Number of Previous Owners??

[Craig]

Does this ever bother you when buying a car like a CSL, GT3, Lotus, etc??

Just thinking the amount of owners of my car isn't exactly low for its age, and a lot of the ones you see for sale have 4 or 5 previous owners too. I buy purely on condition on history, so it never really bothered me but wondered if it put anyone off here buying a CSL they looked at?

[E46ACS]

These cars are often only owned for short period of time, 6-12 months. People find they don't use them as much as they thought, not the car for them, change regular, are second cars and when times are hard (like now) are the first thing to be sold. It will always put some people off, but I always buy on condition.

It's the same with miles: Some people want LOW miles. But is a CSL with 10k miles in any better condition than a well serviced 60k miles?

[_Nathan_]

But is a CSL with 10k miles in any better condition than a well serviced 60k miles?

Probably, especially if the 10k are road miles and the 60k are track miles :thumbs:

[csl_mba]

Do you guys find it odd that when you are selling a CSL they ask you if its been tracked. :whistle:

[Andyk]

It's all about condition and history.....50k on clock with a nice full documented history and in great condition is more important to me than 1 owner or 6. These cars are 6 years old now so under 10k on the clock can not be good for the car...Use it, drive it, love it....That's the whole point of buying these things.

Had mine over a year now with no issues and 6 owners.

[CSLCHAN]

It's all about condition and history.....50k on clock with a nice full documented history and in great condition is more important to me than 1 owner or 6. These cars are 6 years old now so under 10k on the clock can not be good for the car...Use it, drive it, love it....That's the whole point of buying these things.

Had mine over a year now with no issues and 6 owners.

:thumbs:yup i agree with andy :supz:

[Sailorbaz]

Me too! Still, I'm only the 3rd owner and after 3 years and 17K, I've not given selling it a thought once!!! :-)

[NeilCSL]

Unfortunately market forces come into play and if you are selling a one owner car then you will get a fair bit more for it than selling a 7 or 8 owner car !
Such a high number of owners can only hurt resale values. It may be the same car, but it is its history that is of value.

[danr55]

Strange how number of owners slightly affects sale price. You'll rarely know the previous owners well, so one car could have 1 or 2 nutcase owners or 5 who never went over 5k revs! you'll never know so for me it makes little difference.

[Andyk]

Unfortunately market forces come into play and if you are selling a one owner car then you will get a fair bit more for it than selling a 7 or 8 owner car !
Such a high number of owners can only hurt resale values. It may be the same car, but it is its history that is of value.

I do agree, but this is starting to change and it all agrees on the car as well.....a specialist bit of kiy like the CSL, Ferrari, Lambo etc do tend to change hands more. I was at a Ferrari dealer at they were selling a 7 owner 430. The sales guy said that if wasn't an issue as the car was a staright and they sometimes see cars with more owners than that.....but you are right a one owner car will be worth more but not as much as years gone by.

[kbird]

I agree, a well used well maintained, multi owner car will give less problems but the used market will discount it. What ever dealers say, they and buyers hate high mileage, multi owner cars; a one owner car that is little used will always get a premium. But use this to your advantage buy a well used car cheaply and accept you will have to sell cheaply. I bought two ex press cars from Ferrari, they were well used 'high' mileage, for Ferrari's, but they never missed a beat. Bought at a discount, sold at a discount. For what its worth I think CSL valves will keep falling to sub £20Kish as warranties run out and they are in the pre classic wilderness but long term (+10 years) they will be like E30 Evo Sport III's. I had one sold it 6 years ago for £12K now look at their values!! Don't get worried about CSL's values just use it, that's where the true value is...

[NeilCSL]

I agree, a well used well maintained, multi owner car will give less problems but the used market will discount it. What ever dealers say, they and buyers hate high mileage, multi owner cars; a one owner car that is little used will always get a premium. But use this to your advantage buy a well used car cheaply and accept you will have to sell cheaply. I bought two ex press cars from Ferrari, they were well used 'high' mileage, for Ferrari's, but they never missed a beat. Bought at a discount, sold at a discount. For what its worth I think CSL valves will keep falling to sub £20Kish as warranties run out and they are in the pre classic wilderness but long term (+10 years) they will be like E30 Evo Sport III's. I had one sold it 6 years ago for £12K now look at their values!! Don't get worried about CSL's values just use it, that's where the true value is...

Fully agree. Get yourself a cheap multi owner car, not a more expensive fewer owner car and enjoy it. Then sell on cheap.
As for the Ferrrari dealer saying a 7 owner 430 is not a problem. Well he would say that, he needs to sell it.

[Andyk]

I know what you mean KBird...I had an E30 M3 Evo 11 years ago which I sold for 12k...same car was up for sale last month with the sort of miles mine would have had on it if I had kept it for 30k....:bigcry:

[SpineOnABap]

Bet mine's got less previous owners than yours :blalalala:

:hahaha:

[cslgirl]

I would prefer lesser owners, but they are the type of cars for people to change every year or so. It would depend what I was buying the car for. If it was for mainly track use, then it wouldn't be a problem. There is something comforting for me knowing the car so well after 5 years of having her.