McLEAN, Va. –

While roughly one third of new-vehicle shoppers say they’d consider purchasing a used vehicle for their next vehicle, an increasing number of consumers are gravitating toward the financial and peace-of-mind potential of certified pre-owned vehicles.

That’s according to a CPO study from Autotrader in 2013, where 33 percent of new-vehicle shoppers said they would consider going used instead of new the next time they were in the market for a vehicle.

Showing consistency, Autotrader’s subsequent 2014 CPO study reflected 59 percent of new-vehicle shoppers were willing to consider a CPO vehicle.

Basing those numbers on potential interest, how many actually put their money where their mouths are?

A white paper from the Used Car Guide division of J.D. Power — titled "Lasting Longer: How Better Quality Is Affecting Used Vehicle Demand" — pointed out a relatively consistent trend over the last 10 years: roughly one third of all vehicles purchased from franchised dealers following the trade-in of a vehicle up to ten years of age took a used car as their new ride, according to data from J.D. Power's Power Information Network.

The report also showed slightly higher percentage levels of used-car purchases at franchised dealers during the financial crises in years 2008-2011.

Used-car popularity is also supported by this year’s ever-increasing levels of used-vehicle sales, especially CPO sales, where August’s results continued the year’s trends of increased CPO movement. And late last month, industry analysts were predicting overall used-vehicle sales increases for August amid a slowdown of new-vehicle sales.