General Motors made a significant change to its used vehicle strategy in June 2026 when it officially merged its long-running Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) program into CarBravo. While the move may sound like a simple rebranding effort, it represents a broader shift in how GM dealers sell, certify, and support certified inventory.
For shoppers, the change means access to a wider range of certified vehicles, expanded eligibility standards, and a program that is no longer limited to GM models. But why is GM retiring its current CPO program? Before examining why GM is making this transition, it’s worth understanding why the original CPO program was so successful for so many years.
GM’s Original Certified Pre-Owned Program
The original GM Certified Pre-Owned program set the stage for GM vehicles in the 1990s. To qualify, vehicles generally needed to be five model years old or newer, have fewer than 75,000 miles, and carry a clean title without salvage or similar branding.
Eligible Chevrolet, GMC, and Buick vehicles (Cadillac has a separate program that was not merged with CarBravo) received a range of warranty and ownership benefits through the program. These benefits included:
- 12-month/12,000-mile bumper-to-bumper coverage
- Six-year/100,000-mile powertrain coverage
- Six-year/100,000-mile 24/7 roadside assistance
- Three-day/150-mile vehicle exchange program
- Two courtesy maintenance visits
- OnStar Connected Services trial
- SiriusXM satellite radio trial
- 172-point inspection
- vehicle reconditioning report
- vehicle history report
What Is CarBravo & What Does It Feature?
GM is retiring its traditional CPO program and transitioning to CarBravo as its certified used vehicle platform. CarBravo was introduced by the company in 2022, with an announcement that GM dealerships would be offering certified inventory through the CarBravo program.
One of CarBravo’s most significant distinctions was its ability to certify eligible non-GM vehicles alongside Chevrolet, GMC, and Buick models. You could shop for a certified used vehicle online or through your local dealership’s inventory and receive the warranty benefits and protections offered by the CarBravo certified used program.
Initially, CarBravo offered much more limited warranty coverage than GM’s CPO program, though bumper-to-bumper protection was increased from six months/6,000 miles to 12 months/12,000 miles in January 2026. With CarBravo, you also have up to 10 days or 500 miles to return the vehicle and exchange it for something else. This was soon followed by GM’s big announcement that it was discontinuing its traditional CPO program.
Merging GM’s CPO Program With CarBravo
On March 3rd, 2026, GM announced it was merging its CPO program with CarBravo. This meant that Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC Certified Pre-Owned benefits would all be consolidated under the CarBravo certified used vehicle program. This was put into effect due to various changing dynamics in the used car market.
What exactly are these changing dynamics in the used car market? Shoppers now purchase a lot of their goods online and want more protection options. GM noted that the average vehicle on the road is 12.8 years old as of 2026, and that consumers are projected to purchase 38 million used vehicles, compared with 15.8 million new vehicles.
Those figures illustrate the enormous scale of the used vehicle market and help explain why manufacturers are investing more heavily in certified used vehicle programs. It also suggests that shoppers are placing greater emphasis on affordability, vehicle selection, and ownership protection when evaluating used vehicle purchases.
GM is able to leverage the CarBravo program to not only include its own vehicles—such as Chevrolet, GMC, and Buick—but also vehicles from competing brands. By combining online shopping tools with transferable warranty coverage, CarBravo gives dealers additional ways to attract buyers who may not have previously considered a GM dealer.
What Adoption Trends Suggest
According to GM, since 2022, CarBravo has sold over 200,000 vehicles, with CarBravo dealers sealing about 2.3 times as many vehicles as dealers selling traditional GM CPO. Additionally, CarBravo is generating a lot of new leads for dealers. According to the Detroit Free Press, an estimated 100,000 used car sales started on CarBravo in 2025.
Furthermore, 70% of the buyers noted they had never purchased from their dealer before CarBravo, and 48% had never bought from a GM dealer at all. CarBravo leads have also resulted in 6,200 new car sales for Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac.
How GM’s Switch to CarBravo Benefits You
Some might see this switch as less than spectacular or not that big a deal. However, as a customer, you now have more options than ever before, and not just from more than 750 GM dealers across all 50 states that have adopted the CarBravo program, but also from the expansion of certified used benefits.
