Experience of cars with less owners vs more owners

[Gericho]

It seems that the market prefers used cars with only a few previous owners. A one owner car seems to be considered the best no matter how old the car is.

I just bought a car and I am the fifth owner. As with every car I've bought, because its new to me, I go over it and try to make it the best I can (stage 0). Oil changes, spark plugs (sometimes), full body work examination and repair/repaint any areas with stonechips or rust.

I do this because its new to me so obviously I want to start with making it the best I can. I probably wouldn't do it if it was owned by me the whole time because I've got used to it and its not exciting anymore. I'm guessing this is the broadly the same for everyone else when they change cars.

Theoretically a 3+ owner car is probably been better maintained than a 1 owner car. What do you think?

[Pica-Pica]

Over the decades I have always researched the car I need and desire, then I buy new and keep for at least ten years (previous car was for 19 years! ).

[GeniusOfLove]

When I started buying used cars I was often surprised and how utterly wked out not very old one owner cars often were, and that's proven to be true over subsequent decades.

I think there is possibly something to your theory. Also every time the car gets retailed the seller will have to fix at least some of it's age related maladies to be able to sell it, on top of new owners being more engaged/invested than long term owners. Interesting idea!

[alscar]

I think it’s also dependent upon what the used car is / value.
Something more run of the mill / daily v something more esoteric etc.

[Ham_and_Jam]

I think it comes downto the law of probabilities.

A lot of people don’t care about cars or give a toss about looking after them. So the more owners a car has, the higher the chance that it has been owned by someone like that.

[trickywoo]

That logic goes both ways as you could say someone not expecting to keep a car for long will rag it from cold etc.

For me there is also the worry a multi owner car has difficult to fix or frequent faults.

I’m not that fussed about 1 owner but I also don’t want to see 5+ on a 5 year old car.

[GetCarter]

Fewer owners, not less owners.

Less traffic, fewer cars.

HTH.

[MikeM6]

Many owners is a sign the car was not kept that long, which suggests that there were reasons to not keep the car long.

[Pica-Pica]

GetCarter said:

Fewer owners, not less owners.

Less traffic, fewer cars.

HTH.

At last, a man after my own heart!

[Fady]

MikeM6 said:

Many owners is a sign the car was not kept that long, which suggests that there were reasons to not keep the car long.

That doesn't really tell you anything unless you know what those reasons are.

Number of previous owners is just something I take into consideration but not something to sway me one way or the other on that fact alone.

[DodgyGeezer]

I guess it depends on the car... would you risk a 16 year old Aston with 9 previous owners?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202310263...

[juice]

DodgyGeezer said:

I guess it depends on the car... would you risk a 16 year old Aston with 9 previous owners?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202310263...

What could possibly go wrong with a 9 owner, wrapped Aston ?

[coolchris]

My noble had 5 owners before me when it only had 16k on the clock when I bought it.My thinking was that drivers got there fix for a year or so looking at it as a toy then moving it on to something else.For me I buy on how a car drives and condition high mileage isn't much of an issue to me either if a car drives well more reason to find a bargain.

[durbster]

It's a good point. Somebody who knows they'll be hanging on to a car for a while might be less inclined to keep it in good condition because they're never thinking about resale value.

When we bought Mrs Durb's TT, we found one that ticked all the boxes but it had 5 or 6 previous owners, which worked out almost one per year I think. We hesitated but it came with a good warranty so we went for it. I put some of it down to being a type of car that people probably do tend to keep for a short time.

To this day, I still have the nagging feeling that something is going to happen which explains why nobody hung on to it, despite the fact we've had it almost three years now and apart from needing a new AC compressor, it's had no issues at all.

[Dog Star]

I can’t remember where I saw this but I agree - when it comes to a car that’s a little more special then the number of owners being higher can actually be a good thing.

Each new owner will have bought it because it’s something fast/special/super nice. It will be their pride and joy and they will treat it accordingly. Maybe they just want it to scratch an itch then move on. So they may prove to be better kept.

[anonymous-user]

GetCarter said:

Fewer owners, not less owners.

Less traffic, fewer cars.

HTH.

Thank you!

[Robertb]

Sometimes, a car will be moved on before it needs major service work, so if its a high-end car the dealer will get the work done before resale. So, more frequent ownership changes means a car gets used, detailed, and serviced on a regular basis.

Cars that stay with the same owner can get neglected. I'm surprised by the number of high-end cars I see with poor service histories and few owners.

[Baldchap]

I was sat in a bar by the window last night looking out onto, amongst other things, a speed bump. One car slowed down noticeably. One. In probably two, two and a half hours.

We are not the norm.

You buy a car owned by one person who does care, it's likely fantastic. You buy a car owned by five of them, it's probably a nail.

Unfortunately there's no way of knowing.

The traditional logic says more than average owners implies a problem car that people keep getting rid of.

[A.J.M]

Low owner doesn’t always mean it’s spot on.
My latest car was a 1 owner from new, full main dealer history. They had got its 96,000 mile service done at them.
I got the car at 103,*** miles.
Had the autobox been serviced? Nope.
Had the haldex been serviced? Nope.

I’ve had them done now.
Alongside the other bits they didn’t fix and likely why they traded it in. Brakes all round, a front wheel bearing and rear shocks/springs. Nothing awful though.
But I got it cheaper due to the work that it needed.

Cars now got 141,*** miles and is pretty spot on for driving etc.

[anonymous-user]

Arguably the best car I've ever owned had 9 owners in 10 years. I've had it 20 years. I don't think you can read anything into it at all. Condition is king I guess.