When buying used cars do you care how many previous owners?

[ballmode]

At best you would be the second owner, but do you care if the car has had 3,4,5+ owners?

 

[7window]

yes. I wont be as excited if it has a lot of owners even if the car looks good.

 

[KDKPSJ]

Absolutely. 1 is acceptable depends on condition, but I wouldn't touch 2 or more unless it's at least 20% cheaper than 1 owner one. No logical reasoning or anything, but I just don't feel like to.

 

[thedarkwolf]

I really don't care. I'm buying $3k or less cars though so they are usually going to have had a few owners over the years. My current daily I did buy off the original owners. It was a nice bonus but I would have bought it at the price they were asking if it had had 20 owners.

 

[jlee]

No. Not sure I've ever asked.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Sort of. If it has changed hands a bunch of times aside from the typical dealer buy/sell inventory stuff it could mean a problem vehicle. Like one I saw had changed hands 6 times and it had a lot of carfax statements about "vehicle electrical system checked" - that kind of thing throws a red flag.

My current one has had 3 owners. First one had it for only a year or two. Second one had it 6 years. I'm the third owner and have had it 3.5 years.

 

[Meghan54]

Depends on the age of the vehicle. A 2-3 year old vehicle, I'd expect a single owner. A 10 year old vehicle, I'd expect more than one.

Our '03 Silverado had 2 prior owners, original owner had it 3 years, second owner had it 7 years. Good service records. Overall condition was great, so being the third owner wasn't a concern.

A 15 year old vehicle? Don't care about much except if the vehicle was a rental/some other type commercial vehicle and the title's clear.

I'd also consider where the vehicle's being sold. Some states, like Mass., require the dealer to actually title the vehicle in its name, meaning the dealer becomes a counted owner, despite the fact I wouldn't count the dealer as much of an owner. But Carfax does, so the owner count may be artificially high in that type of state.

 

[z1ggy]

Depends on the age of the vehicle. A 2-3 year old vehicle, I'd expect a single owner. A 10 year old vehicle, I'd expect more than one.

Our '03 Silverado had 2 prior owners, original owner had it 3 years, second owner had it 7 years. Good service records. Overall condition was great, so being the third owner wasn't a concern.

A 15 year old vehicle? Don't care about much except if the vehicle was a rental/some other type commercial vehicle and the title's clear.

I'd also consider where the vehicle's being sold. Some states, like Mass., require the dealer to actually title the vehicle in its name, meaning the dealer becomes a counted owner, despite the fact I wouldn't count the dealer as much of an owner. But Carfax does, so the owner count may be artificially high in that type of state.

This.

Interesting fact about Mass, too. Does MI do this at all?

 

[iamwiz82]

This.

Interesting fact about Mass, too. Does MI do this at all?

Michigan does not do this.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

2-3 year old car = 1 owner
3-5 second owner
after that it doesn't really matter to me

 

[Midwayman]

I don't know if I would buy a car with more than about 3 owners. Lots of owners means there is a reason why a bunch of people sold that particular car. Exception for collectible cars.

 

[T2urtle]

I dont care for the most part.

As long as its not a rental/taxi type of car.

But my logic would the same as most people, if a 5 year old car has like 4 owners, thats a no go. Because i would ASSUME something is wrong with the car.

Owner 1 leased the car 3 years and done.
Owner 2 buys car and crashes it within the year.
Owner 3 (shop thats good with title washing and etc) buys car and fixes poorly and sells.
Owner 4 buys and later finds out after someone tells him and is now trying to flip it again.

That example is VERY extreme but could very well happen. Or Owner 4 got a great bargain on a well repaired car. I think the SAME thing when i see a car thats 5-7 years old with 15k. I think it gets hit and sits on someone's lot until they have time to fix.


All i really looked for and care about is that it was yearly or bi-yearly registered. Meaning it never sat for long.

 

[ballmode]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

 

[sontakke]

I wonder how this topic would be treated in Love and Relationship forum

 

[T2urtle]

I wonder how this topic would be treated in Love and Relationship forum

That would purely be based on maintenance alone! And it if been waxed regularly.

 

[ballmode]

It's not the age, it's the miles...