Previous Owners
Discussion
It can be a pointer to something not right with the car, but in a lot of cases for me it's completely unfounded
I'd be more worried if I was looking at a 2 year old barge with 4 owners already, wondering what's wrong with it that people got shut so quick, but on your average Focus, 6 owners after 10 years wouldnt really bother me that much.
I'd be more worried if I was looking at a 2 year old barge with 4 owners already, wondering what's wrong with it that people got shut so quick, but on your average Focus, 6 owners after 10 years wouldnt really bother me that much.
I get quite hung up on this but I have no idea why to be honest. Personally, I'm someone who likes to keep every receipt I've ever got for a car in one folder - that means that regardless of the number of owners after me, there's a paper trail and it shows you've cared for the car.
I'd certainly steer clear of anything with 3 or more owners, particulary if the mileage was low. I'd be worrying why so many people found the need to get rid of it.
I'd certainly steer clear of anything with 3 or more owners, particulary if the mileage was low. I'd be worrying why so many people found the need to get rid of it.
I can completely understand where Andy-xr is coming from. If you've got a young car with lots of owners then you have to ask yourself the question as to why people aren't keeping it.
But what if the car you're trying to buy/sell is 10yrs old, low mileage, and had 5 owners... The low mileage would stand to reason that the car hasn't been driven much more than the weekends/special days only, and in the course of 10yrs, 5 owners isn't unreasonable for such a car is it? It could be seen as an average of 1 owner every 2yrs which, to me, doesn't seem that bad!
Personally I would be far more concerned with not seeing a decent service history or indeed any history (receipts etc) with the car rather than how many owners its had.
But what if the car you're trying to buy/sell is 10yrs old, low mileage, and had 5 owners... The low mileage would stand to reason that the car hasn't been driven much more than the weekends/special days only, and in the course of 10yrs, 5 owners isn't unreasonable for such a car is it? It could be seen as an average of 1 owner every 2yrs which, to me, doesn't seem that bad!
Personally I would be far more concerned with not seeing a decent service history or indeed any history (receipts etc) with the car rather than how many owners its had.
More different owners means more chance of being in the hands of someone who does not look after it correctly or drives it like they stole it
Cars are one of the only things people buy second hand - and often not through choice but due to affordability. The fewer owners it has had, the less "used" it seems perhaps
Cars are one of the only things people buy second hand - and often not through choice but due to affordability. The fewer owners it has had, the less "used" it seems perhaps
Number of owners, mileage and history can be really sensitive to the actual make/model. Personally I would be a little concerned with a mainstream car changing hands more than annually in the first 2-5 years, tho as for anything else I'd be happy to check with the manufacturer for service details (plus usual HPI stuff).
I wonder whether current financial environment since 2007 has seen people hanging to cars for longer (reducing cost to change) or changing quicker to try and be cute to hop up the ownership food chain? Personally I've never made money from trying to guess the market, just focus on enjoying what I've set my heart on!
I wonder whether current financial environment since 2007 has seen people hanging to cars for longer (reducing cost to change) or changing quicker to try and be cute to hop up the ownership food chain? Personally I've never made money from trying to guess the market, just focus on enjoying what I've set my heart on!
Because as a car gets older, the fewer owners the car has had, the more valuable the car has been to each owner.
Someone who paid £30,000 for a BMW 3 series and kept it for 10 years is going to treat it like a £30,000 car. If that person instead sells it after 5 years to someone for, I dunno, £10k, then the new owner sells it a few years later for £4k, then it's a £4k car to the third owner. A cheap car by all accounts. That means they will try to justify cheaper tyres, less rigorous servicing, less rigorous finding and fixing of problems that may arise...
Someone who paid £30,000 for a BMW 3 series and kept it for 10 years is going to treat it like a £30,000 car. If that person instead sells it after 5 years to someone for, I dunno, £10k, then the new owner sells it a few years later for £4k, then it's a £4k car to the third owner. A cheap car by all accounts. That means they will try to justify cheaper tyres, less rigorous servicing, less rigorous finding and fixing of problems that may arise...
Edited by Howard- on Thursday 30th October 12:15
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