Would you buy a car with 11 previous owners?

[byf]

Hi,

I viewed and test drove a BMW Z3 today as with summer coming I want to get myself a nice softop to enjoy those sunday afternoons.

Now I test drove it and it seemed fine to me, not a petrol head though.

It had a slight blow on the exhaust but has just passed an MOT.

Now I found out it has 11 yes 11 previous owners and now im worried, the car is 1997!

I put down £100 deposit, so If I bail I guess I will lose that.

The car was advertised on autotrader as being the cheapest and its just been reduced, it is cheaper than most for its age and year...what would you do?

 

[Here's Johnny!]

How much ya paying?

 

[Beach Hut]

11 owners seems very suspicious to me

 

[byf]

The car was on for £2800. Its a lush car, but its a lot of money if the cars going to cause me bother.

 

[Here's Johnny!]

Only one of the immediate bits of info but still would worry me.

I would also consider price, millage, service history, where it's being bought from etc though.....

 

[byf]

Only one of the immediate bits of info but still would worry me.

I would also consider price, millage, service history, where it's being bought from etc though.....

Well its very cheap and I think the owner number has put people off.

The mileage sounds about right...110k for a 13 year old motor....but its niggling at me!

Its bought from a garage type situation...all a bit weird. I drove there as they have a few cars for sale and it was parked on there driveway...the woman explains they keep the cars at a lock up and run it from home

 

[sam86]

Do it. You can always sell it and become lucky number 12!

 

[Here's Johnny!]

.....

 

[Barrel of Fun]

You'll look like a twit either way.

The car dies and you are robbed or you actually end up driving it about.

 

[byf]

You'll look like a twit either way.

The car dies and you are robbed or you actually end up driving it about.

Why its a gorgeous looking soft top. I currently have a boring hatchback golf...its about as interesting as Exeter today.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I think Z3's look like you should be owning a hairdressing salon, spend an hour/£100s on your hair and wear skinny fit jeans. I am sure you could get a much nicer car for £2.3k.

 

[byf]

I think Z3's look like you should be owning a hairdressing salon, spend an hour/£100s on your hair and wear skinny fit jeans. I am sure you could get a much nicer car for £2.3k.

All about opinions.

Ive looked at different soft tops and nothing grabs me....I dont like the MX5's at all....ive tried to like them, I just cant.

What would you suggest then?

In the perfect world Id get a honda s2000, but im not spending £6k

 

[beorhthelm]

its the sort of car people buy to have fun, then bore of it and change. i wouldnt let the onwers worry you, just make sure everything else is pukka - i'd be more concerned why it is so cheap. are they just out of fashion so others are also similar price really? get on line and find z3 owners site (bound to be one).

 

[byf]

its the sort of car people buy to have fun, then bore of it and change. i wouldnt let the onwers worry you, just make sure everything else is pukka - i'd be more concerned why it is so cheap. are they just out of fashion so others are also similar price really? get on line and find z3 owners site (bound to be one).

Well theyve had it a few weeks and just cut the price to get rid I think. The body work isnt perfect but it seems ok to me. Thanks for your reply mate

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Soft top - Triumph Stag

 

[byf]

Soft top - Triumph Stag

As I said, all about opinions.

Just had a look, awful!

Not getting one of them for 2.5k too.

 

[tedebear]

11 owners would bother me too, but the exhaust blowing would bother me even more...

 

[Barrel of Fun]

As I said, all about opinions.

Just had a look, awful!

Not getting one of them for 2.5k too.

It is all about opinions. I am not a great fan of BMWs. I don't know enough about cars to comment on reliability and so on.

I would say that it is definitely worth digging a bit deeper into the reliability of Z3s. From recollection, I seem to remember that they were not particularly decent.

 

[chez]

its the sort of car people buy to have fun, then bore of it and change. i wouldnt let the onwers worry you, just make sure everything else is pukka - i'd be more concerned why it is so cheap. are they just out of fashion so others are also similar price really? get on line and find z3 owners site (bound to be one).

I'd imagine that the reason it is so cheap is because of the amount of owners it's had.

 

[Superseagull]

11 owners sounds dodgy. Your average 12 year old car might have 4 or 5 owners, but 11 would ring some alarm bells. Whats the service history like? A new MOT is some comfort factor, but does not mean its not a lemon? You might as well take take a punt on it if you have £3K to play with on a motor, but I'd get some sort of mechanic to give it a good look over it to give you some peace of mind. And it would be worthwhile investing in the AA or RAC decent cover just in case! Are you able to contact any of the previos owners as a double check?