Previous Owners?

Nathan

Nathan

Nathan

Soldato
Joined
4 Feb 2003
Posts
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Location
West Midlands
I take it there is no more free way to find out how many previous owners there are on a vehicle? :( RAC data check seems to have vanished
 
It makes a big difference for part-ex values. also if the car has had a huge number of owners, it could be an indication that there is something wrong with the vehicle.
 
Ex-RoNiN said:
Random question - why do some people think its important to know how many previous owners a car had?
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Becuase for some people, myself included, its one of the most important bits of information about a cars history. I'd rather have a car thats been looked after by a single owner, who bought the car brand new, than one thats had 7 owners, each with different opinions on how much care/money/time the car needs.

It's also the case that people generally see an item of high value as worth to them what they paid for it, until the day they sell it. So, to Mr Original Owner, his new Mercedes is worth £35k. Even 3 years later, its still his £35k. So he treats it as he would an asset which cost him £35k. With each subsequent owner, the purchase price and thus 'worth' to that owner decreases, as does, perhaps it could be said (This is far from an exact science), whether its perceived to be worth lavishing care on it.

Plus there is the other thing in that if a car is so good, why have lets say 8 people owned it in the last 5 years? You'd think at least one of those would think 'This is great, I think I might keep it'.

I am alone in this view I suspect but I care more about previous owners than mileage, and strongly believe that in the majority of cases a higher mileage 1 owner car is likely to be in better condition than a lower mileage 4+ owner car.
 
Interesting viewpoint there Fox, thanks for that :) I thought as much that it might have something to do with niggling things, but the view of the car lover as opposed to owner is an interesting angle.
 
You can also get a feel for how you think the car has been looked after when you chat with the previous owner. If he's had it from new and he stands there and goes on and on about how he always does this, this and this and how its been his pride and joy, etc etc, he's either a decent guy with a decent car or a very good actor. Whereas with a multi owner car the seller could be the nicest guy in the world but the guy before him was a tard.
 
[TW]Fox;10236287 said:
Becuase for some people, myself included, its one of the most important bits of information about a cars history. I'd rather have a car thats been looked after by a single owner, who bought the car brand new, than one thats had 7 owners, each with different opinions on how much care/money/time the car needs.

It's also the case that people generally see an item of high value as worth to them what they paid for it, until the day they sell it. So, to Mr Original Owner, his new Mercedes is worth £35k. Even 3 years later, its still his £35k. So he treats it as he would an asset which cost him £35k. With each subsequent owner, the purchase price and thus 'worth' to that owner decreases, as does, perhaps it could be said (This is far from an exact science), whether its perceived to be worth lavishing care on it.

Plus there is the other thing in that if a car is so good, why have lets say 8 people owned it in the last 5 years? You'd think at least one of those would think 'This is great, I think I might keep it'.

I am alone in this view I suspect but I care more about previous owners than mileage, and strongly believe that in the majority of cases a higher mileage 1 owner car is likely to be in better condition than a lower mileage 4+ owner car.
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Nope that is spot on. Number of owners is a major factor for most buyers I think.
 
Fox has summed it up very well I think.

I was very wary about buying privately, infact I considered it a last resort. However by spending nearly an hour with my cars only owner from new I was perfectly happy about handing over the cash.
 
[TW]Fox;10236287 said:
Becuase for some people, myself included, its one of the most important bits of information about a cars history. I'd rather have a car thats been looked after by a single owner, who bought the car brand new, than one thats had 7 owners, each with different opinions on how much care/money/time the car needs.

It's also the case that people generally see an item of high value as worth to them what they paid for it, until the day they sell it. So, to Mr Original Owner, his new Mercedes is worth £35k. Even 3 years later, its still his £35k. So he treats it as he would an asset which cost him £35k. With each subsequent owner, the purchase price and thus 'worth' to that owner decreases, as does, perhaps it could be said (This is far from an exact science), whether its perceived to be worth lavishing care on it.

Plus there is the other thing in that if a car is so good, why have lets say 8 people owned it in the last 5 years? You'd think at least one of those would think 'This is great, I think I might keep it'.

