Why does the number of owners have an effect on value?
Discussion
It's always confused me. If you have two cars the same, one with 8 owners and a one-owner car, why will the one-owner be worth more in general?
I've viewed cars in the past that were one-owner vehicles that have been ragged, uncared for and just used as a workhorse - picking up kids, taking stuff to the dump etc, yet I have also seen 5/6+ owner cars that have passed from one anal, owners club member to another, all fettled and polished and cuddled every night before bed with a very regular splashing of Dodo juice (or whatever substance) all over it's behind.
I know one should always buy on condition and how it's been looked after, but just always wondered why high owner cars are always worth less, all things being equal?
I've viewed cars in the past that were one-owner vehicles that have been ragged, uncared for and just used as a workhorse - picking up kids, taking stuff to the dump etc, yet I have also seen 5/6+ owner cars that have passed from one anal, owners club member to another, all fettled and polished and cuddled every night before bed with a very regular splashing of Dodo juice (or whatever substance) all over it's behind.
I know one should always buy on condition and how it's been looked after, but just always wondered why high owner cars are always worth less, all things being equal?
Each subsequent owner of a car will have paid less for it, and may in all probability, have treated it in line with how much they paid for it, rather than how much it cost new.
- If a 10 year old car only has one owner who bought it new for 50K, the likelihood is he will have treated it as an object he spent 50K on.
- If a 10 year old car is on it's 8th owner, who only bought it for 1K, it's likely that he will have treated it as a 1K car - ie, with not as much care.
It might also be an indicator of a car with problems, hence why it's been passed on so much.
Obviously these are not hard and fast rules, and the condition of the vehicle is obviously key - you yourself have experiences which buck the trend. But these are just useful things to consider when purchasing, which might give you an insight into the history.
- If a 10 year old car only has one owner who bought it new for 50K, the likelihood is he will have treated it as an object he spent 50K on.
- If a 10 year old car is on it's 8th owner, who only bought it for 1K, it's likely that he will have treated it as a 1K car - ie, with not as much care.
It might also be an indicator of a car with problems, hence why it's been passed on so much.
Obviously these are not hard and fast rules, and the condition of the vehicle is obviously key - you yourself have experiences which buck the trend. But these are just useful things to consider when purchasing, which might give you an insight into the history.
Edited by Conscript on Wednesday 20th May 14:22
g7jhp said:
A high number of owners in a short period could indicate it's a lemon.
Ideally you want to find the one owner who's cherished the car!
Generally speaking I agree but there are one or two exceptions like a car I bought that had 4 owners in the previous 2 years, all spent a fortune fixing all sorts of issues. The guy I bought it off said he had had enough of it as it was running badly again.Ideally you want to find the one owner who's cherished the car!
I fixed it with £2 of vacuum pipe and totaled up £2k of receipts from the previous 3 years. I paid £275 quid for it then sold it a year later for £1100
Conscript said:
Each subsequent owner of a car will have paid less for it, and in all probability, will have treated it in line with how much they paid for it, rather than how much it cost new.
If a 10 year old car only has one owner who bought it new for 50K, the likelihood is he will have treated it as an object he spent 50K on.
If a 10 year old car is on it's 8th owner, who only bought it for 1K, it's likely that he will have treated it as a 1K car - ie, with not as much care.
It might also be an indicator of a car with problems, hence why it's been passed on so much.
Obviously these are not hard and fast rules, just useful things to consider when purchasing.
+1If a 10 year old car only has one owner who bought it new for 50K, the likelihood is he will have treated it as an object he spent 50K on.
If a 10 year old car is on it's 8th owner, who only bought it for 1K, it's likely that he will have treated it as a 1K car - ie, with not as much care.
It might also be an indicator of a car with problems, hence why it's been passed on so much.
Obviously these are not hard and fast rules, just useful things to consider when purchasing.
Also, on high performance cars - E46 M3s being a classic example of this - people buy the car expecting it's running cost to be in-line with its price (around £10k now). When they find out it has the running cost much the same as it did when it was new, they sell it. However because they can't afford to run it properly, they've probably scrimped on running it.
I do accept however that with cult cars such as the CSL, the number of owners is probably based on rising prices and soaring demand - rather than people being cheap.
Conscript said:
Each subsequent owner of a car will have paid less for it, and may in all probability, have treated it in line with how much they paid for it, rather than how much it cost new.
