Certified Pre-Owned

Oh those clever bastards at Lexus! This has been going on for a few years now, but I heard a radio commercial this morning and it started bothering me again. Lexus doesn't sell Used Cars. They sell Certified Pre-Owned.
Which is just another way of saying "USED!" Who are you fooling with this advertising? Hopefully not people who have enough money to buy a Lexus. Their ads flat out state that Certified Pre-Owned is its own class of car buying. I disagree...a car is either used or it isn't.

I understand why many people don't want to buy used cars. A lot of people take pride in having something that is their own, and that nobody else has ever laid claim to. With a new car you also have control over how the car is treated. Unfortunately not all people can afford to buy a new car.
So buying a used car is an option many people have to take. I understand wanting to buy a car that you know has been well taken care of, compared to a vehicle that has been treated like shit. However, unless you buy directly from a person you trust, you really don't have any clue how a car was treated. Lexus can put as many certificates on the car as they want, but they weren't there when the previous owner was driving it. They can fix it up all nice and make it look like new, but the bottom line is that the car was still previously used by another unknown driver. Its still going to have miles on it, just like any used car, that a new car just won't have.

I hate how people try to redefine our language. People understand the concept of a used car. Why try to change that. Thank you Lexus for trying to create a new term to trick consumers. Why not tell the public that Lexus takes pride in selling the highest quality used car, instead of getting tricky with your words.