14yr old car, FSH.... 10th owner - would you?

[mattman]

Looking for a short term car after a recent accident.

Found a car that looks half decent, 2001 with full service history at approx 130k miles - needs a 2nd cambelt change to be safe. few minor scratches and scrapes, hpi clear - but currently on 9 owners so I would be the 10th

walk away or wait for something with less owners? current plan is to replace with a new car at the end of this year

[crofty1984]

Depends what it is and how much they want.

[mrtwisty]

Depends on what car it is, what the condition on inspection is like, how the owner comes across, how much it is and (most of all) what it drives like.

Linky?

Edited by mrtwisty on Monday 2nd March 10:57

[mattman]

Doh! - Audi TT at the lower end of the price spectrum. Not expecting a minter, seller quite open on the phone, trying to see it in the next couple of days.

[KTF]

Wonderful irony of someone looking at a car with lots of owners asking about buying a car with lots of owners...

Edited by KTF on Wednesday 4th March 14:46

[Justin Case]

I would be more concerned about the number of owners than the age or mileage.

[noell35]

mattman said:

current plan is to replace with a new car at the end of this year

So you're buying a car with the intention of keeping it less than a year and you wonder why it has had 10 owners in 14 years

[Jim AK]

Obviously I've not seen it or spoken to the 9th owner. but if the history stacks up, it looks ok & seller seems genuine you can only trust your own feelings/instincts.

Assuming you won't be doing 1000 miles a week it's got to be as good a bet as anything else & you can use the need for a belt swap as a bargaining tool & then a selling point when you sell later this year.

[mattman]

noell35 said:

mattman said:

current plan is to replace with a new car at the end of this year

So you're buying a car with the intention of keeping it less than a year and you wonder why it has had 10 owners in 14 years

No, not wondering why its had many owners - just asking whether the PH massive their thoughts on a 10+ owner car and how much it will affect the resale - if at all.

And in answer to the banger question, I don't want to run a banger, i'd like to drive something a little more interesting

[P-Jay]

Does it all really matter at this stage?

Buy on how it looks and how it drives rather than some 'on-paper' indication of condition.

[lbc]

I would question why it's had so many owners.

But if you are the kind of person that does not keep cars for long this should not worry you.

I have 2 cars that are between 10 and 20 years old, and neither have more than 3 owners.

[Stu247]

Full history still available after 9 owners, now that's rare!!

[J4CKO]

P-Jay said:

Does it all really matter at this stage?

Buy on how it looks and how it drives rather than some 'on-paper' indication of condition.

Absolutely this, we all like to think our next S/H car is being cherished by the same mature, sensible caring owner but that is usually far from the reality, I think Cars like TT's change hands a bit though that is quite a lot.

You don't need to know its life history, just whether its any good now.

[Sump]

10 is far too many. The last couple of even 10 year old cars had only 1-2 previous owners.

The most I'd look for is 5. I try and average it out to at least 2-3 years per owner.

[JimmyConwayNW]

It's a TT the sort of car people change regularly as circumstances change. The owners wouldn't put me off if the rest is right.

[Bungleaio]

If it's 14 years old that must be one of the early cars? If so it probably had quite a few owners early on as it was the latest thing to be seen in with minimal depreciation. If it's in good condition I wouldn't be concerned, especially as it's bound to be going for not much money.

[mattman]

i also looked at a X plate 320 cabriolet this weekend with a dealer - full BMW service history advertised with only 1 owner and new tyres.

Full BMW Service history stopped in Jan 12 at Mr Clutch - not sure thats a BMW dealer - when queried it turns out it was serviced 'round the back in our shop'

The 1 owner was 1 family owner, so actually 4 people on the V5

And the new Dinlap tyres looked like you'd easily get 50,000 miles out of the hard shiny compound!

Oh, and also had a new roof last year that was covered in mould and mildew......

i walked away, but at least the dealer put a smile on my face.....

[TooLateForAName]

mattman said:

And in answer to the banger question, I don't want to run a banger, i'd like to drive something a little more interesting

So why are you looking at a TT ?

[kambites]

I wouldn't care about a documented service history or the number of owners at that age. Just condition.

[lord trumpton]

Well if its a short term car you will struggle to move it on yourself

10 owners - sounds like a slag car to me