Too many previous owners?

little_green

Looking at a car and was trawling through various research sites with a mass of tabs open I'm sure on one of them it said the number of keepers was 8 .... The car is only 6! But now for the life of me I can't find the website that started that to double check as I may have misread it as was multitasking. I've check all sites I can think of to try and find it again to make sure I read properly but they all ask for a paid check (which I would go ahead with if I were going to get the car) but just confused how I think I say it before but now can't find it. 
Obviously the former keepers will be listed on the v5 anyway. 
It's being sold by a local car dealer with full mot. It's 6 years old and has apparently had 4 Mots (according to free checks on websites) all of which have passed. 
Anyway assuming it has had this high number of owners why would that be the case? Should that be an instant reason to not buy it? Is there any particular questions around this that would be worth asking the dealer? It's not reassuring that it's had that many owners (if that is the case) as would imply those who have had it haven't been happy with it to keep it that long? 
The milage is low for its age. 

facade

little_green said:

 It's not reassuring that it's had that many owners (if that is the case) as would imply those who have had it haven't been happy with it to keep it that long? 
The milage is low for its age. 

Could be that it has spent most of it's life being fixed rather than driven, and punted on as soon as it was running again.

You aren't happy, I wouldn't be either, pick another.`

DB1904

little_green said:

Looking at a car and was trawling through various research sites with a mass of tabs open I'm sure on one of them it said the number of keepers was 8 .... The car is only 6! But now for the life of me I can't find the website that started that to double check as I may have misread it as was multitasking. I've check all sites I can think of to try and find it again to make sure I read properly but they all ask for a paid check (which I would go ahead with if I were going to get the car) but just confused how I think I say it before but now can't find it. 
Obviously the former keepers will be listed on the v5 anyway. 
It's being sold by a local car dealer with full mot. It's 6 years old and has apparently had 4 Mots (according to free checks on websites) all of which have passed. 
Anyway assuming it has had this high number of owners why would that be the case? Should that be an instant reason to not buy it? Is there any particular questions around this that would be worth asking the dealer? It's not reassuring that it's had that many owners (if that is the case) as would imply those who have had it haven't been happy with it to keep it that long? 
The milage is low for its age. 

No, they won't. The last keeper will and it'll tell you how many keepers it's had. 

little_green

DB1904 said:

little_green said:

Looking at a car and was trawling through various research sites with a mass of tabs open I'm sure on one of them it said the number of keepers was 8 .... The car is only 6! But now for the life of me I can't find the website that started that to double check as I may have misread it as was multitasking. I've check all sites I can think of to try and find it again to make sure I read properly but they all ask for a paid check (which I would go ahead with if I were going to get the car) but just confused how I think I say it before but now can't find it. 
Obviously the former keepers will be listed on the v5 anyway. 
It's being sold by a local car dealer with full mot. It's 6 years old and has apparently had 4 Mots (according to free checks on websites) all of which have passed. 
Anyway assuming it has had this high number of owners why would that be the case? Should that be an instant reason to not buy it? Is there any particular questions around this that would be worth asking the dealer? It's not reassuring that it's had that many owners (if that is the case) as would imply those who have had it haven't been happy with it to keep it that long? 
The milage is low for its age. 

No, they won't. The last keeper will and it'll tell you how many keepers it's had. 

I meant the number 

Grumpy_chap

Eight owners on a 6 yo car is more than I'd be comfortable with.(*)

Especially as I thought you mentioned in another thread that your current car is only 7 yo.  Sounds like you'd be better sticking with the current car (better the devil you know) than buying what could be someone else's money-pit.

What are you now targeting for a change of car?  Going from a 7 yo car to a 6 yo is rarely going to achieve a substantial improvement in car or certainty regarding reliability and maintenance costs.  In one of the other threads you were considering a nearly-new pre-reg.

Before looking at any specific car, I think the best thing to do is write down the needs and wants from a car and then where the current car fails to meet these.  This will give you the basis from which to determine your approach for the next steps.


