How many owners??
Discussion
Just found a nice looking car, good price, good spec etc. It's nothing more exciting than a 2016 3 Series 320D. About as "bog standard" as you can get in many ways. 45,000 miles on the clock, but it has 6 previous owners! The first owner could well have been a company, if it was a lease or company car, but that means that each owner has kept the car for an average of 1 year and less than 10,000 miles.
Can anyone think, aside from the fact it has a major issue, why there would be so many?
Can anyone think, aside from the fact it has a major issue, why there would be so many?
Yeah, it does ring alarm bells but there may be pretty good reasons for it that totally justify it but on a humdrum motor I’d continue looking.
Was in a similar position a few months ago where a car that was of perfect spec, was less than 2 years old, only 5k miles but had three previous owners. Dealership couldn’t give a convincing answer so I continued my search. Again, could have been a pre-reg, then bought and then transferred to a family member or something but there’s always that thought in the back of your mind that it’s a lemon and previous owners have simply punted it on rather than trying to resolve a hidden issue.
Was in a similar position a few months ago where a car that was of perfect spec, was less than 2 years old, only 5k miles but had three previous owners. Dealership couldn’t give a convincing answer so I continued my search. Again, could have been a pre-reg, then bought and then transferred to a family member or something but there’s always that thought in the back of your mind that it’s a lemon and previous owners have simply punted it on rather than trying to resolve a hidden issue.
I recently bought a 2016 Golf GTD with 5 previous owners. Obviously it's a factor, but the car is in such good condition that I'd urge anyone to look more closely before ruling something in / out on the basis of the number of owners.
It looks like my car was pre-registered, then the next change was at 9 months / 9,000 miles. That's typical for a dealership or manufacturer-owned car, and accounts for 2 owners. The remaining 3 before me did about 2 years / 15k miles each, which isn't unusual.
It has a pile of all history paperwork, new discs & pads and freshly refurbished polished alloys. I was originally looking for a GTI or R, but to give some perspective it would have cost me 25% more to buy a 2016 GTI with 1 owner and similar mileage / spec - and so this GTD felt like good value.
My previous RS3 was the same age and 1-previous-owner - it was in more or less the same condition, i.e. mint. I also had a similar age Fabia with just 1 previous owner, too, and that was trashed in comparison (though muchos cheap)!
It looks like my car was pre-registered, then the next change was at 9 months / 9,000 miles. That's typical for a dealership or manufacturer-owned car, and accounts for 2 owners. The remaining 3 before me did about 2 years / 15k miles each, which isn't unusual.
It has a pile of all history paperwork, new discs & pads and freshly refurbished polished alloys. I was originally looking for a GTI or R, but to give some perspective it would have cost me 25% more to buy a 2016 GTI with 1 owner and similar mileage / spec - and so this GTD felt like good value.
My previous RS3 was the same age and 1-previous-owner - it was in more or less the same condition, i.e. mint. I also had a similar age Fabia with just 1 previous owner, too, and that was trashed in comparison (though muchos cheap)!
The Cardinal said:
It looks like my car was pre-registered, then the next change was at 9 months / 9,000 miles. That's typical for a dealership or manufacturer-owned car, and accounts for 2 owners. The remaining 3 before me did about 2 years / 15k miles each, which isn't unusual.
Given the options list it has, a pre-reg or dealer car wouldn't surprise me. Will see if the seller ever gets back to me. Condi said:
Richard-390a0 said:
7yr old diesel with multiple owners but only 45k miles? I'd walk away too as something here doesn't add up.
I agree, but what? If it was a company car for it's first 2-3 years then perhaps the first private owner had it a couple of years before COVID era when plenty of peoples circumstances changed pretty quickly eg:
Stuck at home unable to work/travel, sell the car,
Buy a car thinking you are doing lots of business miles then WFH,
Buy a car to do big miles then no job,
Buy a car then find your bills have gone up 50% your pay has gone up 2.5%,
Buy from someone in the above situation for £1k under list price and punt it on having done nothing for a quick ££
Buy a unrecorded write off from CoPart type place, fix it up, sell it on.
buy a 320d and realise life is too short and you ought to have bought a 330i/335i/M3
aka_kerrly said:
Buy a 320d and realise life is too short and you ought to have bought a 330i/335i/M3
Oh, I agree with that, but doing 15,000 miles a year and needing to tow a trailer occasionally means a certain level of practicality is required. Besides, once you own a motorbike fast cars become a bit "meh".
But in principle, completely agree.
Condi said:
aka_kerrly said:
Buy a 320d and realise life is too short and you ought to have bought a 330i/335i/M3
Oh, I agree with that, but doing 15,000 miles a year and needing to tow a trailer occasionally means a certain level of practicality is required. Besides, once you own a motorbike fast cars become a bit "meh".
But in principle, completely agree.
Condi said:
Richard-390a0 said:
7yr old diesel with multiple owners but only 45k miles? I'd walk away too as something here doesn't add up.
I agree, but what? Edited by biggbn on Wednesday 5th July 08:11
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff