Number of owners query
 

Good evening

I've just spoken to a dealer about a late UK classic that has caught my eye. Now, when I asked how many owner's the car has had he replied that it is a one owner car but each time the owner moved house, rather than just notifying the DVLA of change of address, he filled in the sections for a new owner as well. The result is that the V5 shows 5 owners. The dealer added that the V5 shows the last owner as the present owner and that the bills are all made out to this chap. Does this sound feasible? If it is correct then the owner moved a lot in the last 7 years

Yours suspiciously
Nick

id say it just had a lot of owners for sum reason and the guys just trying to get rid of the car by selling u some story y would you do the same mistake and move so many times in 7 years thats my opinion tho

Well i lived in 5 places in a space of two years.. So its possible, but very unlikely :) Walk away, plenty out there :)

Sounds like a load of crap to me. No one would keep putting the owners of there car up. Did u get to see any of the papaer work?

like satancom said theres plenty out there mate look around :cool:

Thanks. No I've not seen the actual car and documents - it was an initial call to sound him out.
There are plenty out there but frustratingly not so many (late UK cars with <70K miles) in Hants.

Cheers
Nick

You should call up the last owner, explain the problem and ask him direct where he's lived so you can check all the bills' addresses and see if they stand up. He'll either help or he won't so you've nowt to lose.

BUT the real problem will be when YOU come to sell the car in a year or two because then the story can't be checked out and the car will have SIX OWNERS on the V5 so WALK AWAY NOW!

And don't confine yourself to Hampshire - to get the RIGHT car, you do need to travel I'm afraid. Until you've seen quite a few cars you won't really know when the right one for you appears even if it means losing a good one in the early days of your searching. There's lots of tat around and a few real gems, and it is unlikely you will find one of the latter until you've seen lots of the former!:thumb:

Good point, cheers!
I have been looking outside the county but after a wasted visit to Devon to see a car that was not exactly how it was described :mad: I am cautious about travelling too far.

Anyway it's early days - only just got the insurance cheque for my catalunya that was written off after a lorry lost grip on a slippery country lane and rammed me.

Nick

Too true, I ended up going all the way from plymouth to coventry via half a dozen dealers to get the right car.

I drove 200 miles to pick up the right land rover.. too me 2 1/2 hours to get there in my fleet car.. and 4 hours to get back.. 50mph top speed is quite frustrating :D

bloody hell, run to the hills m8y, it sounds like the dealer has aquired a little lemon flavoured car and wants to get shot of it.

that story is utter crap, no one would change the address like that as the document has the ability to have the address changed without adding owners.

Walk away and shop around, like others have said don't stick to your area you'll find one soon enough which is kosher.

Good luck.

double post

It's a shame we couldn't organise a few reliable folk who would go and check out cars local to them for serious buyers who live a long way away even if only for a few beers. Not suggesting they buy the car! Just go through a basic check list. Just a thought so if you can add constructive comments great - if not, pick on another thread!!!

:luxhello:
The last owner of my car changed it into his wifes name for some reason at some point so it's possible.

Sounds like sales B.S. to me!! You have to literally tick a box that says "Owner changed" I'm pretty sure no one is stupid enough to make that mistake 4 times and if they are you really dont want to be buying their old car ;)

Just have a look at the V5C, check that the current and previous owner names match up.. If its a proper trader he should still have it and he would have just sent off the yellow slip..

Another forum I use some of the guys offer this service but it does really P*SS off the people selling the cars.. To be honest second hand car buying is a piece of cake you just need to use common sense and keep your 'sensible hat' on, if you have a gut feeling that the car is iffy walk away..

I've travelled miles for the right car, would go to scotland if the car was right.
I have a list of questions that I write down and get an answer to each one before I travel, thats helped me no end.

Usually,

How Long Owned ( if weeks could be a sign of bought it with a problem )
Number of owners ( can be checked by HPi )
Exact Mileage ( you'd be surprised the number of ppl that put 70,000 in an advert and when you get there its done 78,000 or something like that.
Service history ( when and where, receipts, stamped book ?)
Wheels condition ( photo's hopefully seen ) If all the wheels are kerbed it shows you how the cars been treated and suspension components have probably been damaged.
Reason for selling ( always ask initally and then on a follow up call )
ETC ETC
You get the idea.
A genuine seller will always be only too happy to answer your questions.
Good luck with your purchase, its not easy , thats why traders earn good money :D
Regards

Sideways