How many owners is too many owners? - Used car questio./

Maz

Maz

Maz

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When looking to buy a used car, does the amount of previous keepers put you off?

I know for example on some cars it definately would, where as on others cars it's expected.

What would you say was too many owners for you to consider any particular used car?

Thanks

Edit: Can someone edit my stupid typo in the title please!
 
It is one of the most important factors for me personally. I much prefer one owner cars, perhaps two if its older. I look for long term ownership.
 
If the car is in good condition inside and out, with full main dealer or specialist service history, then it doesn't bother me particularly. However this is age dependant too. i.e if I was looking at a 10 year old car then seeing 5 or 6 previous owners wouldnt bother me, however if the car was 4 years old and had 5 or 6 previous owners, then I would be wary.
Obviously a 1 owner car is more desirable, but I wouldnt let it get in the way of finding the right specced and priced car.
 
I'm far more interested in current condition and previous owners than I am with trivial numbers like mileage.

A 1 owner car with dealer service history, decent tyres and in generally good condition is going to indicate that single person has looked after the car since new and it's likely a good'un.

There are of course good reasons why a car may have a lot of owners. Take the RX8 for example - you'll find a lot of these with a lot of previous owners, usually because people underestimate what they cost to run or get nervous with reports of rotor tip wear etc.
 
One private owner is always the ideal scenario but it depends on a lot of factors. Multiple owners getting rid of a car in less than a year would definitely put me off as would someone shifting on a car that they only just (< 6 months) purchased .
 
lordrobs said:
One private owner is always the ideal scenario but it depends on a lot of factors. Multiple owners getting rid of a car in less than a year would definitely put me off as would someone shifting on a car that they only just (< 6 months) purchased .
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But for things like Porsche, Lambos, Ferraris etc this is always the case.

The buyers of those cars don't always keep the car longer than 6-9 months on most cases!
 
Maz said:
But for things like Porsche, Lambos, Ferraris etc this is always the case.

The buyers of those cars don't always keep the car longer than 6-9 months on most cases!
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Sorry, I should have been more specific. I was talking in terms of the sort of cars that I buy (general mid size hatchbacks)
 
Depends on age, five owners over five years is too many. Five owners over fifteen years is plausible. I once bought a seventeen year old car with one owner but have bought several oldies with up to eight owners in the past.
 
My Accord Type R has 7 owners, but 4 of them are in my family. I usually look for 1-2 owners really. My new Mazda has had 1 from new.
 
For me the car has to have Few Owners.

When I was looking a Civic Type Rs some Had 7-8 Owners :eek:

8 Different people treating that car entirely differently.. Can't be good!
 
It really does depend on the car. Performance cars that I buy have people who don't own them long. One summer then they get bored. FSH and warranty then become the influencing factors more than number of owners.
 
I can only echo comments of it depends on the car.

I bought my old 172 on about 30k and I was the 5 or 6th owner, I forget now, when it was 5 years old.

After meeting the chap who was selling, and also hearing about the chap before that along with the condition of the car I had no qualms whatsoever about buying it.

Had that car 5 years and took it up to over 100k with no problems, wish I'd not sold it really!
 
Went to look at a 10 year old runabout once which had 9 previous keepers registered on the V5.

Needless to say it was a lemon so didn't buy.
 
TaKeN said:
For me the car has to have Few Owners.

When I was looking a Civic Type Rs some Had 7-8 Owners :eek:

8 Different people treating that car entirely differently.. Can't be good!
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My latest EP3 is on its 10th owner now and I guarantee it's one of the cleanest prefacelifts around. Car hunting after I sold it made me realise how exceptional its condition is (hopefully still is).
 
[TW]Fox;20843717 said:
10 owners!! All those owners and not one of them liked it enough to keep it for a meaningful amount of time...
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The car was a 2002, the guy I bought it from took it in part ex for a BMW and didn't like it so sold straight away, so taking that into account that's one owner every year on average, not that bad. I typically change cars every 6 months.
 
I wouldn't be put off a fair amount of owners and much like tyres on the car - would only be a contributing indicator.

If there are other indicators that it may be a problem car then I'd steer clear but I wouldn't give one a wide berth purely based on this.

Reasons for why I don't value it too much are that reasons for selling can be varied and irrational - people are fickle. Two such examples are people suddenly needing money and there being plenty of people who don't hold on to a car for a year because they get bored - yet I'll keep a car for at least 3.

In my opinion there are other factors much more important rather than get hung up over this.
 
Everyone is different I guess. For me, I care most about:

a) Where the servicing was carried out and what tyres are fitted
b) How many previous owners
c) How old the car is

These are the most important things to me. I am aware that by judging cars in this way I'll miss the odd bargain but I also think I miss a heck of a lot of dross. If it's got 5 previous owners and history at Bobs garage with a set of Federals all round then I'll move on to the next one.

For the type of cars I buy I want one thats been owned from new by a wealthy owner who simply threw massive amounts of cash at it whenever it needed it - the very best tyres and service at the nearest main dealer. a, b and c combine to tell me a story about how I think the cars life has been.

It's just what makes me most comfortable.
 
[TW]Fox;20843785 said:
Everyone is different I guess. For me, I care most about:

a) Where the servicing was carried out and what tyres are fitted
b) How many previous owners
c) How old the car is

These are the most important things to me. I am aware that by judging cars in this way I'll miss the odd bargain but I also think I miss a heck of a lot of dross. If it's got 5 previous owners and history at Bobs garage with a set of Federals all round then I'll move on to the next one.

For the type of cars I buy I want one thats been owned from new by a wealthy owner who simply threw massive amounts of cash at it whenever it needed it - the very best tyres and service at the nearest main dealer. a, b and c combine to tell me a story about how I think the cars life has been.

It's just what makes me most comfortable.
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Sounds sensible, do you generally speaking pay a premium to achieve this or do you just hunt for aaaaaaaaages till you get what you want for a "normal" price ?
 
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