Before buying a certified pre-owned vehicle, check out this explanation of the certified pre-owned used car program offered by Toyota. This explains the warranty program for the manufacturer; how old the certified pre-owned vehicles are, and other benefits you can expect from the manufacturer's certified pre-owned program.

Take a moment to watch the excellent About.com video on buying a used hybrid.

It has some solid advice from one of the leading green car experts.

Toyota says more than 2 million of its certified used vehicles have been sold in the U.S. That number will continue to increase as certified pre-owned used cars continue to grow in popularity. As of September 2015, almost one in five used cars sold by new car dealers were certified pre-owned.

Each certified pre-owned Toyota used car comes with:

• 12-month/12,000-mile Limited Comprehensive Warranty
• 7-Year/100,000-Mile Limited Powertrain Warranty
• 7-Year/100,000-Mile Roadside Assistance
• 160-Point Quality Assurance Inspection
• CarFax Vehicle History Report

Toyota says certified pre-owned customers are eligible for new car financing rates. This is subject to change without notice. Check out the Toyota certified pre-owned website for more information.

For years Toyota vehicles had a sterling reputation. Do your homework and don't just assume because it's certified pre-owned that it will be entirely trouble free.

Obviously, Toyota products were in the news because of problems with unintended acceleration and other issues.

The problem has been largely solved. The one reason I say largely solved is not all safety recall work is done by owners. You have to make sure the work has been completed before buying a used Toyota.

One advantage to buying a certified pre-owned Toyota is you will know all recall work has been done. The free Carfax report that is provided should indicate the work completion. (Here’s how to read a Carfax report. http://usedcars.D106/od/usedcarhistories/ss/CarFaxInfo.htm)

Toyota has a separate certified pre-owned program for its many hybrid vehicles. (Read what our expert on alternative vehicles has to say about the Toyota Prius lineup.) While it closely mirrors the regular certified pre-owned program, there are some differences:

• The vehicle gets a 174 point inspection
• The hybrid batteries are certified for 8 years or 100,000 miles. That's an important consideration because hybrid batteries are expensive to replace.

Otherwise everything else is the same as the traditional Toyota certified pre-owned used car program. You will get the same 7-Year/100,000-Mile Limited Powertrain Warranty and a 12-month/12,000-mile Limited Comprehensive Warranty. There is one year of roadside assistance included in the certified pre-owned hybrid program as well.

What’s good about this program is it incorporates the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid. That’s the model that can run on pure electricity for limited distances. If memory serves correctly, under optimal driving conditions you should be able to get up to 20 miles on the electric charge. That’s going to be a good distance for most folks without long commutes. Once your electricity runs out, you can use the internal combustion engine to power you the rest of the way.

More information is available at the Toyota hybrid certified pre-owned website.