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So if a car transitions from multiple owners through auction processes or just through selling dealerships -in theory the odds are that it may be in worse shape than if it was a 1-owner car.
All of that said - the problem is - "In Theory" is just that - a guess based on what is believed to "possibly" may be the reality. It absolutely is not a true factual telling indicator of what the actual condition of the car is.
Even though the odds suggest that a multiple owner car "may" be a lesser car - I would recommend that a prospective buyer always evaluate the car based on the reality of what it really is.
I am the 5th owner of my 911. It was owned by people who lived in the upper mid-west (Chicago and Ohio) - where the weather for a significant amount of the year sucks. In theory, the car should have been at best, in just average condition.
As it turned out - the car was absolutely in pristine shape (and that is no current-owner bias). It came with a complete, documented maintenance / service history. Had I followed what "theory" dictated, I would have written the car off and never looked at it in the first place. That would have been a monumental mistake.
Wow. Beautiful car. Looks brand new and certainly not like a 5 owner car that's been driven around in the upper midwest in rain, possibly snow and salty roads. Goes to show what's already been said here. The actual condition of the car along with maintenance history means a lot more than the number of owners which may not be a true reflection of the actual number of owners who actually drove the car anyway. Well done
As I said above, you are buying the previous owner(s) as much as the car:
The following was posted earlier today in the 996 forum:
"Long time lurker, Porsche dreamer, but hopefully soon to be 996TT owner! I found a low mileage X50 example with approximately 12k miles belonging to the original owner. I'm scheduled to check it out in person sometime over the next week. Everything seems to be fine with the vehicle except for its lacking maintenance history. After some dialogue with the seller, I've come to find out that his first engine oil service was in 2019 - THAT'S RIGHT, 16 years!!! He was under the impression that the first service needed was at 15,000 miles and was not aware of the 2 year interval for engine oil and brake fluid services."
I'm with the crowd that says number is irrelevant all things being equal. Documentation is everything. I am the 4th owner of mine. It gets better.....it was an auction car....audible gasp!
Mine is a 2012 GTS, with full maintenance history going back to 2014, maybe 2013, I would have to look. I have all the records from the selling dealer from when they picked it up at auction at 1 year, 1300 miles. It was a cream puff, went to auction in late October after sitting on the lot for 3 months. It's a Cab with a 6 speed. Shocking but a 6 speed GTS wasn't in favor in 2013, PDK is what everyone wanted. Cab, late fall, 6 speed, it went to auction from Porsche Conshohocken and picked up by Porsche Albany in 2013 where I bought it late 2019.
It was CPO'd at least twice, possibly 3x, the last to me where it was fully up to date on maintenance and included copies of all the service work since the 2nd owner. I will happily take my 4 owner GTS over a 1 owner, 16 year oil change Turbo any day.
I'm with the crowd that says number is irrelevant all things being equal. Documentation is everything. I am the 4th owner of mine. It gets better.....it was an auction car....audible gasp!
Mine is a 2012 GTS, with full maintenance history going back to 2014, maybe 2013, I would have to look. I have all the records from the selling dealer from when they picked it up at auction at 1 year, 1300 miles. It was a cream puff, went to auction in late October after sitting on the lot for 3 months. It's a Cab with a 6 speed. Shocking but a 6 speed GTS wasn't in favor in 2013, PDK is what everyone wanted. Cab, late fall, 6 speed, it went to auction from Porsche Conshohocken and picked up by Porsche Albany in 2013 where I bought it late 2019. It was CPO'd at least twice, possibly 3x, the last to me where it was fully up to date on maintenance and included copies of all the service work since the 2nd owner. I will happily take my 4 owner GTS over a 1 owner, 16 year oil change Turbo any day.
Tough to find a better example of why the number of owners as you say is irrelevant all things being equal. You have a 4 owner car that was CPO'd when you bought it. Possibly for the third time. There are exceptions but most dealerships seem to adhere to the standards set for CPO certification and they don't certify cars with a questionable history that are likely to cost them money in the future.
Tough to find a better example of why the number of owners as you say is irrelevant all things being equal. You have a 4 owner car that was CPO'd when you bought it. Possibly for the third time. There are exceptions but most dealerships seem to adhere to the standards set for CPO certification and they don't certify cars with a questionable history that are likely to cost them money in the future.
Yes, this is a prime example of a multiple owner car. The selling dealer in Albany took great care when they CPO'd the car. ALL service was up to date based on time, not mileage. Ths car had 16k miles on it when I bought it. It had oil changes at least yearly with 4k miles at most in between. I made sure it had everything done as required by the CPO. All major services were done including plugs, drive belt, brake fluid flushes etc. It met the highest standards for a CPO car. It even had Expel PPF and an Escort Max CI radar detector installed by the dealer for the last owner. All this on top of the best spec'd GTS Cab I've ever seen.
Then I read about 16 year oil changes and I think, oh my God.....it still has the break in oil in it.
Yes, this is a prime example of a multiple owner car. The selling dealer in Albany took great care when they CPO'd the car. ALL service was up to date based on time, not mileage. Ths car had 16k miles on it when I bought it. It had oil changes at least yearly with 4k miles at most in between. I made sure it had everything done as required by the CPO. All major services were done including plugs, drive belt, brake fluid flushes etc. It met the highest standards for a CPO car. It even had Expel PPF and an Escort Max CI radar detector installed by the dealer for the last owner. All this on top of the best spec'd GTS Cab I've ever seen.
Then I read about 16 year oil changes and I think, oh my God.....it still has the break in oil in it.
Yeah you really scored on your GTS. Not compared to the 16 year old car with the break in oil still in it but given the thorough CPO inspection and overall condition.
I tend to want to know why a car had X number of owners and try to reconcile that to it's service history. My 997 supposedly had one previous owner who I was unable to track down and did not seem right. It turns out the car was bought by a Porsche speed shop and never registered, which explained the mods it had. Another time I was looking at a 2013 427 Vette that had 8 owners, very low mileage and an odd history. I found out through some digging that it was one of the cars that Chevrolet loaned to journalists for test drives and reviews. I took a pass on it. Just by coincidence, I have seen that 427 Vette at several car meets, since. The owner has never had any issues with it.
02-09-2021, 02:41 AM