- If a 10 year old car only has one owner who bought it new for 50K, the likelihood is he will have treated it as an object he spent 50K on.
- If a 10 year old car is on it's 8th owner, who only bought it for 1K, it's likely that he will have treated it as a 1K car - ie, with not as much care.
It might also be an indicator of a car with problems, hence why it's been passed on so much.
Obviously these are not hard and fast rules, and the condition of the vehicle is obviously key - you yourself have experiences which buck the trend. But these are just useful things to consider when purchasing, which might give you an insight into the history.
With classics it's quite often the opposite, each private buyer improves the car when he buys it rather than a couple of long term owners letting it deteriorate slowly.- If a 10 year old car only has one owner who bought it new for 50K, the likelihood is he will have treated it as an object he spent 50K on.
- If a 10 year old car is on it's 8th owner, who only bought it for 1K, it's likely that he will have treated it as a 1K car - ie, with not as much care.
It might also be an indicator of a car with problems, hence why it's been passed on so much.
Obviously these are not hard and fast rules, and the condition of the vehicle is obviously key - you yourself have experiences which buck the trend. But these are just useful things to consider when purchasing, which might give you an insight into the history.
Edited by Conscript on Wednesday 20th May 14:22
I noted when I bought my Boxster about 2 years ago that it had 8 previous owners, that's a lot I thought to myself but carried on with the purchase.
6 months later I found out why at least the past two had sold on, cracked cylinder head. The guy previous to me had had it only 6 months and I found evdince of someone trying to fix the oil leak from a year before, so the guy previous to him must have sold it on as well.
It's only when it got to muggins-me did anyone actually bother getting the engine fixed... and I only did it because I'd already spent loads getting the roof, air con and brakes sorted out.
Tales like this don't help high owner cars do they! LOL
So it's not so much about how many previous owners, but more about the one you're buying it off. The Boxster is bloody perfect now.
6 months later I found out why at least the past two had sold on, cracked cylinder head. The guy previous to me had had it only 6 months and I found evdince of someone trying to fix the oil leak from a year before, so the guy previous to him must have sold it on as well.
It's only when it got to muggins-me did anyone actually bother getting the engine fixed... and I only did it because I'd already spent loads getting the roof, air con and brakes sorted out.
Tales like this don't help high owner cars do they! LOL
So it's not so much about how many previous owners, but more about the one you're buying it off. The Boxster is bloody perfect now.
I'm the 7th owner of my Z4M - it's in great condition and has been well looked after, some cars are purchased to run for 1 summer then sell on. I purchased on condition and paid a fair price, irrespective of 1 or 10 owners. Why base value on something that has no direct bearing on the quality of the vehicle. Doesn't mean it's been looked after / serviced or not. 
Conscript said:
Each subsequent owner of a car will have paid less for it, and may in all probability, have treated it in line with how much they paid for it, rather than how much it cost new.
- If a 10 year old car only has one owner who bought it new for 50K, the likelihood is he will have treated it as an object he spent 50K on.
- If a 10 year old car is on it's 8th owner, who only bought it for 1K, it's likely that he will have treated it as a 1K car - ie, with not as much care.
It might also be an indicator of a car with problems, hence why it's been passed on so much.
Obviously these are not hard and fast rules, and the condition of the vehicle is obviously key - you yourself have experiences which buck the trend. But these are just useful things to consider when purchasing, which might give you an insight into the history.
This sounds like the most sensible approach - If a 10 year old car only has one owner who bought it new for 50K, the likelihood is he will have treated it as an object he spent 50K on.
- If a 10 year old car is on it's 8th owner, who only bought it for 1K, it's likely that he will have treated it as a 1K car - ie, with not as much care.
It might also be an indicator of a car with problems, hence why it's been passed on so much.
Obviously these are not hard and fast rules, and the condition of the vehicle is obviously key - you yourself have experiences which buck the trend. But these are just useful things to consider when purchasing, which might give you an insight into the history.
Edited by Conscript on Wednesday 20th May 14:22
It is assumed, wrongly, that a 1, 2, or 3 year old vehicle with several owners has been "rejected" by previous owners because it was unreliable or had been involved in some sort of incident. This has the net effect of "devaluing" the car. The truth is that brand new cars are registered by the supplying dealer and then sold on with 10, 20 30 miles on the clock. Straight away the car is now 2 owners old. If owner number 2 disposes of it after just 18 months, then owner number 3 is the buyer. It rarely means that there is something wrong with it. Too many people buy cars without even taking one for a test drive and then are disappointed with it soon after. The "More Money Than Sense" syndrome kicks in here, and these idiots are the bread and butter of main dealers who see them as an easy means of screwing money out of.
