors. Sadly, they are nonexistent once you leave the west coast and I refuse to buy a black-on-black car anymore.
I’m sure it will be an absolute nightmare to troubleshoot and fix in the future, but who cares, 400+ HP in a Volvo is silly fun. Had to settle with the T6 which is nice; it had the tan interior and the B&W stereo which were the requirements for me. It is also not black which is also important. Was hard enough to find this one and still had to trailer it home.
See, that’s the big issue with performance EVs. When grocery-getter CUVs have 400hp/500torques, how can a true sports car differentiate itself without costing as much as the moon?
I’m on my second lease of a XC40 Recharge. They are very fun little cars and can swallow up a lot of cargo when necessary.
I still make my daughter laugh hysterically when I drive around 15-20 mph then stab and let off the throttle. It feels like a bucking bronco, so much fun!!!!
I’m still getting used to not switching the car on and off. Overall I’m absolutely delighted with it, although it’s a little sad that my GTI feels slow now.
I have been trying to convince my spouse to look at one of those; no mocking to be done.
mk7.5 GTI erasure
“certified” sounds optional.
It’s like budgeting for repairs. Which, clearly, with the number of Stellantis (Jeep) owners on here, isn’t a priority.
These are a great group of cars except for the Hyundai. Not even a factory extended warranty could make me place my hard-earned money on that sour engine that will ultimately burn copious liters of oil until it sharts its catalytic converter and then leaves your arse stranded.
I would have thought that was the new price for the Civic Si. Yes I am old why do you ask.
You’re not far off, I saw that and thought “Yeah but I can get brand new for just over $30k” (or the faster, but less sporty Hybrid model for about the same, fully loaded).
Guess we just had to put a Honda on there 🙂
Honestly if I’m buying a car for daily driving use, I’d rather have the hybrid.
Good list. When you live where it is winter for 4-6 months a year and they use on average 1/4 million tons of salt per winter, there are just not as many cool fun used cars locally and in decent shape.
Not sure if the Tesla-sold used cars count as CPO but they do have additional warranty added beyond what a regular used car would get. If they do count, there are Model 3 Performance cars at/under 25k (just) that pop up from time to time. With <3.5s 0-60 and being pretty tossable, they are a hoot to drive hard. Even the AWD LR models are <4s 0-60 and quite fun to drive at a lower cost.
You’re going to call me nuts (“you’re nuts”) but I was amazed at how much fun the little cheap-ass 2023 Chevy BOLT EV is to drive. They’re great bargains used, and the instant torque, “sport” mode, and the excellent one-pedal driving combine with a tiny wheelbase making it a quick little hot hatch.
They’re not the fastest, but they’re quick and nimble. I’ve had a bunch of Miatas, all manuals, some with track mods and of course Miata Is Always The Answer, but I’ve got to admit I have a blast hooning the little BOLT EV around town too.
Yep, especially if you upgrade the tires to get better traction, it is a joy to drive.
I see the next gen Bolts have a lot less hp and torque. GM did a double-screw-up. The eliminated CarPlay and AA, and they also neutered the drivetrain.
Glad we have the 23.
Not nuts.
Small, short-wheelbase (but wheels pushed to far corners), with torque is always fun.
“Fun” implies manual, so take off those automatics. Can place those in a “not-as-fun” article and get paid twice!
A good list, for sure, but you mentioned fantasising about fried-egg goodness and a Carrera 2 hardtop with a manual transmission — in good shape, no less — can still be had for under $25k. If the purchaser doesn’t want to daily a 911 that’s on them.
As someone who tried to do exactly this. Don’t.
I do exactly this.