What would you do?

B

bhavin85

Member
 Northwood
Hi All,

Had a nasty shock this morning when the V5 document turned up for my Z4.

Prior to me signing on the dotted line I asked BMW to check the number of previous owners the car had, I made it very clear that I would not buy a car with more then 1 previous owner. It was, as they called it a "deal breaker".

So to my surprise this morning the V5 arrived and it states 2 previous owners...as you can probably imagine I am fairly furious that even though BMW checked and confirmed 1 previous owner the car did infact have 2 :headbang:

So jump on the phone to the sales chap, who is in all sorts of a panic as he recalls the conversation very clearly...as it was a deal breaker.

Anyways BMW are doing some investigation and will come back to me in the next day or so with a proposal on how to resolve, I love the car to bits but am so tempted to take it back...drop the keys off with their sales manager and ask for a full refund.

So tell me if you were in my position...what would you do?
 
if it's the car you want then be open to negotiation on price, or 2 years free servicing or something else.
 
If you really like the car then I wouldn't bother about taking it back and accept free servicing or a calculated difference in the sale price from a one owner car to a two owner car.
 
If BMW are preapared to admit to the mistake etc and that the whole deal was predicated on the 1 previous owner, I guess you would be entitled to give the car back and ask for a refund of any expenses incurred.

But as you say you "love the car" so providing the price you paid was fair for 2 owner car as a opposed to a one owner car, I'd be tempted to keep the vehicle as seek a gesture that is reasonable to both parties eg a service pack if its not already got one. If the value is affected by the additional owner, I'd insist BMW refund the difference as well as providing a gesture of Goodwill

In my opinion it all boils down to whether you can live with the additional owner issue or whether this will eat away at your enjoyment of the car.

Hope you get it resolved
 
Thats pretty shoddy Bhav - but no surprise from an AUC car from some of the the stories on here.

Maybe the first owner was a showroom/ dealer.... But you didnt have a car for while since selling the Datsun :poke: - its not as if you urgently need it... so you could rack up the milage in the sun now... and then return it :evil:

If you like it then squeeze them for as much as you can - free servicing and extra warranty etc.
 
If you love the car and it's all fine, who cares how many owners its had.

As above, try and get some free servicing etc out of them to cover any loss in resale for having an extra owner but other then that who cares.
 
Is it really two owners or one real owner and a registration by the original garage?

Many garages register cars to themselves to make sales reports look better. It's not a real owner however.
 
Maniac said:
Is it really two owners or one real owner and a registration by the original garage?

Many garages register cars to themselves to make sales reports look better. It's not a real owner however.
Click to expand...

This.

I doubt having the extra owner will affect resale much... and if you're worried about the financial side of things i'd be more concerned with how heavily the E89 is depreciating...
 
No problem with two owners if one is BMW or a garage like mine was. More concerned about the condition.
I would keep it but try and get something for your distress :D
 
Ditto what most are saying ie as it was specified at the time of purchase negotiate some free servicing or cash back if they're willing to do this.

As regards having two previous owners instead of one , depending on the age it's easily the norm for this type of car - having only one previous owner is just the icing on the cake so to speak. If the car is a really good one and you love it then keep it and enjoy - another one albeit one owner may not have been so well looked after. When I was searching I looked at an eight year old top spec 3.0se that was a one owner with only 23k miles - it was basically shite - several dings , inside and under the bonnet filthy and wheels kerbed.

Hope you can resolve the issue.
 
If the log book shows 1 previous owner and is at a dealer as a trade in then won't that be 1 owner prior to the guy who sold it to the dealer so 2 by the time it's registered with you.

A truly 1 owner car should have no previous owners prior to sale. I think BMW have told you the truth, there would have been 1 previous owner on the log book.

Andi.
 
No idea what I'd do but in a similar, maybe actually worse situation with GFs car right now... 26k mini Cooper sd , bought as ex demo. Paint has deteriorated on the quarter panel and evident of a s**t repair. Local decent dealership has contacted coopers of Cobham who are THE worst garage I have ever had to deal with and they confirmed it had 3 panels repaired. Absolutely furious so I share your pain. Case is open at the moment, they're gonna try wriggle out of it.

Edit: sorry about my personal rant. Good luck OP.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 
Just had a call back...the car was registered to a BMW garage as the "first" owner...so Maniac was correct

At this point I am just very p!ssed off that this wasn't made clear even thought I heavily stressed it at the time of purchasing the car.

