Number of owners - Should I be concerned?

badaz52

Hi,

I am due to take delivery of a 4 year old Toyota Auris 2.2D4D SR180 this coming week. I have put a deposit on but not paid the balance yet.

The car is at a Toyota dealership and comes with 12 months warranty and 12 months AA breakdown as standard. I took it for a drive and it drove very well has low mileage for a diesel of only 27,000 miles and is fitted down with lots of extras such as Sat Nav etc. The service history is complete and has been done at main toyota dealerships.

Now here is the sticking point. I ran one of those my text checks and it came back as saying 4 owners! meaning I would be the 5th. 4 owners in 4 years seems extremely high and I am concerned that I might be buying a lemon.

I have read up on the net and am getting conflicting reviews about number of owners/re-sale value etc but to be honest it seems that on the high powered top of the range models they seem to change hands really fast. BMWs I believe are the worst for it because people buy them to show off but can't afford them in the long run so have to get rid.

What would you do?

Hintza

First owner = garage ie bought as a pre-reg
Second = someone who keeps it for 2-3 years or a repo
Third = ?
Fourth = ????

Three you could probably explain away quite easily, four is starting to worry me.

I would be tempted to walk away even if the price is rock bottom.

badaz52

The book price from a main dealer is about £9000, I'm getting it for just under £8700 so they are not exactly letting it go cheap.

I'm just wondering if it would be worth going for if to soften the blow they extend the warranty to 2 years for no extra charge.

The only other problem is I have just obtained a loan for the car and if I back out is it possible to return the funds without paying any interest, I've only had the funds for 3 days.

rs65

4 good owners can be better than one bad owner - its a lottery in a way.

Remember, if you are having doubts now, imagine a prospective purchaser when you come to sell it.

Regarding the loan, will you not need the money for the next car you find?

badaz52

WRT to the loan, yes and no. The main dealership also had a deal on the table for a brand new car that I walked away from where I would have to put down 20% deposit which I already have so won't need the funds I have just borrowed.

badaz52

Just spoke to the dealership, they know the history of the car extremely well. Apparantley it has actually only had 2 private keepers, the reason it is showing 4 is because the DVLA added an owner when the private plate was removed from it and then when it was transferred from another dealership in the country they added another owner.

Final thoughts on this.....

Strider590

Could be that it doesn't match up to owners expectations, maybe on fuel economy or something?

jwruk

Maybe it's because someone purchased the car and then got cold feet, V5 was updated with the new owner and then sold straight back on?

badaz52

Checked out the number plate history and it checks out with a plate change. Would this add an owner though? I'm assuming if it was traded in with the private plate on it the dealership would then have to register the car to put the original plate back on right?

History:

Car registered June 2008 (1 owner)
Original plate removed Feb 2009
Private plate on Feb 2009 (2 owners)
Private plate off Jan 2010
Original plate back on Jan 2010 (3 owners)
Bought sometime between Jan 2010 and March 2012 and traded back in (4 owners)

Meaning actual number of human owners could be 1 or 2. and I would be either the 2nd or 3rd which doesn't seem as bad.

scotsbob

Ask to see the reg document and note the details of one of the previous owners and then contact them. If dealer is not happy with this then walk away.

badaz52

It was owned by the regional sales director for toyota I'm told.