SAN DIEGO -

IntelliChoice announced the winners of the 15th annual IntelliChoice Certified Pre-Owned Car Awards. The awards were announced Tuesday at the Certified Pre-Owned Forum and National Remarketing Conference in San Diego, as part of 2013 Used Car Week.

Taking home top honors in the 2014 CPO Car Awards were Volvo and Hyundai, both of which are repeat winners.

Volvo took the Best Premium Program Award for the seventh straight year, while Hyundai took the Best Popular Program Award for the third straight year.

"Benefits beyond the new car warranty so significantly enhance consumers' peace of mind," said Eric Anderson, ownership cost supervisor at IntelliChoice. "That it is weighted very heavily in our study. Both the Volvo and the Hyundai programs exemplify the totality of what is important to shoppers; that is how to reduce their risk when buying a used vehicle.”

IntelliChoice explained that a few program changes helped Volvo notch the top Premium spot this year, including extending the warranty to a no-deductible 7-year/100,000-mile comprehensive plan.

Volvo also notched the Best Premium Warranty Award, and MINI took home the Best Popular Warranty Award.

Wrapping up the 2014 winners was Lincoln, winning the Best Premium Brand Used Ownership Costs Award; and Toyota notched the Best Popular Brand Used Ownership Costs Award.

On top of Volvo’s warranty improvement, IntelliChoice also noted there were changes in the popular segment, as well.

Kia added a 12-month/12,000-mile comprehensive warranty from the date of purchase on its CPO vehicles.  

“This along with improvements to dealer compliance and strong financing incentives pushed Kia from fifth to second place just behind their sister brand, Hyundai,” the company said.

How did IntelliChoice come to these conclusions?

When evaluating vehicles for the CPO Car Awards, IntelliChoice evaluates a total of 26 manufacturer-backed programs, and segments the cars into two different categories – premium and popular.

There were 12 premium brands, and 14 popular brands included in this year's study. 

Key components analyzed include: extended manufacturer warranties, used car ownership costs, inspection process comprehensiveness, dealer compliance, and special financing incentives. Overall, nine areas are assessed.  

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