Is multiple owners an issue?

J

Jellybaby38

Member
Morning all,

I've come across a well-specced and reasonably well-priced Z4 30i (2010) that I like the look of, but it has had 6 owners in the 75k miles that it's done. Would you view this as problematic, and why?
 
Not really on its own no.
You would have to review the history and see if you could glean any idea of what those owners were like.
For example, you'd probably be over the moon if you saw it had just one lady owner.
But that could have been a 90-y-o who forgot to change out of 1st gear, or Jamie Chadwick!

6 owners over 12 years seems to fit the profile of a lot of cars like this. People get them for a toy for a short while, then move them on as their circumstances change.
 
Jellybaby38 said:
Morning all,

I've come across a well-specced and reasonably well-priced Z4 30i (2010) that I like the look of, but it has had 6 owners in the 75k miles that it's done. Would you view this as problematic, and why?
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As said above - normal for high ownership count on these sorts of cars (unlike a family car which people tend to keep longer). I'm the 7th owner on mine, wouldn't surprise me if older Z's had over 10 in the next few years
 
I think most of us would prefer less. But I agree completely with the previous post. What matters is the visual and mechanical condition of the car. Of cause you can't see all of that so check the paper work and check it has been maintained properly.
 
It will 100% matter to some and not to others and I'm in the former category.
I've just paid a deposit on a Z4 private sale where the car has had 3 owners (It's a 2011). If the car had 5/6/7 owners, I'd not have gone to see it preferring to wait on a lower owner car. People in the latter category won't be bothered at all by it.
For those buyers who do bother, when you come to sell a high owner car you may take a few people out of your interest pool because of it.
I do get enuff_zeds bit about people having this type of car for a short time and then moving them on so it's perhaps not the big negative I think it is but it still would be a problem for me/some.
 
Zeds are 'toys' to most folks. and like most toys often fall out of favour for many reasons..so in that context 6 owners in 12 years is not in itself an issue..

I'f look as best as you can at the service records and MOT reports..plus of course detailed visual inspection! :thumbsup:
 
Check MOTs and look for service history.

What you don’t want is a Fiesta ST with seven owners, but a two seat Z4 is usually only kept for a couple of years.

I was the third owner of mine when the car was four years old!
 
enuff_zed said:
6 owners over 12 years seems to fit the profile of a lot of cars like this. People get them for a toy for a short while, then move them on as their circumstances change.
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+1.

High numbers of owners does seem to affect desirability, though (don't know whether it really affects value). Presumably this is down to 'peace of mind'.
 
My car had two owners with 72k miles, is that any worse than a well looked after car with 5 owners, just depends on the history etc.

If it had FSH and passed every MOT without anything major then I would not worry at all
 
You need to be the registered keeper to get your own insurance policy. It's not uncommon for a car to stay in the same household and have multiple keepers listed.

Seems daft to discount a car without even asking about the history.
 
I was really lucky finding mine. It has just one previous owner...Dutch fella name of Hertz Van Rental... :D
 
Mister T said:
You need to be the registered keeper to get your own insurance policy. It's not uncommon for a car to stay in the same household and have multiple keepers listed.

Seems daft to discount a car without even asking about the history.
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I have a Corsa showing 4 owners, one was my dad and now me as the fourth
 
I figured it would be one of those things that divides people. I would generally prefer fewer owners, but the toy aspect of it is a consideration.
I'm still waiting to receive the service histroy/details of any work. The last MOT in Sept '21 showed cracks on both rear wheels, which then passed the next day, so I don't know if they were replaced or welded. We'll see what the history says. It's going into BMW Monday for a service/MOT so we'll see what comes out of that
 
Multiple owners is not a problem in itself. However, the more owners there are, the more likelihood that it had one who didn't look after it.

Same as with a one owner car, if the history looks good then I'd be ok with it, if the history is poor then I wouldn't.
 
Pondrew said:
I was really lucky finding mine. It has just one previous owner...Dutch fella name of Hertz Van Rental... :D
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:rofl: :rofl:
I have to agree with the majority here that a Summer sports car can tend to change owners every few years, you can also think of it this way, seller prepares car for sale getting any little bits sorted, then new owner spends the next few months getting it just right, so it could be a well looked after car.
 
Jellybaby38 said:
I figured it would be one of those things that divides people. I would generally prefer fewer owners, but the toy aspect of it is a consideration.
I'm still waiting to receive the service histroy/details of any work. The last MOT in Sept '21 showed cracks on both rear wheels, which then passed the next day, so I don't know if they were replaced or welded. We'll see what the history says. It's going into BMW Monday for a service/MOT so we'll see what comes out of that
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The cracked wheels will need replacing.

I presume they are the 326m.

They are not built for UK roads, lovely as they are.

I would build this into the costings, or use to perhaps negotiate on price.
 
Indeed they are the 326M, good presumption. Out of interest, what would you replace them with for bumpy UK road purposes - I'm in Bucks and the roads here are TERRIBLE.
 
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