CARY, N.C. — APCO/EasyCare, a national provider of warranties, vehicle service contracts and other consumer benefits, was named today as the warranty administrator of the new CarMark Certified Pre-Owned Program from the Pre-Owned Automobile Dealers Alliance.

CarMark Certified will be available to dealers throughout most of the United States beginning January 2010.

"We are extremely pleased to partner with APCO/EasyCare to administer the CarMark Certified program," said Ron Smith, president of Cherokee Automotive Group, which is developing POADA.

"Over the past 25 years, APCO has established itself as one of the nation's leading warranty and service contract companies. We conducted an extensive search to identify the best company for the CarMark Certified program and APCO was the best choice," he added.

CarMark Certified is an independent vehicle certification program equivalent with most manufacturer CPO programs. To be qualified as CarMark Certified, a vehicle must meet age and mileage requirements, pass a multi-point inspection and meet other criteria.

Smith noted that as a national independent CPO program, CarMark provides franchise dealers with the ability to certify off-brand vehicles on their lot, significantly increasing the number of certified vehicles offered consumers. Former franchise and independent dealers will also be eligible to offer CarMark Certified vehicles. CPO vehicles have proven to sell quicker and at greater margins, providing higher levels of profit for dealers and higher levels of confidence for consumers.

Larry Dorfman, chairman and chief executive officer of APCO/EasyCare, added, "Those of us in the industry sometimes underestimate the leap of trust that consumers must make when they buy a pre-owned vehicle.

"When we saw POADA's CarMark program and their overall approach to the market, we understood right away that this would be a strong third-party ‘seal of approval' available to a broad universe of dealers, and designed to address consumers' concerns and move them from shoppers to buyers. We're very excited to be POADA's partner in bringing this valuable program to the marketplace," he continued.

POADA was formed earlier this year to assist dealers with retail and wholesale sales in the pre-owned market segment, identified by POADA as current model to five-year-old used vehicles.

POADA affiliation is open at no cost to all dealers — franchise, former franchise and independent — where retail inventory and sales fall primarily within the pre-owned market segment (five years and newer). Companies producing products and/or services for pre-owned dealers join POADA as Partners and often offer discounts and other market incentives to POADA dealers.

Charter Partners in POADA include: Carfax, CDMData, DealerTrack, GMAC, Kbb.com, Manheim and NetProfit.