explain this to an old man

[Kyodo]

I get emails every month from Ferrari dealerships with almost unused, almost new cars for sale. I think early in their lives a lot top-end cars are bought, enjoyed and moved on quickly as the purchaser can afford to constantly swap to the next new thing, perhaps worrying less about the hit than many of us.

[bordseye]

Adam B said:

I know people who have bought cars to give them a go, with every intention to sell them on before the first service is due. Now they didn't want to prang it or scrape it and ruin its value, but they couldn't give a stuff about long term maintenance / warming up correctly / mechanical sympathy.

If someone buys a car and intends to keep it for 5 years+ they are going to be far more caring of it

Got to agree with that. If the car is ever going to get really ragged its in that shirt time between agreeing a deal to sell it and handing it over. So 5 owners = ragged 5 times.

[Wacky Racer]

I'd rather have a one owner car than one that's had five owners in a short period of time irrespective of the value, 10k or 100k.

[diffstar]

bordseye said:

Adam B said:

I know people who have bought cars to give them a go, with every intention to sell them on before the first service is due. Now they didn't want to prang it or scrape it and ruin its value, but they couldn't give a stuff about long term maintenance / warming up correctly / mechanical sympathy.

If someone buys a car and intends to keep it for 5 years+ they are going to be far more caring of it

Got to agree with that. If the car is ever going to get really ragged its in that shirt time between agreeing a deal to sell it and handing it over. So 5 owners = ragged 5 times.

Don’t know about you but the Shirt time you speak of I tend to park the car up and not use it for fear of a stone chip or a curbed wheel!

[supersport]

The Surveyor said:

Sarnie said:

Why do people care about the number of owners?????

…............

The perception is that nobody kept the car because its either :-
a, A Friday special with loads of little problems,
b, A duffer with a major problem nobody can sort, or
c, It's rather dull and nobody loved it enough to keep it.

The reality is of course that these cars are simply swapped regularly as the owners search for that illustrious 'keeper'.

It’s all in the history. Whilst not a supercar despite being rather super, the Boxster we bought this year was a low annual mileage, several owner car. But the previous owner spent arm and legs having service, tyres all round plus disks and pads all round just 500 miles before trading it in.

Thank you, very much appreciated

[isaldiri]

Wacky Racer said:

I'd rather have a one owner car than one that's had five owners in a short period of time irrespective of the value, 10k or 100k.

That one owner might just have decided to flog the car before having to pay out for any significant maintenance required after 5 years.......

At risk of sounding like a stuck record, buying on condition getting someone who knows what he's doing and looking at service history is far more important than number of prior owners on the V5.

[Paracetamol]

There are 2 camps

1. You buy one and then realise what a PITA it is to own.

You worry and fret about the condition (which you insisted must be absolutely mint in order to justify the spend) ;

you realise how little you actually get to drive it because you don't use it for work and hate that you have to leave a child behind if you have more than one and then....

you get treated like a t*rd by the dealer and manufacturer because you didn't buy it new.

All the while there is a ticking time bomb in some random part that is buried somewhere deep in the mechanicals that can be covered by a warranty that costs more than the car costs to fully ensure. Internet folklore tells you its gonna fail and every new noise makes you paranoid..

And so you have enough and you sell..

2. You love the feel of having the latest and greatest new toy. You go to the dealer; are forced to become a car salesmen's best friend. You treat him like an equal- though you know deep down you are a piece of meat to him that he needs to extract excitement and therefore money..as the relationship builds he tempts you into new and more wondrous contraptions that are even less useful than the last. You love being that guy on istagram with the latest....but....

The joy soon wears off and you need your next fix.

And so you have enough and you sell it..

[Roof down]

Paracetamol said:

There are 2 camps

1. You buy one and then realise what a PITA it is to own.

You worry and fret about the condition (which you insisted must be absolutely mint in order to justify the spend) ;

you realise how little you actually get to drive it because you don't use it for work and hate that you have to leave a child behind if you have more than one and then....

you get treated like a t*rd by the dealer and manufacturer because you didn't buy it new.

All the while there is a ticking time bomb in some random part that is buried somewhere deep in the mechanicals that can be covered by a warranty that costs more than the car costs to fully ensure. Internet folklore tells you its gonna fail and every new noise makes you paranoid..

And so you have enough and you sell..

2. You love the feel of having the latest and greatest new toy. You go to the dealer; are forced to become a car salesmen's best friend. You treat him like an equal- though you know deep down you are a piece of meat to him that he needs to extract excitement and therefore money..as the relationship builds he tempts you into new and more wondrous contraptions that are even less useful than the last. You love being that guy on istagram with the latest....but....

The joy soon wears off and you need your next fix.

And so you have enough and you sell it..

About sums it up, Mike

[sone]

These are trophies for many people, they sit in the garage so the owners can tell their mates in the pub they're supercar drivers. Problem is like trophy wives one day you'll look at them and think behind the veneer maybe you're not all that and then they f"%%k off with all your money.
My message would be if you're struggling to buy one don't you'll end up hating it.
On the other hand if you can live with the reality of an expensive date and put up with unwanted attention and envy fill your boots.

[Adam B]

isaldiri said:

Wacky Racer said:

I'd rather have a one owner car than one that's had five owners in a short period of time irrespective of the value, 10k or 100k.

That one owner might just have decided to flog the car before having to pay out for any significant maintenance required after 5 years.......

And so might the 5th owner of a 5 owner car

isaldiri said:

At risk of sounding like a stuck record, buying on condition getting someone who knows what he's doing and looking at service history is far more important than number of prior owners on the V5.

all well and good, but some of the damage may be wear and tear due to poor mechanical sympathy that is invisible on a SH and may not come up with an inspection