Used Cars – Does the number of previous owners put you off?

Hey all,

I am in the market for a hot hatch, my current top choice is the Renaultsport Megane IV. There arent a massive amount of these about, but having test driven one (which turned out to be a bit rough) its the car for me.

For my budget (ideally no more than 20k, can go to 22k if required) there are a few cars with fairly low mileage that tick the boxes. The only thing that puts me off is that some of them have had 4, 5 or 6 previous owners. The cars in budget are between 4 and 6 years old, so i appreciate they have been around a while.

Would a 5 year old car that has had 4 or 5 owners put you off? What immediately springs to my mind is the car has issues or problems and each owner has discovered this and shifted the car on. Yet there is a part of me that thinks its possibly a ‘weekend’ car for some people, so maybe have it for the summer then move it on?

I would of course do all the checks i can on any car i purchase and go over it with a fine tooth comb, but what are your thoughts and feelings on a young-ish car with lots of previous owners? Am i just being paranoid?! Or should i dig deep into the piggy bank and get one a little younger with only 1 or 2 previous owners?

Thanks for any input!

Obvious answer is that it depends, but I think for something more niche that’s probably sporty and less comfortable then it’s not uncommon for cars to change hands more. Lots of people buy these type of cars to scratch an itch, but then don’t use it much so sell it on. We’ve also have some funny market values going on since Covid where prices have sky-rokceted, people’s job situaitons may have changed so again, more reasons for moving a vehicle on.

I think as long as you’re happy with the condition and any checks don’t reveal any issue then all good.

For something more generic it would be more of a concern as I’d imagine it may be being flipped due to a problem with it.

I’m with you with finding a high number of owners disconcerting. But, I’m my more a glass half empty kind of guy!

What immediately springs to my mind is the car has issues or problems and each owner has discovered this and shifted the car on.

That would be my view on a car that age too. The original owner would more than likely have had it on finance and probably kept it 2/3 years (under warranty) which suggests it’s run through the rest of the owners in quick succcession. And they’re really not special enough to be a weekend only car.

I’ve had a few BMW z4s and the original e85 usually have many owners as folk but them and enjoy the car for 6 months and find they are not practical if you have kids or maybe one on it’s way, you bought the small engine on and want the full fat 6cyl 3.0i or si

It wouldn’t put me off the car if the history is there to read and it doesn’t look abused and everything works as it should

20k is a lot to spend so I would delve a lot deeper and get a years warranty

Yes it would put me off.  It just smacks me of no-one actually loving the car.  How many of the owners put off servicing it because they didnt plan to keep it long term or didnt get niggles sorted for the same reason.

Could be completely irrelevant but i would prefer a nice one owner car that has had regular upkeep than one with loads of owners

It does put me off, it would worry me there is an intermittent or expensive to solve issue, and also it just seems statistically more likely to have had an unsympathetic owner at some point.

I quick flick through the documentation/history should tell you whether it’s had issues or not.  If it had extensive paperwork/receipts with it and nothing out of the ordinary in those, then it wouldn’t put me off.

As redmex said with the Z4/E85…some people just get a car to scratch an itch for 6mths.  My bigger concern may be that everyone that bought it thought it didn’t meet expectations and moved it on….do a few more test drives.

It would be a red flag for me anyway, but then it’s also a Renault – so I’d be extra keen to find a “one careful owner” example.

 If it had extensive paperwork/receipts with it and nothing out of the ordinary in those, then it wouldn’t put me off.

Caveat – too many receipts can be negative, if it’s needed fixing a lot.

Would a 5 year old car that has had 4 or 5 owners put you off?

Massively yes, wouldn’t go near it. Obviously riddled with problems or a problem that is either expensive, difficult to diagnose or just plain annoying and irritating.

I agree with the majority here, the car has clearly had a succession of owners who didn’t like it and wanted rid.  How much more info do you need?

seems to me people like the look of them but in use they aren’t great, I’d avoid wasting my money and doing the same thing in 3/6/12 months time

in terms of the aston, it might be worth having some tests done before riding it

Yet there is a part of me that thinks its possibly a ‘weekend’ car for some people, so maybe have it for the summer then move it on?

Maybe, if it was a 15yr old MX5 or Z4 I’d not be too bothered if a few people had had it for a year each. But at 5-6 years old I’d question why it doesn’t even seem to have made it to the end of it’s (probably) initial finance period?

