How many prev owners is too many?

[Alps]

seen a car E55K 2003, milage is slightly higher than i wanted 68K, spec is fully loaded EVERY option ticked, but it also has 5 prev owners, 3 of which was the original owner, then his finance company, then him again after he sorted the problems out. needs a few little things sorted, but is reflected in the price.

considering i havent seen one this spec in the last 3 mnths of looking, should i just keep waiting and looking? its probably £6K lower than a low milage(sub 40K) and 1 or 2 prev owner example.

any comments guys\gals

 

[James Rothwell]

It wouldn't bother me as long as the service history was good.

 

[timskemp]

If it's been repossessed at some point, then bear in mind if the owner can't afford maintenance then he's unlikely to afford maintenance either.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Im the 7th owner of mine, I got it in 2006 - 8 years old at the time (where as that E55K is 6 years old) and it overall has been fine.

As long as its mechically sound I dont see the problem?

 

[Will]

It wouldn't bother me as long as the service history was good.

Ditto.

I guess low mileage, low owners, good service history etc are all nice things to find a car with, but realistically they're only numbers or pieces of paper - the car is what you are buying, buy it on condition. All things being equal of course you'd prefer less owners, but if this is genuinely a good car then I wouldn't pass it up for just a digit on a registration document.

As long as you're not overpaying for the car in accordance with the mileage/owners/history, and it checks out to be a good car, then don't let it bother you.

I think the first two or three registered keepers of my CLK55 were amongst a family/company or something as it still had the same 3x2 private plate on it (££££) so I'd have been surprised if the original purchaser who'd paid £60k for a car would have left a plate like that on for the next owner?

One other thing - it's got 5 owners and 68k miles on a 6 year old car at present (notably high), if you're going to be keeping for a good few years and not doing loads of miles it won't be as bad (say 6 owners and 100k on a 10/12 year old car?). The overall value will be much lower then anyway

Will

 

[wxmclk]

How does 3 owners in 2 years sound to you all?
I 3rd owner of my W209, the previous guy I spoke to who sang the cars praises (owned it for about 10 months), owner number one- I dont' know.
Is 3 in 2 and a bit years steep?

 

[Carrotchomper]

If it's been repossessed at some point, then bear in mind if the owner can't afford maintenance then he's unlikely to afford maintenance either.

And if he can't afford maintenance or maintenance, he's highly likely to have skimped on the maintenance

 

[EDZ649]

Full Service History and overall condition are more important IMO. You can tell if a car has been looked after properly

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Full Service History and overall condition are more important IMO. You can tell if a car has been looked after properly

Agree, I wouldn't be overly concerned with the number of owners. On some cars a high number of owners is fairly normal, each owner in turn may cherish the car as they acquire it. Having said that, this one is slightly different as 3 of the 'owners' are actually the same.

I have had to transfer a car from my name to my brother in law before increasing the owner count, howver it was the right thing to do for us for insurance etc. There are often plausible reasons for the change in ownership.

Agree with the comment about repossession - if it all checks out I wouldn't be concerned, the condition and spec are the most important factors for me.

 

[James Rothwell]

I had some rubbish Porsche 944 once that had I think 16 owners and that was a 1987 car. But the record I think was an 02 Lotus Elise with 13 owners!!

 

[PXW]

Personally, I'd have the car crawled over by someone who really knows. That many owners is not necessarily a red light, but could indicate at best a series of owners who understimated the cost of running the vehicle - and as others have said, if you can't afford maintenance, then who knows what maintenance has been skimped...? At worst it indicates some underlying fault that no-ones talking about. As a matter of interest, how do you know that the first three owners were the same guy and his finance company? Has that level of paperwork come through with the vehicle?

 

[smillion]

I would not be to concerned if the car looks right. These are arguably high end "flights of fancy" for some and so once the novelty has worn off or the realisation of fuel bills kicks in they move it on.

Things to watch for:

Vaneo radiator issue - I think this may still be the case on a 2003.
Look for leaks on steering rack (£2,500 + VAT)
Look for leaks on shocks (about £1,000 each at front and £400 each at the rear).

Let us know how you get on.

Marc

 

[Deleted member 6183]

And if he can't afford maintenance or maintenance, he's highly likely to have skimped on the maintenance

Or scrimped even

 

[Matt32AMG]

You have to say anything at all, it does appear to sell well

 

[asad7860]

Hi Alps, I've sent you a PM, I recently bought an E55.

Asad

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

AMGs, Porsches, etc tend to change hands often, and so will typically have have more owners on the V5 than an average family hatch.

I once read in a magazine that changing every 12 months is fairly typically for owners of this type of car for the first 6-8 years typical owners really want it, and once they have it decide they really want the 'next' car and generally have the financial means with which to do it.

 

[grober]

I think its more to do with how the ownership is "distributed" over the age of the car. People who keep a car a short time often "get rid" just before it needs an expensive service-needless to say if they can keep that from the prospective owner they will-- and the car may suffer in the long term by certain things being missed like brake fluid or coolant renewal. Fewer owners usually also equates to comprehensive-continuous service history with MB or a specialist. Every time a car changes hands this document continuity is threatened often by a simple failure to find/provide/hand on the relevant paperwork. Nothing sinister just human nature. In my experience people who keep their cars a few years tend to be the more committed owners who will have spent money on them. Just my tuppence worth.

 

[buccal]

Is it the blue one in westminster alps?

 

[JumboBeef]

The last owner on my wife's Disco was....me. Before that, it was...........my wife. Before that, it was..........me (We keep changing it due to changing other vehicles and which insurance goes on which car).

The Disco has had a total of 7 owners in 13 years, but four of those are us.........

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

The last owner on my wife's Disco was....me. Before that, it was...........my wife. Before that, it was..........me (We keep changing it due to changing other vehicles and which insurance goes on which car).

The Disco has had a total of 7 owners in 13 years, but four of those are us.........

At risk of going off topic, IIRC the owner on the V5 doesn't have to match the name of the insurance policy holder - only that the main driver of the car is the person named as being the main driver of the car on the insurance documents.