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

[mk1_salami]

My mate recently bought an E reg Escort RS Turbo which has 29 previous owners, and was stolen / recovered. On the up side, the first thing a lot of those owners would do is give it a service, new set of car mats and an air freshener, lol.

 

[markweatherill]

One owner is good unless it's a rental firm!

 

[ChrisD.]

My mate recently bought an E reg Escort RS Turbo which has 29 previous owners, and was stolen / recovered. On the up side, the first thing a lot of those owners would do is give it a service, new set of car mats and an air freshener, lol.

Evo's tend to have a lot of owners as people buy them thinking they can afford to run them, but when they break their wallet they get rid. Though 29 is quite a lot!

 

[Scania]

I personally consider the overall condition of the car as opposed to the number of owners or number of miles on the odometer.

Take my e39 528i for example, on the face of it, its 270k+ and has 4 previous owners showing on the log book.

In actual fact, it was my Dads company car from new, the company changed ownership a couple of times hence the car changing registered keepers, finally, my Dad retired and kept the car (another change of ownership) and then I bought it, adding owner/keeper #4.

When in fact, its stayed effecievely in the same family since new.

As I say, condition over pretty much anything else, but generally, the fewer owners the better and I'd imagine 4 owners over 15 years is not bad going!

 

[Mickie]

my old 205gti had 25 owners before me, but it was a project car

 

[Joe T]

One owner for every 2 years is a rough gauge I guess. However I did buy a 4 year old car with three previous keepers once...

 

[Gaijin]

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.

There's nothing wrong with that - everyone has their own criteria. They are all indicators and they all contribute to the bigger picture.

I think we all just have different appreciations of ownage scenarios and this will differ down to marque as well. For instance the average evo/impreza owner - initial owner or otherwise will stereotypically be different from that of a luxury marque

Evo's tend to have a lot of owners as people buy them thinking they can afford to run them, but when they break their wallet they get rid. Though 29 is quite a lot!

Thats certainly one reason why. Another is that they are a luxury that 9 times out of 10, does not come with a warranty, yet can throw up some very large bills. As soon as times get tough - are you going to sell your Astra daily or your Evo?

Yet another is these attract younger wannabe drivers who can just about afford the ticket price but not the bills.

 

[Nodiggidy123]

according to my new reg document my car (05 plate focus) has had 4 previous owners.

odd cos when my friend who works for a car dealership ran a hpi check on the car it only had 2? would the dealer have been classed as a owner? still 1 owner unaccounted for tho.

 

[sovietspybob]

Depends on the car, more performance orientated cars tend to go through a lot of owners as their are either 2nd cars so if they get bored/throw a big bill they can be moved on quickly.

I see a fair bit of that on the DC5 forum, someone posts new thread "ZOMG finally got my TEG YEY!" then 2 months later "Had to sell the teg " because they suddenly realised that it cost more than their old 1.6 focus to run as a daily driver.

 

[ChrisD.]

There's a lot of idiots on the DC5 forum now, it used to be a decent place but I tend not to go on there now.

Owned my DC5 for 3 years, longer than any other car I've had. Wish I could get another.

 

[Phil W]

Number of owners is quite a biggy for me, the most owners on a car i've purchased was 5, but the car was new in 1993 so forgiveable really.

Service History (with receipts to prove) and general condition of the car are essential.

 

[[TW]Fox]

There's a lot of idiots on the DC5 forum now, it used to be a decent place but I tend not to go on there now.

Owned my DC5 for 3 years, longer than any other car I've had. Wish I could get another.

The cheaper a car gets the more this happens on its owners forums

 

[Phil W]

The cheaper a car gets the more this happens on its owners forums

Their encounters with the forum are often short lived though, not many stick around for too long when they realise they've bought something they can't afford (or they get bored and move on to another car quickly).