Number of Previous Owners

Phil W

Phil W

Phil W

Soldato
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
9,970
Location
Jupiter
Hi all,

We've been looking at new cars recently, a couple of which i've been what i would describe as 'seriously' interested in.

Without going too much into what car's we have been looking at, ive done a "Text Check" on a car today (HPI information without the £20 fee) and the vehicle has come back as no outstanding finance, no history of insurance claims etc, but it has returned 5 previous owners.

The car is a Mondeo ST220, 7 years old (2002 - 52), 79,000 Miles on the clock. Its priced quite a lot lower than other ST220's of similar age and mileage too.

Does this seem as quite a few owners consider the age of the car? Granted, it is 7 years old, but i would expect typically 3 maybe 4 previous owners max..

I remember people saying if it seems too good to be true... :rolleyes:

Thanks,

Phil
 
Only way to know what its like is to turn up and look at it.

Get a general feel for the condition of the car. Check the wear on the tyres, check what brands, check for matching numberplates etc.. all the little things that tell you its been well looked after.
 
Clarkey said:
Thats deffo a lot of owners, combined with the low price I'd say to treat it with great caution.
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My first impressions also.

I didn't get a 'great' feeling for the advert, there were litte pictures (exterior only), not much of a description either. TBH i doubt i'll be going to view it, even if it was in good condition, i'd still have the fact it had 5 previous owners in the back of my mind!

Plenty more of them out there though i suppose :)
 
It's more than you would like but don't totally write it off. There may be real reasons as to why so many owners so check the car out on condition and ask the seller why so many owners.
 
It doesn't matter how many owners it has had, it is pretty irrelevant. Although it does decrease the price as people see more owners as bad. When in reality it makes no difference.
 
AcidHell2 said:
It doesn't matter how many owners it has had, it is pretty irrelevant. Although it does decrease the price as people see more owners as bad. When in reality it makes no difference.
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It matters to some on more expensive cars. It doesnt matter when buying a 500 quid snotter.

To each owner, the car is worth to them what they paid for it until such time as they get rid of it. Therefore the car is worth less to each successive owner and you often find the level of care lavished on it degrades proportionally.

Secondly, an excessive amount of owners in a short period of time can indicate that all is not well with the car, so people sell it quickly.

Thirdly, many people are more comfortable buying cars from people similar to themselves. I like to buy a good car, keep it a long time, and pay whatever it takes to keep it in pristine condition. I like buying cars from people with a similar mindset. I do not like buying cars from people who chop and change every 30 seconds. I don't want a car thats been owned like this.

So far, my fussyness when buying cars has paid off very well and pretty much every car I've viewed which had a string of previous owners had condition which was below average.

I will continue to pretty much insist on only 1 owner cars unless the car is 6+ years old (Though this is older than I'd buy anyway) in which case 2 owners seems fair.
 
[TW]Fox;15388324 said:
It matters to some on more expensive cars. It doesnt matter when buying a 500 quid snotter.
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Only if looking for resale value, which I said.

[TW]Fox;15388324 said:
To each owner, the car is worth to them what they paid for it until such time as they get rid of it. Therefore the car is worth less to each successive owner and you often find the level of care lavished on it degrades proportionally.
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care ~ number of owners. some case yes, other cases not.



[TW]Fox;15388324 said:
Secondly, an excessive amount of owners in a short period of time can indicate that all is not well with the car, so people sell it quickly.
[/QUOE]

Can indicate this, but test drives, mechanical checks, FSH ect are what you need to look at not number of owners.
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AcidHell2 said:
Only if looking for resale value, which I said.
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I strongly disagree. For me, number of owners is not a factor because of resale. There is generally a corelation between number of owners and the way the car has been kept.

Can indicate this, but test drives, mechanical checks, FSH ect are what you need to look at not number of owners.
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When you are having to travel the country to view cars, number of owners is a useful filter to weed out the dross.

Like I said, at the bottom of the market it doesn't matter - I wouldnt be bothered on a 600 quid car so I can see why you have difficulty understanding my reasoning.
 
[TW]Fox;15388358 said:
Like I said, at the bottom of the market it doesn't matter - I wouldnt be bothered on a 600 quid car so I can see why you have difficulty understanding my reasoning.
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:confused: It wouldn't matter if I spent 600-20k. If it's the car I want and passes proper checks then I'll have it. Ownership as you say is a guide and a pretty rubbish one a that.
 
AcidHell2 said:
:confused: It wouldn't matter if I spent 600-20k. If it's the car I want and passes proper checks then I'll have it. Ownership as you say is a guide and a pretty rubbish one a that.
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So how many £10k cars have you looked at with a view to buying and how many of them with 5 owners over 4 years were immaculate then?
 
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