I once owned a Cavalier SRi that'd had 5 previous owners.
When I started properly poking around the car, I found that pretty much everything on it appeared to have been replaced at least once.
It had clearly cost a few of those owners a lot of money.
Fortunately for me, I bought at it a point where there wasn't much left to go wrong and did 50,000 trouble-free miles in it.
Put me off high owner cars though.
When I started properly poking around the car, I found that pretty much everything on it appeared to have been replaced at least once.
It had clearly cost a few of those owners a lot of money.
Fortunately for me, I bought at it a point where there wasn't much left to go wrong and did 50,000 trouble-free miles in it.
Put me off high owner cars though.
I bought an Escort Gti once upon a time, 15 years old, 63,000 miles, 1 female owner, immaculate inside and out but had never been serviced in its life, let alone having the timing belt changed! What a difference there was once I had serviced it and replaced the belt!
I find in the UK, there is also an obsession with mileage which is not always the case on the Continent. If it was possible to judge, I'd rather buy a vehicle that has done 60,000 miles easily rather than 30,000 being bounced off the limiter...
I think the number of owners and mileage are something to take into consideration along with the condition of the vehicle, but I don't think it should make or break a sale, if a high number of owners lowers the market value of the car but everything else points to it being a good buy, then go for it!
I find in the UK, there is also an obsession with mileage which is not always the case on the Continent. If it was possible to judge, I'd rather buy a vehicle that has done 60,000 miles easily rather than 30,000 being bounced off the limiter...
I think the number of owners and mileage are something to take into consideration along with the condition of the vehicle, but I don't think it should make or break a sale, if a high number of owners lowers the market value of the car but everything else points to it being a good buy, then go for it!
Conscript said:
Each subsequent owner of a car will have paid less for it, and may in all probability, have treated it in line with how much they paid for it, rather than how much it cost new.
- If a 10 year old car only has one owner who bought it new for 50K, the likelihood is he will have treated it as an object he spent 50K on.
- If a 10 year old car is on it's 8th owner, who only bought it for 1K, it's likely that he will have treated it as a 1K car - ie, with not as much care.
It might also be an indicator of a car with problems, hence why it's been passed on so much.
Obviously these are not hard and fast rules, and the condition of the vehicle is obviously key - you yourself have experiences which buck the trend. But these are just useful things to consider when purchasing, which might give you an insight into the history.
Agreed.- If a 10 year old car only has one owner who bought it new for 50K, the likelihood is he will have treated it as an object he spent 50K on.
- If a 10 year old car is on it's 8th owner, who only bought it for 1K, it's likely that he will have treated it as a 1K car - ie, with not as much care.
It might also be an indicator of a car with problems, hence why it's been passed on so much.
Obviously these are not hard and fast rules, and the condition of the vehicle is obviously key - you yourself have experiences which buck the trend. But these are just useful things to consider when purchasing, which might give you an insight into the history.
Edited by Conscript on Wednesday 20th May 14:22
I've just bought a 03 plate car from a bloke whos owned if from new. It was like a new car, and its had everything done properly, belts replaced (and waterpump) fluids changed etc. its even had any parking dings removed by dentmaster. It looks and feels like half its real age.
I have no doubt that if it was owned by 8 owners it would look and drive like a shed.
I had a Nova GTE once with 12 previous owners when I bought it and a suspiciously out-of-align 82k miles showing on the odo dials so suspect it had been clocked. Turned out to be one of the best cars I've ever had. On the other hand, "1 careful owner from new" low mileage buys have been utter disasters and big money pits.
aka_kerrly said:
g7jhp said:
A high number of owners in a short period could indicate it's a lemon.
Ideally you want to find the one owner who's cherished the car!
Generally speaking I agree but there are one or two exceptions like a car I bought that had 4 owners in the previous 2 years, all spent a fortune fixing all sorts of issues. The guy I bought it off said he had had enough of it as it was running badly again.Ideally you want to find the one owner who's cherished the car!
I fixed it with £2 of vacuum pipe and totaled up £2k of receipts from the previous 3 years. I paid £275 quid for it then sold it a year later for £1100
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