Buying a used car in US gets murkier amid widespread recalls

New York

FOR people in the market for a used car, the "certified pre-owned" designation has long been the gold standard, an indication that a qualified mechanic has vouched for the car and that a buyer can expect a vehicle that is - hopefully - almost as good as new.

But the Takata air bag recall, which is the biggest in history, has upended all of that. Now the certified designation - known in the car trade as CPO - will no longer necessarily have the same meaning. For one thing, last month the Federal Trade Commission made it easier for cars to be billed as "certified", even if they were under recall and hadn't been fixed yet.