Would the number of previous owners put you off a car?

bemak

Would the number of previous owners put you off buying a car.

I have a deposit on a 2005 A5 which I'm getting for €7k. well spec'd car so i think im doing well. its a UK import. the only thing thats slightly bothering me is the number of previous owners. it had 3 in the UK and then 3 more here in ireland.

the current owner has it only 6 months. says that he bought it off a friend that was leaving the country for the wife but that the wife would prefer something smaller. later on he actually said that she had previously been driving a 2.4 petrol A6 and that she couldnt get used to a 2.0 tdi so i should probably take what he says with a pinch of salt.

i drove the car today, it felt good couldnt see much fault with it hence why im taking it. just second guessing myself now. 6 owners for a 7 year old car....

what ye think?

Gumbo

No, aslong as the history checked out, the car was in the condition i wanted it to be in and was mechanically sound, then it wouldnt bother me in the slightest tbh.

Tigger

buying other peoples problems?

bemak

ya thats fair enough. i think your right. those A4s are pretty solid, esp the 2.0 tdi's... it'd be rare to get a bad one!

Gumbo

Tigger wrote: »

buying other peoples problems?

you could say that about every second hand car for sale in the country.

bemak wrote: »

ya thats fair enough. i think your right. those A4s are pretty solid, esp the 2.0 tdi's... it'd be rare to get a bad one!

you buying an A4 or A5 (as per the OP )

eth0

Number of previous owners wouldn't put me off a car. It would put me off a beour though

Tea 1000

bemak wrote: »

ya thats fair enough. i think your right. those A4s are pretty solid, esp the 2.0 tdi's... it'd be rare to get a bad one!

Not really. The early 2 litres were poor, and the A4 isn't great reliability wise. Many owners could mean a problem car that people were just moving on when something went wrong. Could be fine either. The less owners the better, all other things being equal.

Tigger

kceire wrote: »

you could say that about every second hand car for sale in the country.



you buying an A4 or A5 (as per the OP )

you could not say that about every second hand car

i'm selling a car soon (just waiting to put her early nct on )
i'm the second owner it had a full main dealer history till i bought it and i've a full indy history on it i had it 7 years and i'm selling cos i bought a faster higher spec model. thats a genuine car by defination

a car with 6 owners in 7 years and the last owner only had it 6 months is probably hiding something

op even caught him in a lie

bemak

sorry ya i meant A4.... didnt mean to say A5 originally. Didn't realize the early 2.0 tdi's were poor. mmmm maybe i should rethink that deposit!

Del2005

6 owners in 7 years isn't that bad.

But if 5 of the owners where in the last few years it would raise suspicions, especially if it was exported shortly after purchase.

bemak

Del2005 wrote: »

6 owners in 7 years isn't that bad.

But if 5 of the owners where in the last few years it would raise suspicions, especially if it was exported shortly after purchase.

I've decided to leave the car off. Not because of the owners thing but because of the engine issue in that model. Didn't have to do much digging to see that they can be very unreliable and cost a fortune to fix. I can't afford that to happen!

CiniO

Del2005 wrote: »

6 owners in 7 years isn't that bad.

6 owners in 7 years isn't bad????

Of all my cars the worst I bought was with 4 previous owners, and it was indeed the worst, as I had mostly trouble with that car.
On no other car I ever bought there was more than 2 owners, even though most cars I buy are about 6 to 8 years old.

corktina

it depends how many of them were called Irish School of Motoring or Hertz.

bemak

i told the guy that i was rethinking taking the car due to the number of owners and the reported problems with those A4's. He came back to me saying that he has no idea where I'm pulling 6 previous owners from because he's actually only the third he says. he said i can have a look at the logbook to prove it! thought those online checks would be more accurate. granted the online check said that id be the 4th irish owner and that there was 3 previous uk owners.... just wondering if the system got its wires crossed and added 3 owners twice?

anyway, i'm looking into the whole problems with those a4s before i go any further.

Gumbo

bemak wrote: »

i told the guy that i was rethinking taking the car due to the number of owners and the reported problems with those A4's. He came back to me saying that he has no idea where I'm pulling 6 previous owners from because he's actually only the third he says. he said i can have a look at the logbook to prove it! thought those online checks would be more accurate. granted the online check said that id be the 4th irish owner and that there was 3 previous uk owners.... just wondering if the system got its wires crossed and added 3 owners twice?

anyway, i'm looking into the whole problems with those a4s before i go any further.

He is probably not counting or unaware of the UK owners.

smash

bemak wrote: »

i told the guy that i was rethinking taking the car due to the number of owners and the reported problems with those A4's. He came back to me saying that he has no idea where I'm pulling 6 previous owners from because he's actually only the third he says. he said i can have a look at the logbook to prove it! thought those online checks would be more accurate. granted the online check said that id be the 4th irish owner and that there was 3 previous uk owners.... just wondering if the system got its wires crossed and added 3 owners twice?

anyway, i'm looking into the whole problems with those a4s before i go any further.

The log book will say how many Irish owners the car has, and then in another section will tell you how many owners it had before import.

bemak

thats what i thought but his original story when i went to see that car was that a friend of his brought it over from the uk

smash

bemak wrote: »

thats what i thought but his original story when i went to see that car was that a friend of his brought it over from the uk

I was almost positive that the previous owners before import was listed but I can't find it here: https://ncts.ie/booking_app/images/CertImages/Vehicle%20Licensing%20Certificate.jpg

Either way, a history check will tell you the truth. The previous registration is on the ownership form.

Furp

Dont forget also that in the online checks when a car is sold to a garage it can be counted as an owner on the history check.