OTOH it might just be small (unofficial) ‘Dealers’, probate, etc. grandparent goes into a home, offspring puts the V5 in their name, sells it to a dealer-y mate down the pub who sells it as a weekend car to someone who does one tour of the Italian Alps, and then drops it into WBAC as COVID made the prices go silly so they’ve made their money back and you’ve got 6 owners potentially in very quick succession.

Yes and no. I’d rather have a nearly new car (delivery mileage but previously owned by garage) to a new one for the cost savings. But I’d not go near a sporty type of car that had many previous owners.

i would get a hpi style report on it. (note most of my cars are 5+ owners)

that way you can see whats happened. Quite often you’ll see a pre registered with a few hundred miles. so you can discount that one. Then there is the true owner. as others have said most likely to be on finance.

It then depends who the next few owners are. Some are passed round as finance effectively and with a lot of desirable cars some will have the car less than a year, realise its not worth the massive running costs / depreciation and chalk it up to experience. If youve got several owners in a few miles then you need to ask questions / look at the servicing. if its all looking ok it wouldn’t put me off however if its been looked after (for example my last 7 owner car was a concourse car run by several enthusiasts)

a 20 year old car with 5 or 6 owners is no issue for me, but 5 year old with 5 owners? yeah I’d be giving it a wide birth

this has 13 owners (!) in 16 years.. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202408112779613

Thanks for confirming my initial thoughts folks.

Always nice to put ones mind to rest.

As for bashing a renualt… fair, but bashing a Renaultsport…. shame on you 😛

but bashing a Renaultsport…. shame on you

Does someone else do the electrics on them? (fair enough if so)

YES

I bought one once with a high number of owners (for its age). I was in a rush as I needed a car to get to work. OMG It was a money pit. Never again.

A high number of owners wouldn’t put me off.

Someone buying a brand new car and then shifting it inside of a year would be a massive red flag. Either they have more money than sense or it’s a Friday Night Special.

Totally different sort of car, but the dealer put our new one into my name, without asking, and we wanted it in my wife’s name (for reasons) and so it has had 3 owners in 3 years. I owned it for about 2 weeks.

As was mentioned early doors, lots of cars like this are passed around after a year or two.
lots of stuff to try and it’s not generally a daily

Depends on the car. RS owners love their cars. I saw a Twingo 133 cup with 100k and 10 owners for £2k. You know that every one of those 10 owners loved it and thrashed it. But it has a lump of a 1.6 and no turbo. Same for Porsche. Owners change regularly. If it’s for a fun car, it would not bother me. Buy on history not owners.

My Twingo 133 never put a fault wrong and was electrically sound. RS aren’t making any more and RS owners are all thinking what next? Look for some decent modifications from K-tech. It says they really love it!

https://k-tecracing.com/pages/ktr-car-sales

It would set alarm bells ringing BUT I’d know the car I was wanting to buy inside out so I’d be extra cautious and go over everything with a fine tooth comb.

Do you like that particular car; colour, wheels, etc?

Has it had everything done on time; timing belt, etc?

Has it been “messed” with and now needs sensible suspension, exhaust, etc putting back?

Numbers of previous owners isn’t necessarily a problem, but do your homework and mechanical checks well

The only thing that bothers me is short ownership, especially combined with a glowing advert. If it’s so brilliant, why are you ditching it after 5 months? Obviously there’s good reasons why people do that, financial or family or work vehicles or just not enjoying it, but it gets me suspicious and if there’s 2 of them in a row I’m expecting trouble

I’d absolutely second getting an HPI/car vertical / whatever and see if exactly when it’s changed hands tells a story. As above, if it was an Octavia it would be a sign it’s a lemon but for a weekend toy it MIGHT have a pass.

one thing that I would check is evidence that someone took proper care of it – easy to dismiss things like brake fluid if you’re only keeping it a few months.

and with something like this above all else, if it’s got ditch finders on it then its been absolutely run on a budget – if it’s got pilot sports or whatever the RS forum folks bang on about then you’re probably golden

For something like a white goods Golf, Mondeo or Octavia then yes it would have me wondering what was wrong with it.

For something more niche like the Megan people will buy it, run it for 6-12 months for a bit of fun, decide that itch is scratched and flog it.

So in your circumstances I wouldn’t be overly bothered.

Does someone else do the electrics on them? (fair enough if so)

They are probably German made. I had a Renault for 3 years & no issues, a Pug 308 I took to 100,000 miles and that had a fancy touchscreen dash with no faults.

On a fun/niche car like this, there is a counter point of view: they are bought for love and so each new owner might well have spent on it getting niggles, servicing, etc sorted when they buy and are in love, and it ends up a well sorted car. However, everyone has also fallen out of love with it PDQ and that would concern me more, if you see what I mean.

