Cars with a high number of owners.

SimonAW

SimonAW

Member
 Dorset
I'm in the market for a Coupe and there seems to be a gulf between "acceptable" cars and "good" cars. I want to keep mine long term, an investment if you will, so I am taking my time and lookng for the best car I can buy.

I do notice that a lot of these cars tend to have quite a high number of owners, which I guess is expected, they are at least 14 years old and a desirable car to have ticked off the list....

The question is, would a car with 8 or more owners put you off as a buyer? Putting aside due diligence in checking how well the car has been cared for, MOT history etc... would something inside you be off put by a high owner car, even if it was well cared for?
 
Coupe and convertibles always have higher number of owners.
People buy them and realise that are not practical or have family etc and sell them on.
Each used car for sale is unique and has to be taken on actual condition
 
For me personally as long as everything else was as it should be, a high number of owners would not be an issue
 
Shouldn't really make any difference as long as it's been looked after properly.
The only caveat maybe is that not everyone has the same driving style, so the risk of it having a previous owner who took it to the redline or tracked it on a regular basis, or someone else who was lazy with gear changes etc, or someone who did only short journeys - school run etc. is theoretically higher I suppose.
 
My current Z has a gazillion owners but the seats are near perfect. Unfortunately the first owner was Scottish so the underneath looks like the Titanic but service wise is good.

If I was to buy a keeper, I would check more where the car has lived
 
As others have said Z4s seem to change hands pretty often, probably because they aren't exactly practical and a change in circumstances like parenthood can make them totally impractical. And for many car fans they're a box to be ticked before moving on to something else.

My last 2 were both registered in December 2006. My previous one had 5 previous keepers when I bought it in 2016 and my current one had 7 when I bought it in 2019.

Both times I bought on condition, history and price - number of keepers is just a number!
 
Agree with most of the comments, people by these as a tick box car, and keep for one summer then sell on, my M4 has four owners (pre reg) didn't put me off, in really great condition with FBMWSH.

Just check the MOT history and start form there, buy on condition, spec you must have and just enjoy a unique and rare car
 
pvr said:
Unfortunately the first owner was Scottish
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Whoa! That's a bit racist, mate! Especially from you, being a guest in our fine Country! :lol: :poke:

Also agree that number of owners is not necessarily a problem with certain cars. Look at the average 15 year old 911! It doesn't seem to put people off them.
If a car had 2 owners a year, every year, then OK it should raise suspicions, but not 1 every 2 years! :thumbsup:
 
The number of owners only really concerns me if there’s been multiple changes in ownership recently as an indication of something wrong.
 
I'm considering this one....There is one further Service stamp just done at 55k not pictured. I think all in all it looks well looked after.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202305227633930?advertising-location=at_cars&body-type=Coupe&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&make=BMW&maximum-mileage=60000&model=Z4&postcode=bh37ds&sort=price-asc&year-to=2023&fromsra
 

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Looks like a decent example. Make sure it has good paint at that price, but the number of previous owners shouldn’t be an issues. They are robust cars.
 
Zedebee said:
Looks like a decent example. Make sure it has good paint at that price, but the number of previous owners shouldn’t be an issues. They are robust cars.
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The advert says the car is ceramic coated and also the owner has told me the underside has been treated with ACF50 but the car is only driven in dry weather since he has owned it.
 
Also he has sent me a walk around video of the car and it looks to be in good order, but obviously you can't realy pick out issues with paint on a video, and with cars of this age I will expect some normal wear.
 
j3nks79 said:
What are you waiting for. Go and stand infront of it and see what it’s really like
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Trying to convince myself to spend £200 on the train journey mostly...
 
SimonAW said:
I'm considering this one....There is one further Service stamp just done at 55k not pictured. I think all in all it looks well looked after.
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Very top end of the price range for a non-M E86 IMO, especially as a private sale.
I personally would expect the history (MOT and service) to be lot better for the premium, no matter how good it looks.
But I ain't buying it!
As said above go and look, the only way to get a 'feel' for a car really. :thumbsup:
 
20230515_115034.jpg
If it makes you feel any better I'm the 12th owner of this 102k masterpiece, and it's so much car for so little money.....drives beautifully.
 
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