I am waiting to hear back from BMW to determine what they will do...I suspect they will offer me a service pack...or a lump sum off the car...more to follow when I hear back from them
 
I can see why you may be hacked off......but I wouldn't let the fact that it was pre-registered by a dealership concern you at all.

At best, you're going to get the offer of service pack or warranty etc. If it were me, and given the "extra owner", I would push for an extra years warranty. That could be quite costly once your 12 months AUC warranty runs out and will give you that extra piece of mind given the 2 owner issue.
 
Two things...

First, when you sell the car you won't be able to prove that BMW were the first owner, as your the third owner, so they will have dropped off the V5.

Second, I have asked BMW on various occasions that BMW show me the V5 or retained slip for cars I'm viewing, but they have refused to show me on every occasion? Always an excuse.

Mine was a BMW car, but as only the second owner, BMW are still on the V5 as the previous owner.
 
bhavin85 said:
Just had a call back...the car was registered to a BMW garage as the "first" owner...so Maniac was correct

At this point I am just very p!ssed off that this wasn't made clear even thought I heavily stressed it at the time of purchasing the car.

I am waiting to hear back from BMW to determine what they will do...I suspect they will offer me a service pack...or a lump sum off the car...more to follow when I hear back from them
Click to expand...


I suspect the first offer will be "sorry" at that point threaten to return the car...
 
To be honest I wouldn't let this worry you too much - I bough my first Zed as third owner the first being Sytners the second being the private individual who bought it from them as an ex demo. It didnt change my view about the car at all - it was the manner by which the owner had looked after the car that really mattered to me.

Having said that I would be looking for a decent discount just because they did not provide you with what you asked.
 
Kettleboy said:
Two things...

First, when you sell the car you won't be able to prove that BMW were the first owner, as your the third owner, so they will have dropped off the V5.

Second, I have asked BMW on various occasions that BMW show me the V5 or retained slip for cars I'm viewing, but they have refused to show me on every occasion? Always an excuse.

Mine was a BMW car, but as only the second owner, BMW are still on the V5 as the previous owner.
Click to expand...

You used to be able,for a small fee,obtain a list of the former keepers via dvla,not sure the service is still available.
 
bhavin85 said:
Hi All,

Had a nasty shock this morning when the V5 document turned up for my Z4.

Prior to me signing on the dotted line I asked BMW to check the number of previous owners the car had, I made it very clear that I would not buy a car with more then 1 previous owner. It was, as they called it a "deal breaker".

So to my surprise this morning the V5 arrived and it states 2 previous owners...as you can probably imagine I am fairly furious that even though BMW checked and confirmed 1 previous owner the car did infact have 2 :headbang:

So jump on the phone to the sales chap, who is in all sorts of a panic as he recalls the conversation very clearly...as it was a deal breaker.

Anyways BMW are doing some investigation and will come back to me in the next day or so with a proposal on how to resolve, I love the car to bits but am so tempted to take it back...drop the keys off with their sales manager and ask for a full refund.

So tell me if you were in my position...what would you do?
Click to expand...

Hate to say it but it does seem BMW are correct. You say your not buying the car if it had more than 1 previous owner,which it at that time,it in fact did have. I see what you say,however you actually should of been looking for one with no previous owners. I did have this myself with a micra a few years back but that had 5, not the 1 the Nissan dealer had stated. Got a full refund,no bother. But, good luck
 
I guess if it had 1 previous owner, and they were BMW, then it would be sold as an ex demo, or ex management car. Having had this, plus 1 private owner, is still 2 owners.

What you wanted was a car with 1 previous owner, i.e. a private individual who bought it brand new, then part ex'd it etc.

If it was originally a dealer car, then it could've had hundreds of drivers.

It is the number of drivers, not owners that would bother me, especially if some of those drivers had no interest in the car (i.e. used it as a demo etc).

However, regardless of the number of drivers, you have no idea of the history of the car.....from 1 previous owner, to several. Thats just the hit you take buying used.

Because of this, you want a good warranty, in case something does crawl out of the woodwork.

Back to your original point though, of stressing the point as a deal breaker - I reckon the dealer knew it, but gambled on you not questioning it after the deal was done. My dealer sold me an e89 with Hill Start assist.....the car arrived without it and they couldn't give a f**k!
 
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