Check of previous owners: How many is 'too' many?

[ELIM]

In the search, I'm seeing many cars with 2-3 previous owners. But at times a clean one on record turns up more than 6 owners on the autocheck/carfax. Should that be that for concern that the NSX has been thru so many owners? (with not a lot of miles).

TIA.

 

[OneRedNSX]

Did you care how many guys your wife dated before she met you? :wink:

Number of owners in no way reflects the quality / condition of the car or the level of upkeep it has received.

 

[socold57]

i wouldnt worry man as long as the title is clean and no accidents:smile:

 

[Ultraman]

If you care about resale value you should try to avoid too many owners. One owner cars usually command a higher price, more desirable and sell faster.
How many is too many? In my opinion 6 or more for a 20 year old car.
You can negotiate the price with the seller on the same point if you like the car and it has a clean history.

 

[Honcho]

As long as the title is clean, maintenence records complete and NSX PPI is passed, it doesn't matter how may owners there are.

 

[shawn110975]

My 1992 had 6 owners and they were all listed as fleet vehicles not really sure what that means. the miles were low thru its life then the 4 owner really drove her alot. I dont care how many owners it had as long as she is in good hands now.

but the first owner was a baseball related firm called Minor Miracles

but like was posted earlier how many people was my Fiance with before me? I really dont care and who wants a Virgin? I like it when they know how to do a back flip from the dresser onto little wily without injury to either of us. LOL

 

[mlambert890]

Cars like this are going to go through a lot of owners. It's just how it is. Often this is because people buy them and find they either cant afford them, or never use them though.

What this means is that a focus on deferred maintenance is critical. This is true regardless of # of owners, but IMO the more owners, the more you need to look at it very hard.

A 91, for example, that has changed hands every few years since 91 I'd almost bet money is on ALL of its original parts (TB/WP/etc) and has probably only had tires and oil done (IF that)

I do agree that "1 owner" is normally desirable, but for toy cars, it just isnt realistic. These cars are almost never bought to be *really* driven and one's tolerance for an expensive object that sits around and yet costs money (or one's *spouses* tolerance) is often very finite

As for the chick analogy, I think there's a reason why the rule of thumb for most guys is "dont ask" though I dont think too many guys would be thrilled to hear "oh, about 50" hahahahaha So women usually lie and guys dont ask.

With cars, its right on a Carfax The poor car cant hide what a slut she's been!

 

[SOURCE 1]

My 1992 had 6 owners and they were all listed as fleet vehicles not really sure what that means. the miles were low thru its life then the 4 owner really drove her alot. I dont care how many owners it had as long as she is in good hands now.

but the first owner was a baseball related firm called Minor Miracles

but like was posted earlier how many people was my Fiance with before me? I really dont care and who wants a Virgin? I like it when they know how to do a back flip from the dresser onto little wily without injury to either of us. LOL

hahahahaha Shawn your posts never cease to amaze me:biggrin:

On- Topic The amount of owners can be a tell tale sign of a reoccurring issue that was not repaired. However on these cars its usually not the case. Cars like these are emotion bought sometimes and its a dream to own them. So a lot of people buy them and when stuff gets tough its the first thing to go since they are hardly driven. Basically they are a luxury and people unload those first when times get tough. So 5.6.7.8 owners is not uncommon.

 

[tbromley]

I couldn't agree with the predominance of posts to this question more. Of course finding a one owner car and all records from new is the ideal but rarely found. Those are the cherry sweetheart deals that come along very, very infrequently. If you sit around waiting on that you'll be waiting a helluva long time.

Take mine for example - the first 2 or so years of my cars life it seemed to have been passed around to several owners but then for the last 17 years it was owned by 2 people - the predominance of it's life and I have a folder about 2" thick of reciepts and that's what you're looking for. RECORDS! Records and more records. Ownership history and maintenance - not some small time dealer that has one on his little lot that he wants super premium dollars for simply becuase it has very low mileage with nothing ever done to it or at least no file to tell you what has been or not been done!

The key to buying successfully and well is to buy from an individual owner and a Prime member is a good starting place. There are many folks out there selling and especially those off Prime sell without any or much regard to proper maintenance schedules. At least a Prime member knows the recommended things needed and the proper intervals. They may not be all totally up to maintenance but the owners should tell you what is lacking and they surely would know after being on this site for any length of time what the issues are. You can't get that from most of the small time dealers and you may not even get that from Acura dealers but there would be a better chance there.

Hope that helps - oh did I mention records.....:wink:

 

[ELIM]

Man, thanks for all the comments. Feedback that only can come from you experienced owners who've already been thru the search! :biggrin:

Did you care how many guys your wife dated before she met you? :wink:

Number of owners in no way reflects the quality / condition of the car or the level of upkeep it has received.

NO comment. :wink:

 

[stevieray122854]

I like it when they know how to do a back flip from the dresser onto little wily without injury to either of us. LOL

BWHAHAHAHA! Classic Shawn---

 

[NSX3tek]

Did you care how many guys your wife dated before she met you? :wink:

Number of owners in no way reflects the quality / condition of the car or the level of upkeep it has received.

I normally like to keep it under 10 if possible..........and that also applies to the resume on the wifey thing:tongue:

Even though it may get registered a certain amount of owners, I've seen some go through so many auctions and traveling all over the place. I can't imagine how many times it gets unloaded/loaded off the tow truck, careless drivers handling the car, and all the abuse that goes with it.

 

[Big_D]

I was the 4th owner of my '91 so now she has had 5 owners. I sold it with tons of maintenance records dating back to the 2nd owner. There was very little deferred maintenance when I bought it and I kept it current so it all depends on the type of owner. Most hard core enthusiasts will keep records current.

I would guess a '91 would average at least 3-4 owners by now.

My wifes 350Z is a 2006 and we are the 4th owner already. That made me squirm a little bit considering the car had only 22K miles. I believe the main reason the car had so many owners was probably because it is a 6 speed and it was most likely the wife's car and after a year they must have got tired of driving a manual transmission. The drivers door handle has a lot of fingernail "Cougar" claw marks on it, so it seems to confirm my suspicion. LOL

The bottom line is to get all the maintenance records and have a Pre Purchase Inspection performed to make sure you know what you are buying. Pay close attenton to the gaps between body panels to be sure they are consistant and also look at the bolt heads on the panels for signs of wrenching.