Is this the usual number of owners:age for the model? If yes, then it suggests not many people gel with the general model (but maybe it’ll be the right type of car for you); if no, then this particular one is trouble.

So in your circumstances I wouldn’t be overly bothered.

Its tricky. I know a few people who have brought a hot hatch/sports car in a midlife(ish) crisis to meet their teenage dreams and then realised that it really aint for them and sold it on.

For the OP as defblade says regarding the number of users. You say for “some of them ” what percentage is that? If its pretty high then chances are it depends on your definition of “issues”. Might be nothing technically wrong with it but a mix of high running costs and something that is a complete arse day to day vs a weekend laugh.

4 years old is basically brand new! Either that model has some truly catastrophic common issue that means you shouldn’t be buying any example in the first place, or it should be fine regardless of number of owners, especially if they’re all the same.

That said I get why it seems a lot given it was probably on finance for 2 years to one person. Also my youngest ever car was a 56 plate so I have no experience of the new end of the market.

Conversely to the others, I had a Clio 172 cup, and it was by far and away the most unreliable car I’ve ever owned. Which, having owned an Rx7 for 16 years, is quite some feat.
It was a lowish mileage, low owner car, that had a massive file of history at specialists. Looking back at that, it’s mostly likely because it had needed fixing all the f*****g time.
Wonderful car to drive when it worked, but for the other 51 weeks per year it was an utter pita.

If I were in your position and wanted a glorious classic fwd hatch that was also a bit practical, and mega reliable, I’d be looking for the best DC5 Integra I could find.

Thing with these sorts of hot hatches that many owners never seem to figure out is that servicing, tyres, and parts costs is always going to be more pounds than a regular run of the mill versions. (also true for the Ford, Vauxhall, VW etc etc). They have to replace a tyre and they realise that instead of maybe a £80-90 a corner, they think because it’s just a Megane, right? It’s actually £150-200, or that the exhaust is twice the price, and maybe after that they ring the local dealer and ask about servicing and suddenly their weekend “fun” car doesn’t seem like a fun thing any more.

The service history will tell you what’s gone wrong with the thing in the past, because for that money it’d would need one before I even test drove it and there are specialists that offer pre-sale inspections – which again, I’d do if I was spending north of £20k of my own money on a car like that (which, after all, has probably been driven ‘sportingly’).

How much is a year’s aftermarket warranty…?

Conversely to the others, I had a Clio 172 cup, and it was by far and away the most unreliable car I’ve ever owned. Which, having owned an Rx7 for 16 years, is quite some feat.

Sounds like you were unlucky with that one. Over the years i’ve been a fan of a ‘fast’ Renault, having owned a Clio 172, 182 cup, 182 race car, 200 (which had a megane engine fitted) and my wife had 2 R26 meganes, all were pretty faultless.

Whilst i do like a DC5, i want a 5 door. I had a JDM EP3 for a couple of years which was a great car. I did think of an FD2 Type-R, but im not sure.

I have also looked at FK8 Civics, but they are pushing the budget and no matter how hard i try, i think they look a bit goofy.

I need to look at an i30N, but i prefer the facelift version, but again, beyond budget.

i think they look a bit goofy.

and the interiors of Japanese hot hatches are always nasty

The stating of how few previous owners a second hand car has had is just car dealer flannel. It’s stated as if it’s a good thing when it’s just a nothing thing. The inference in ‘one careful owner’ in that they’ve met the owner and can vouch for their charcter – you haven’t met them of course. As customers it has fallen to us to imagine reasons why a low number must be good and to do that we have to invert reasons why a high number must therefore be bad.

‘Ownership’ doesn’t indicate who is actually driving the car. On paper my car has had 3 ‘owners’, but one of the driver, then the main driver, and now the only driver has always been me. A car could have one ‘owner’ and driven by dozens, even hundreds of people.

It makes for some of the fun creative writing exercises as we can see above though. Maybe we should try some more.

Perhaps the car was cursed by a gypsy as it rolled off the production line and each of the five previous owners have been driven insane.

It’s a bit midlife-crisisy and a make/model – so  maybe  that partially car has been is a catalyst for a series speedy and financially ruinously divorces. Turns out the first owner is an aggressive and successful divorce  lawyer  and he tuckedi his business card  in the passenger side sun visor  and left a pair of knickers in the glove box.

Maybe theres a rumour going around that a local pediatrician has that make and model of car and each successive owner has been flash mobbed by angry News of the World readers.