(*) There are exceptions to the "many owners / short life" rule, for example repeated impulse buys of a 2-seater and forced changes such as arrival of child.

tr7phil

DB1904 said:

little_green said:

Looking at a car and was trawling through various research sites with a mass of tabs open I'm sure on one of them it said the number of keepers was 8 .... The car is only 6! But now for the life of me I can't find the website that started that to double check as I may have misread it as was multitasking. I've check all sites I can think of to try and find it again to make sure I read properly but they all ask for a paid check (which I would go ahead with if I were going to get the car) but just confused how I think I say it before but now can't find it. 
Obviously the former keepers will be listed on the v5 anyway. 
It's being sold by a local car dealer with full mot. It's 6 years old and has apparently had 4 Mots (according to free checks on websites) all of which have passed. 
Anyway assuming it has had this high number of owners why would that be the case? Should that be an instant reason to not buy it? Is there any particular questions around this that would be worth asking the dealer? It's not reassuring that it's had that many owners (if that is the case) as would imply those who have had it haven't been happy with it to keep it that long? 
The milage is low for its age. 

No, they won't. The last keeper will and it'll tell you how many keepers it's had. 

The last keeper is no longer shown.

Nobbie1967

What car is it? A Ford Focus with 8 owners in that time would concern me, but an MX5 less so.

coffeehound

It would be interesting to look through the maintenance history.  You could imagine it being due to something like an annoying intermittent electronic fault that no one can fix

little_green

Nobbie1967 said:

What car is it? A Ford Focus with 8 owners in that time would concern me, but an MX5 less so.

Renault Clio (5 door)

Grumpy_chap said:

Eight owners on a 6 yo car is more than I'd be comfortable with.(*)

Especially as I thought you mentioned in another thread that your current car is only 7 yo.  Sounds like you'd be better sticking with the current car (better the devil you know) than buying what could be someone else's money-pit.

What are you now targeting for a change of car?  Going from a 7 yo car to a 6 yo is rarely going to achieve a substantial improvement in car or certainty regarding reliability and maintenance costs.  In one of the other threads you were considering a nearly-new pre-reg.

Before looking at any specific car, I think the best thing to do is write down the needs and wants from a car and then where the current car fails to meet these.  This will give you the basis from which to determine your approach for the next steps.


(*) There are exceptions to the "many owners / short life" rule, for example repeated impulse buys of a 2-seater and forced changes such as arrival of child.

So my current car is a 3 door I want to upgrade to a 5 door. That's the main reason. And that I just don't love it. I'd like something I love a but more. I've checked and the car with possibly too many owners is 2 years younger than mine. 

Ok quite fuss which is why I'm sticking a bit to find something suitable my list of ideals for new car would be:

5 door (must) 
<2L  engine 
Preferably petrol & manual but not a deal breaker
Preferably turbo of some sort my current car is 1.4turbo and is nippy so I want something with similar level of power (but as I say not too powerful no more than 2L) the terms like eco boost etc confuse me a bit not sure if the boost would give it that "boost" of power 

I really want silver which is making the search difficult as they don't seem to be as popular anymore 

There are only a few cars I actually like which I will consider:

Kia ceed gt line (new model)

Focus st line (new model)
Vw golf (Mk7)
Hyundai i30n (but think this only comes in a 2L)
Hyundai i20n (just out this year)
Mercedes a class

Audi a3
Renault Clio RS /trophy

Renault Mégane RS

Peugeot 308 gti /GT line


Mercedes & audi even used are still quite expensive eg 13+k for 17 plate 
Same with golfs they are still pricey for their age
Kia ceed & focus st line are around 25k otr price brand new which is more that I'd like to pay tbh it seems a lot of money for a car! If I could get one of those on a 2019/2020 plate for near 16k mark I'd be happy (but that's probably pushing it a bit!) 

My other issue is I really would like to see the car in the flesh before deciding, so the likes of the i20n which is a completely new car well yes it looks good in pics but I want to actually go to a dealer and see it physically if that makes sense then I'd know. 

Another side point is I like sporty looking cars some of which are only made with bigger engines/more power which I don't want or need 

Another thing I'm thinking about is how well what I get may retain its value. Some brands don't seem to do this as well, as per my first statement re golf/A3/aclass being expensive seems they retain value better (don't depreciate as fast) maybe seen as more premium brands? 

I basically want a new (young) car but on a used car price tag! 


I hope that's answers some of your questions but feel free to ask me more I really do appreciate all help 

Nobbie1967

8 owners on a 6 year old five door Clio would seem to indicate an issue of some sort with the car. Maybe a dealer has sold it, had it returned due to a fault which they couldn’t trace and then punted it out to auction. Another dealer picks it up, rinse and repeat. Maybe the issue was fixed in the end, but why take the risk.  I’d avoid.

EssexExile

I bought a car once that I sold again within 3 months. It was just horrible but hard to put your finger on what it was that made it that way.