No. of former keepers

[Welly]

A lot of fuss can be made of how many Keepers your car has had but is it really a problem?...............

The 406 is a 99 T plate and has 4 former keepers, I bought it for it's excellent condition and service history and did not really consider the number of owners, if I sell it though the next person might make a big fuss about it.

My 406 was actually one of Peugeot (UK's) own cars for 2 years, then another Garage registered it and used it , then another short ownership, then the last keeper had it 4 years

The BMW Compact Diesel 98 on an S, I had the shock of my life when I got the Reg Doc ......7 Former Keepers (I forgot to ask about it ) there again I bought it for it's condition and service and did not consider the owners.

It's a shame that some cars legaly change owners for genuine resons but this racks up the No. of keepers and sometimes garages register them aswell, the BMW changed hands within the same family twice I found out.

It is a shame you can't get a list of all the former keepers so you can get a feel for what's happened, or can you?

[Captain Jack]

Hmm... well I did pay attention to this when I was buying my car and my dad said don't buy it if it has more than 2 keepers. It had 3 but the last owner was a garage so really it was two! Although if it was genuinely 3 keepers then I would get suspicious for a (at the time) 5 year old car with 74k on the clock. Surely if the car has swapped hands many times then one would this there's something wrong with it? Thankfully it hasn't given me more trouble than any other car would! (touch wood)

[paulb2004uk]

When I bought my previous car, it was a 5yr old Mondeo with 55k, came with full service history and its MOT certificates to show the milage. HPI clear and that had 5 former keeps. Had the car for 5 years. Failed its last MOT on emmisions, turmed out it was a split vaccuum pipe and was a common fault. Fix ?3.20, so I wouldnt worry to much about number of keeps.
My TR7 has had 7 former keepers but that is 26 yrs old

[Welly]

Surely if the car has swapped hands many times then one would think there's something wrong with it?

It is only a thought of mine, but sometimes when you own a car for a number of years you can be guilty of scrimping on maintenance, not things like oil changes but bigger items that you can't afford to do at the time.

In theory, when cars change hands the new owner usually starts a programme of repairs and maintenance to get the car running as it should for them and they don't mind the expense because it's new to them and they plan to keep it.

I have done that to cars I've just bought many times.

Maybe more owners can be a positive thing if the car appears to be well looked after generally.

[slick]

My 406 had 4 previous owners, one was company, then a private guy, then current owner, then current owners wife. You can usually tell by the condition of the car, sound of engine etc etc

[johnd]

I picked my 99 registered pug with 1 prev owner and it has been the best second bargin I have ever bought.
My last motor was a J reg vauxhall fontera with 11 previous owners and i never had a problem with it apart from the amount of fuel used and believe or not I still see it cruising the streets where I live. When I parted with it there were 172000 on the clock with it orginal engine gear box.
It does help if you know a mechanic that can have a look at the motor before you part with your hard earned cash

[V6WAYNE]

my 2000 w plate coupe has had 2 previous owners which is ok i must admit it does put me off if a cars had loads of owners in a short amount of time.

[Foxy]

My 306 Xsi had 1, GTi had 2 and the turbo has had 4

[Davva2004]

My 406 has 1 former keeper... my dad!

My RS has 10 former keepers, and each one has added his or her modifications as the urge took them... which wasn't really an issue for me as i knew I'd be stripping it down to a shell and rebuilding it to my own specifications anyway.