High number of owners

[chive90]

Been dabbling for ages about buying a B7. Should have probably pulled the pin a year or so ago when supercharged ones were selling for the same prices as standard ones are selling now for, but there we go!

Obviously buying on condition is key however I can't help but notice the really high # of owners many of these cars seem to have, even with relatively low mileage.

There's a couple of sale at the minute, one on 60k with 9 owners and one on 30k with 6 owners! That's an owner every 5-6k!

Does that scream alarm bells even if the history and condition are really good or is it simply that many people buy these cars to scratch an itch and then find out they can't afford to run them?

Owners aren't everything but there's something about becoming the 10th owner of a car that puts me off...

[brownm]

From what I have seen 5 or 6 owners over 15 years seems to be the norm. Got my 5 owner 2006 Mugello Blue saloon in Oct 2017, very well looked after by 2 previous forum owners with all bills from 2009 onwards. About to trade up to an Avant, quite a few owners but again loads of paperwork to show exactly what's been done. Pretty rare now to find 1 or 2 owner cars for which you might expect to pay a premium & generally the guys that buy are enthusiasts & know the costs that go with them. ATB in your search.

[JamesBaby]

Owner numbers don't bother me as long as the service history and mileage matches up and is well documented. If there are big gaps in the history, or dodgy looking receipts or oddities in mileage in the paperwork then that would be a big alarm.

The overall condition of the car will tell you a lot too. If it's cared for it won't be scratched to death and worn inside. The engine bay and body will be clean, all major known issues with these cars will have been rectified properly by any caring owner. If it looks ragged, it is ragged.

I enjoy restoring my cars so I take that into account too. So if I see one that needs work I calculate the cost into it to make it like factory again. I'm OCD so if it so much as squeaks or marked it gets replaced. My cars end up being better than most because of that. See my thread in Readers Rides. The Daytona one I sold a few years ago, and the buyer took one look at it and said he isn't even going to try and haggle on the price and bought it on the spot. It had well over 100+k miles IIRC on it and at least 6 owners I think. Such cars are out there if you're not impatient.

[nw66]

FASH with specialist can always be iffy but also true, look at the mot's that's another place to look for correct mileage you only need a number off the v5 which if the owner is genuine will let you do wont go right back to 06/07 though! as said you could have a one owner that's been abused or a high mileage 10 owner that's been cared for