How many owners is too many?

[W12GT]

I am considering buying a 991 Carrera for a bit of weekend fun that I can get my kids in the back of.

I have come across an early car that has had 5 owners it does have full main dealer history and comes with extended warranty.

Will this be difficult to sell on?
How many of ypiwould be put off/not bothered by this number of owners?

Cheers,

[PhantomPH]

Depends on the year - assuming it's an early car, would that be 5 years old? So one owner a year...or potentially a pre-reg, so 'owner 1' was the dealer for 1,000m as a demonstrator?

For me, a 5 year old car that has an owner change every year might make me ask a few questions, but ultimately if the car is from a good dealer with a warranty and passes any inspection you or the dealer give it, it shouldn't matter too much.

In the wider scheme of things, I'd be more concerned about a car that had only 1 owner which was a hire company! Number of owners does not equal quality of care.

[Rude-boy]

I would not have a problem with it but i would want to look through and see all the bills and stamps. Anything missing would ring an alarm bell.

As another says 5 careful owners would scare me a lot less than 1 hire car company owner.

Above all else though the paperwork needs to be right.

FWIW my old Boxster had 5 previous on the log book and did Me 60K+ miles with no major issues other than a clutch, which is to be expected over 60k miles in one of those. Those were also 60k very hard miles in my hands, including a few visits to tracks...

[YoungMD]

Ha yes the old porsche story of lots of owners...what does low owners mean and what does lots of owners mean?? Nobody knows.... Porsches always have had loads of owners, and generally I find there is absolutely no relationship between condition and number of owners....it means nothing that's what it means....of course it's a dealer selling point...buy only works one way

[Cheib]

I'd want to see all the paperwork and would only buy from an OPC who put in writing about warranty claims etc. Unfortunately OPC's tend not to let you see any of the information regarding previous services/work under Data Protection rules which is ridiculous in my opinion.

5 is a lot on a regular Carrera...the higher owner cars tend to be GT3's and the like where people fall in love with the idea of owning one and then find the cars to be rather more hardcore than they want for Sunday morning blasts.

[SV_WDC]

Think the 911UK buyer's guide quotes the average Porsche ownership to be 18months

[sonnenschein3000]

Its possible that first owner was OPC.

The first owner on my Cayman S was OPC Silverstone.


whilst this isn't an exact science, does the car in question have Power Steering PLUS? I read somewhere that dealer ordered cars tend to have this, for some reason. However I can't remember if this was on a UK or a US forum

[Jim1556]

Cheib said:

Unfortunately OPC's tend not to let you see any of the information regarding previous services/work under Data Protection rules which is ridiculous in my opinion.

Even more so, when you consider the V5 has the last bloody owners' name and address on!

[Boardingnath]

I've gone through the same mental anguish on a 997.2. I came to peace with it as the car had full OPC servicing and Porsche extended warranty. Service history is far more important than owners IMO

[W12GT]

Thanks for this all of your replies! I am so tempted. It's a manual car but the first owner went for performance options over luxury including PCCB, torque vectoring, PASM, sports chrono plus and sports exhaust......

[Cheib]

W12GT said:

Thanks for this all of your replies! I am so tempted. It's a manual car but the first owner went for performance options over luxury including PCCB, torque vectoring, PASM, sports chrono plus and sports exhaust......

Get it bought! Sounds like a great spec.

The manual box might explain the frequent owners...bought as a DD perhaps but people finding they want PDK.

[VerySideways]

W12GT said:

Thanks for this all of your replies! I am so tempted. It's a manual car but the first owner went for performance options over luxury including PCCB, torque vectoring, PASM, sports chrono plus and sports exhaust......

An owner a year for a Porsche isn't uncommon - but if a car has the spec i want and i'm happy with everything else i wouldn't let the number of owners on the V5 stop me buying it.

[Adam B]

VerySideways said:

An owner a year for a Porsche isn't uncommon - but if a car has the spec i want and i'm happy with everything else i wouldn't let the number of owners on the V5 stop me buying it.

Yep, mine had 5 in 7 years but it was a good example and rare manual sport shift and has been in London most of its life so more frequent changes and auto easier to live with. 9E ppi came back nice and clear

[foxsasha]

The fear of high owners stems from the car being a Friday afternoon model with issues hence the owners quickly passing it on. This relates more to day to day cars that otherwise would often be kept for longer periods of time. Owners of higher end cars are more often enthusiasts who turn over their cars on a regular basis so they can experience something new and so a high number of owners is more normal and not as indicative of the car being a lemon.

My 911 has 3 previous owners and is a 2013, it didn't phase me.

[chriscoates81]

I thought that there was a honeymoon period where people spent money on a car so more owners should mean more care has been spend (unless youre trading it in in which case it counts against you).

[W12GT]

chriscoates81 said:

I thought that there was a honeymoon period where people spent money on a car so more owners should mean more care has been spend (unless youre trading it in in which case it counts against you).

I've often thought the same myself as most people take pride in their cars when they first get them. More so for a weekend car...

[Adam B]

chriscoates81 said:

I thought that there was a honeymoon period where people spent money on a car so more owners should mean more care has been spend

nope my instinct is the opposite, someone buying a car and intending to keep for 5+ years is not going to scrimp on maintenance, well that's me - some do but that is why you inspect properly

someone buying and swapping every year/18 months is not going to pay for any servicing given modern schedules, ie buy when service done by selling garage, sell before next service due

Edited by Adam B on Tuesday 28th March 10:35

[AvonM]

Couldn't care less about # owners. What would worry me more is having a single owner who for a long time neglected the car / drove it badly!

[PhantomPH]

AvonM said:

Couldn't care less about # owners. What would worry me more is having a single owner who for a long time neglected the car / drove it badly!

You are never going to know the latter, tho. Not unless you buy if from a friend or neighbour!

It's the stereotypical 'one lady owner' thing I think you are referring too. That was always lauded as a car that was driven well/carefully and never thrashed...but at the risk of being lynched, I must say that in my experience a car having 'one lady owner' often means - 'alloys will be curbed to death, clutch regularly ridden due to forgetting their correct shoes, parking dinks, abused interior from the toddlers/kids, etc, etc. (The exception to the rule being my wife who treats her cars better than she treats me!)

• Note: I am not being sexist - those traits can apply to males as well...I'm simply illustrating from my own experience!

[STiG911]

Cheib said:

...the higher owner cars tend to be GT3's and the like where people fall in love with the idea of owning one and then find the cars to be rather more hardcore than they want for Sunday morning blasts.

I pity them fools!