How many owners is too many owners...

Chanceschmerr said:
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Welp, did the Vcheck. It only gives me the last 5 owners! Everything else checks out on it, at least.

I wish I could find out more about what Owner #9 did in his 3 2/3 years of ownership. Much more indicative than the current owner who is ditching it after 6 months and barely having used it.
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I’ve noticed the same with vcheck, not sure if it’s specific to them. Shows the last ten years’ worth of owners and then cuts off and shows nothing beforehand. Odd!


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Never noticed TBH - haven't bought a car that old for quite some time :)

Grimsby.... isn't that further than the Blackpool trip?
 
I should add the MoT history on it is actually quite sensible with only advisories/fails on tyres/bulbs aside of 1 handbrake issue a few years back.

Still not keen on that many previous owners 🤔
 
Chanceschmerr said:
View attachment 291009

Welp, did the Vcheck. It only gives me the last 5 owners! Everything else checks out on it, at least.

I wish I could find out more about what Owner #9 did in his 3 2/3 years of ownership. Much more indicative than the current owner who is ditching it after 6 months and barely having used it.
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I wouldn't read too much into that or try to 'guess' or speculate what owners do with cars e.g if they only kept it for such and such time or how much they used it.
It's better to judge on condition, paperwork etc. and on an individual basis.
My previous Z4M and Alpina, I keep for 7 years and probably put less than 3k miles on each. Conversely, I only kept my low mileage E89 35i for about 10 months and put less than 1k miles on it. Yet, it was a car in basically perfect mechanical and cosmetic condition. And, the buyer got a damn good car.

Why? Because I bought it essentially as a hobby to bring it up to that condition over the winter months in the garage.
Number of owners isn't really that important....until you come to sell it! With lots of owners in the history, you do inevitably face the same uphill battle as a good proportion of your potential market asks the same questions as you have and is put off.

If you're intending to buy a car as only a short-term keeper, then this becomes a significant factor and with 9 owners, I would walk away, if this is the case.
 
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matsmith749 said:
I might be dreaming but does the count on DVLA not cap out at 9 previous owners?

ie when you see a car advertised with 9, it is basicly saying 'some number of previous owners - 9 minimum'

With 9 previous owners, current keeper is owner 10. If you buy it, you will be owner 11. DVLA docs will still say '9 previous owners'.

At least I think that's how it works.

For me (regardless of the age or type of car / likely frequency of change) I steer clear above 5 previous owners, and never buy a car from someone that has owned if for less than 2 years.

Just me - I have my reasons that make sense inside my own head (all that matters).

With the e89 being out there since around 2009, 9+ previous owners feels like it changed hands almost every year. That would be more than enough for me to walk away (right or wrong - surface condition & all other things i could check irrespective).

I don't care how good you think you can inspect a car pre-purchase, you will only really know the true condition of a car after owning it for a few months & driven a few thousand miles in a variety of conditions.
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Isnt really an issue unless there is a lack of service history. My car had 3-4 different owners in the first few years as it seems no one could diagnose what caused the sudden occasional loss of power. BMW couldnt find anything, No error codes and it just showed up on the BMW history as a warranty fix. So it got passed around as I guess could be scary on the motorway!. The owner before me found out that it was a faulty electric switch in the speed pedal. fixed for £80! Of course even the blooming pedal is electrical so the engine was responding how it should! I have had for 5 years and no power problems
 
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