Previous owner owned for 1.5 months - red flag?

[sonnenschein3000]

Hello all, I'm looking at buying a car (approved used) that is just under 2 years old. I've driven it, looked around it, it looks perfect.
I did a car check on it and the first owner owned it for 1 year 9 months, but the second owner only had it for 1 and a half months... is this a red flag? Or am I being concerned about nothing?

[jdoubleu]

With it being a single piece of the history it's impossible to know if it's a one off. Could easily be a sudden change in circumstances have made them move on. Assume it has a year manufacturer's warranty on it so there is a fair amount of peace of mind there.

Having said that, the advice here is generally - if it isn't a rare car and you're at all suspicious...

[Chubbyross]

jdoubleu said:

With it being a single piece of the history it's impossible to know if it's a one off. Could easily be a sudden change in circumstances have made them move on. Assume it has a year manufacturer's warranty on it so there is a fair amount of peace of mind there.

Having said that, the advice here is generally - if it isn't a rare car and you're at all suspicious...

I agree. It’s impossible to know what happened. I’ve owned a car for a month before deciding it wasn’t for me and trading it in. If it was showing multiple short-term owners then that would definitely be a red flag. As it is you have no idea unless the dealer can shed any light on it.

[DonkeyApple]

It's such a strange market at the moment that there could be any number of reasons from a repo through to someone's new car being delayed so they picked up something else to tide them over until it was delivered.

I think it best to assume that the good folk selling it will never tell you the truth and even if they did one isn't going to believe them so check the history as thoroughly as possible and if they won't show you the full and true history then move on or if you have any doubts then move on.

[Fiedka]

Knowing what car it is could perhaps help to see if there is a likelihood of a well known expensive repair coming up?

[Far Cough]

Buy it cheap , tart it up and flog it off......... Although , many that do this dont bother to register it to themselves. Why dont you ask the seller for an explanation

[Pistom]

One of my current cars was owned by the last owner for a month. No idea why they had it so short a time but I've now had the car 3 years and put 50K on it. No issues.

Sorry, anecdotal stories mean nothing but I'm just saying that it isn't always a red flag.

[p4cks]

Could be, could not be. I once bought a car which I'd put back up for sale before I'd got the new V5C back from the DVLA, it was that dull.

[croyde]

I ordered a 987 Boxster, waited 7 months for it to arrive.

Loved it, but sold it 3 months later as child No3 was suddenly (out of nowhere) on his way, and I needed a bigger family wagon.

[raspy]

I bought a 1 year old car, sold it a month later. Seat was uncomfortable on longer drives.

[HTP99]

Sold a used car to woman, we bought it back from her 3 months later, she was over in the UK for 3 months, it was cheaper to take the depreciation hit than to hire a car for 3 months.

[vikingaero]

Things happen in life.

Job loss
Suddenly finding out you're pregnant
New job with company car renders it redundant

[The spinner of plates]

Chubbyross said:

jdoubleu said:

With it being a single piece of the history it's impossible to know if it's a one off. Could easily be a sudden change in circumstances have made them move on. Assume it has a year manufacturer's warranty on it so there is a fair amount of peace of mind there.

Having said that, the advice here is generally - if it isn't a rare car and you're at all suspicious...

I agree. It’s impossible to know what happened. I’ve owned a car for a month before deciding it wasn’t for me and trading it in. If it was showing multiple short-term owners then that would definitely be a red flag. As it is you have no idea unless the dealer can shed any light on it.

Yup, multiple would suggest it's a lemon, but one short owner wouldn't concern me.

Years ago I bought a car and then got made redundant at work the same week I took delivery.

So life threw a curveball and I decided in the coming months I'd be going travelling / doing some DIY for a year.
Made the call that taking a bath trading the car in after a few months was actually the optimal decision in the circumstances.

[anonymous-user]

My car has had four owners.

1st owner 6 months. They even paid for a five year service plan by direct debit, so no idea why they sold after six months.
2nd owner 5 years.
3rd owner 8 months
4th owner 5 years

No idea why two owners kept the car for 5 years and the other two for 6 and 8 months.

I also sold a car after 2 months because I just didn't like it. The next owner kept it for years and was doing 20K miles a year in it.

[sonnenschein3000]

Thanks for the replies

I think I'll go with it because the first owner seemed happy with it, and it's still got 1 years manufacturer's warranty on it and it drives beautifully, I don't think there's anything wrong with it

[samoht]

I think any time you buy a replacement car before you've sold the old one, you then have the possibility of deciding to sell the new car on and keep the old one. Especially as when buying a used car you often don't get the chance of a proper test drive before buying, it's easy to have second thoughts once you've got the car and drive it back to back with the old one.

I bought a car in such a situation, seller had only had it ~2 weeks, and the car was very much a good one.

[georgeyboy12345]

sonnenschein3000 said:

Thanks for the replies

I think I'll go with it because the first owner seemed happy with it, and it's still got 1 years manufacturer's warranty on it and it drives beautifully, I don't think there's anything wrong with it

What car is it?

[AlexIT]

croyde said:

child No3 was suddenly (out of nowhere) on his way

Euh....................

[sonnenschein3000]

georgeyboy12345 said:

What car is it?

CLS 400d (C257)