As part of moving the GM CPO benefits over to CarBravo, GM has expanded what vehicles can be included in the CarBravo program and added a budget tier called BravoBudget. For instance, instead of five model years or newer with 75,000 miles or less on the odometer, CarBravo offers vehicles up to ten model years or newer with 100,000 miles or less on the odometer.
GM’s addition of the BravoBudget tier also provides added protection for lower-cost vehicles. These are vehicles that are 10 to 15 model years old with no more than 150,000 miles. These vehicles have no reconditioning, but they do come with some added benefits you otherwise wouldn’t get from an “as-is” used model sold elsewhere, including:
- 30 days/1,000 miles bumper-to-bumper coverage
- 30 days/1,000 miles 24/7 roadside assistance
- 10 days/500 miles vehicle exchange program
Service, Access, & the Benefits of Long-Term Support
Another benefit of the CarBravo program for customers is that any vehicle you purchase through the program—even if it’s a non-GM vehicle—can have warranty work done at any GM dealership. This opens up a lot more options for finding dealers who can work on your vehicle, and the convenience of finding a service center closer to your location.
With transferable warranty benefits, OEM parts coverage, and bumper-to-bumper and powertrain coverage, it’s a huge incentive to choose a CarBravo certified used model over any standard used vehicle where you don’t have those protections or long-term support.
For many shoppers, CarBravo’s expanded warranty protections and exchange policies provide advantages over purchasing a traditional pre-owned model. However, to get the best deal possible, any potential shopper should still compare coverage details, vehicle pricing, and certification standards before making a buying decision.
Potential Impact on the Used Car Market
According to GM, the Cadillac CPO program will remain the same, offering 12 months and unlimited miles on its bumper-to-bumper coverage, but all other brands have moved under the CarBravo umbrella. So if you were looking to purchase a CPO Cadillac, nothing changes for you.
However, if you’re looking to purchase a certified used Chevrolet, Buick, or GMC vehicle, you’ll now be doing so from the expanded CarBravo program. But what’s more, you now have the option to purchase popular models from Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Ford, Ram, Kia, Volkswagen, and many more from the CarBravo offerings.
Since this program is offered through GM dealers, it may provide a competitive advantage compared to traditional brand-exclusive CPO programs. It’s an added incentive for shoppers to choose those 750 (and growing) GM dealers rather than dealers for other brands that only offer brand-specific CPO programs.
New Certified Pre-Owned Programs On the Horizon?
CarBravo’s expansion may encourage other automakers to reevaluate their certified vehicle strategies as competition within the used vehicle market continues to increase. Right now, there’s an added incentive to shop at a GM dealer that offers CarBravo certified used vehicles as opposed to brand-exclusive CPO programs.
With the standard CPO programs, you’re locked into models exclusively from that manufacturer. But the added brands available from CarBravo give shoppers more opportunities to explore different makes and models.
Could this result in an evolved CPO program from Ford, Honda, Stellantis, or Hyundai? It’s possible. Multi-brand certification opportunities add a lot of potential value to shoppers. The other automakers will likely be keeping an eye on CarBravo’s success, either to emulate it or to evolve their own programs to match its benefits.
Are You Ready to Embrace CarBravo?
With GM evolving its CPO program to no longer be limited to brands under the GM umbrella, it opens up many more opportunities for shoppers to benefit from using the CarBravo service to find an affordable second-hand vehicle with warranty coverage. For dealers, the transition could expand the pool of potential certified vehicle shoppers outside of traditional GM shoppers.
For GM, the transition represents an opportunity to strengthen dealer participation, expand certified inventory sales opportunities, and keep more shoppers within its retail ecosystem. This applies even when they are purchasing non-GM vehicles.
It may also help participating dealerships appeal to shoppers seeking a broader certified inventory and additional warranty-backed options. The only question now is whether you’re ready to embrace CarBravo and whether you’ll use it for your next used vehicle purchase.