I am alone in this view I suspect but I care more about previous owners than mileage, and strongly believe that in the majority of cases a higher mileage 1 owner car is likely to be in better condition than a lower mileage 4+ owner car.
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You are not alone. :)

Totally agree.
 
[TW]Fox;10236287 said:
Becuase for some people, myself included, its one of the most important bits of information about a cars history. I'd rather have a car thats been looked after by a single owner, who bought the car brand new, than one thats had 7 owners, each with different opinions on how much care/money/time the car needs.

It's also the case that people generally see an item of high value as worth to them what they paid for it, until the day they sell it. So, to Mr Original Owner, his new Mercedes is worth £35k. Even 3 years later, its still his £35k. So he treats it as he would an asset which cost him £35k. With each subsequent owner, the purchase price and thus 'worth' to that owner decreases, as does, perhaps it could be said (This is far from an exact science), whether its perceived to be worth lavishing care on it.

Plus there is the other thing in that if a car is so good, why have lets say 8 people owned it in the last 5 years? You'd think at least one of those would think 'This is great, I think I might keep it'.

I am alone in this view I suspect but I care more about previous owners than mileage, and strongly believe that in the majority of cases a higher mileage 1 owner car is likely to be in better condition than a lower mileage 4+ owner car.
Click to expand...

definitely not alone in that as i'd agree fully. :)
 
Previous owners is imo, not as important as history & general condition.

An example, my Dads e39 528i has beed driven for 99% of its life by him yet the logbook shows 5 owners iirc.

Registered to various guises of his business, which was taken over & the car re-regeitered in the new company name, each time, a new "owner" ultimately, he retired & kept the car, guess what? a re-registration & additional owner on the logbook.

Its actually a 1 owner 11 year old 200k car with impeccible history & its in superb condition despite its age & miles, just as you'd expect a one owner car to be, yet it isn't a one owner minter to the trade and is worth buttons because of it.

When he eventually gets rid of it, some brave soul is going to have the opposite of what you'd expect an average 5 owner 11 year old 200k+ miler e39 - and probably, for about £1500!

Its a pity the V5 has'nt got a log of the regular keeper rather than owner.

My car had 4 owners when I bought it iirc, - I'd have to check the V5 - the first 2 were BMW dealers the 3rd its first "regular keeper" and finally, me effectively its second keeper but actually its 4th owner!

A detailed BMW history & the general condition of the car was far more important, and out of the rougher 7's I tried when looking, both were one owner examples!
 
Have to agree with Fox on the owners, just bought a Civic for the GF and the fact it had one owner from new was more important to me than the fairly high (for an '03) 60K miles.

I may be looking to replace my E46 330i with an E46 M3 when I hit 25 in May, and particularly on a car like this I won't be touching anything with more than 1-2 previous owners.
For an M3 assume the worst of 1 Owner Change = 1 Crash!

As it may be HPI clear, but this never shows how many near writeoffs it had, as it can take a lot to write off a previously expensive car.

R124, I would guess your case is fairly rare, but if someone showed me how the history had gone in that case I would be happy, but it would still affect my resale value later which is a consideration.
 
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[TW]Fox;10236287 said:
Becuase for some people, myself included, its one of the most important bits of information about a cars history. I'd rather have a car thats been looked after by a single owner, who bought the car brand new, than one thats had 7 owners, each with different opinions on how much care/money/time the car needs.

It's also the case that people generally see an item of high value as worth to them what they paid for it, until the day they sell it. So, to Mr Original Owner, his new Mercedes is worth £35k. Even 3 years later, its still his £35k. So he treats it as he would an asset which cost him £35k. With each subsequent owner, the purchase price and thus 'worth' to that owner decreases, as does, perhaps it could be said (This is far from an exact science), whether its perceived to be worth lavishing care on it.

Plus there is the other thing in that if a car is so good, why have lets say 8 people owned it in the last 5 years? You'd think at least one of those would think 'This is great, I think I might keep it'.

I am alone in this view I suspect but I care more about previous owners than mileage, and strongly believe that in the majority of cases a higher mileage 1 owner car is likely to be in better condition than a lower mileage 4+ owner car.
Click to expand...


Totally spot on, went last week with my gf to see a 1999 Car advertised as 3 previous owners, when we found the actual number was 8 it just didn't appeal the same, we walked away.
 
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