[iamswift]

Recently I was in Maruti True value and happen to see a notice instructing not to take third owner cars.
To me, number of owners is of little relevance in used car now-a-days. The condition of car is more important. There are single owner cars brutally maintained and there are multi-owner cars which are impeccable.
I inquired the manager and he too confirmed that buyers are insisting on checking the number of previous owners and there are no takers for third owner cars. So they won't take the car which has three RCbook entries.
This is quite surprising and this comes from Maruti's own true-value.
If Maruti won't accept their own car based on number of owners, who will?

Anyone experienced in used-car market, can you confirm?
What happens to the third-owner cars? scrapped? or sold at 'cheap' rates?
I have seen number of second-owner cars for sale in the user-car market. Does this means the guy who buys the second-owner car intends to keep it forever?

Why this partisan for number 3?

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by iamswift

Recently I was in Maruti True value and happen to see a notice instructing not to take third owner cars.
To me, number of owners is of little relevance in used car now-a-days. The condition of car is more important. There are single owner cars brutally maintained and there are multi-owner cars which are impeccable.
I inquired the manager and he too confirmed that buyers are insisting on checking the number of previous owners and there are no takers for third owner cars. So they won't take the car which has three RCbook entries.
This is quite surprising and this comes from Maruti's own true-value.
If Maruti won't accept their own car based on number of owners, who will?

Anyone experienced in used-car market, can you confirm?
What happens to the third-owner cars? scrapped? or sold at 'cheap' rates?
I have seen number of second-owner cars for sale in the user-car market. Does this means the guy who buys the second-owner car intends to keep it forever?

Why this partisan for number 3?

There, you have written the reason yourself.
It is the idiocy of the masses that drives the policies.
To an average joe, no of owners somehow are more important than the km covered and condition of vehicle.

To get a similar feel, recall what happens to the resale value of vehicles bought/registered in Dec vs Jan (simply a change in the year's label)

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by iamswift

Why this partisan for number 3?

This will change with time. Disposable incomes are going up; thus enabling people to dump used for new ones earlier than before.

Originally Posted by alpha1

To get a similar feel, recall what happens to the resale value of vehicles bought/registered in Dec vs Jan (simply a change in the year's label)

I agree. In the UK, it is possible to tell the year of registration from the registration number of the automobile. Buyers plan and sell accordingly.

[srikanthns]

Yes. this is a idiotic view. One of my friend had bought a zen in 2009 from his brother in law who brought it from Delhi. I had the car for my use for about a month. Though it has covered only 72500km in about 10years, (1999 make) the car was in such a good condition, that it was a pleasure to drive! But when he tried to sell it, he found the bitter truth ! A Delhi car will fetch will sell for pitiable amount compared to a Trivandrum registered car! Finally he sold off for 55000 whereas Kerala registered cars were going for upwards of 80000Rs for the same vintage!

[yogisays0909]

I had a night mare selling my 2nd owner(i was the 2nd Owner) 2011 Beat which was in mint condition and just 18K run in less than 3 years, under warranty and with all kind of accessories like DVD LCD Seats covers roof carrier Amp components. When you say second owner people say I don't want 2nd owner as he will the 3rd and selling again will be a pain. Somehow managed to sell it for 2.5Lakhs. Was about to take an Accord in exchange of the beat and paying the balance heavy amount in cash, but the dealer refused to take 2nd Owner vehicle.

[SmartCat]

It's a reasonable view if the car is 2 or 3 years old with just 20,000 or 30,000 kms on the odo. Such a car has a high probability of being a lemon.

But a 10 year old car with 80,000 or 100,000 kms on the odo is fine.

[Rajeevraj]

I had this problem selling my sx4. I was second owner. Most dealers who evaluated the car quoted ridiculously low values. Primary reason stated was that the buyer would be a 3rd owner. As per them this reduced the value by 50-75000. I think banks also do not finance 3rd owner cars. In my case I was finally lucky enough to get an individual buyer who cared more about the current condition and service history as opposed to number of owners.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by iamswift

This is quite surprising and this comes from Maruti's own true-value. If Maruti won't accept their own car based on number of owners, who will?

I feel the True Value guys are doing the right thing. When customers who are in the market for a 'used' car and just don't entertain a car that has had two owners, why do you think and expect True Value to buy the and store till a third owner is found?! Space and inventory loss is happening as that car may not be sold and get stuck at True Value. To avoid this they don't buy a car with more than two owners.

Originally Posted by iamswift

What happens to the third-owner cars? scrapped? or sold at 'cheap' rates? Does this means the guy who buys the second-owner car intends to keep it forever?

I don't think they are scrapped, may be moved in the family or sold at a dead cheap rate as most of them will be battered.

Anurag.

[anjan_c2007]

With this kinda logic vintage and classic cars can be valued in a negative price range, as most of them may be tenth or "n th" owner machines.

Jokes apart, brokers (no offence intended) are those who won't price a product or commodity reasonably well (car in our case),rather undervalue it for whatever reason, when one wants to sell.Its the vice versa when one wants to buy the same undervalued product.

When one goes to buy the car, same broker will overvalue it and say that this is a third owner car and the two previous owners were doctors (they may not even be MBBS doctors), whom even the R.C. and T.C. documents acknowledge as "doctors". And when doctors use the car, the value increases as it is considered as a "low mileage, single handed, best maintained" car.

True Value or Untrue Value are all no exceptions, but polished brokers.
They say they conduct 120 checks, but their sales guys are unable to exactly say what these 120 checks are?

Summarizing, must say that one must go by the car's condition and service history to decide.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

And when doctors use the car, the value increases as it is considered as a "low mileage, single handed, best maintained" car.

The doctor sentiment works well here and people pay up a lot as they get carried away with the car and is looks.

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

They say they conduct 120 checks, but their sales guys are unable to exactly say what these 120 checks are?

Lol. If all 120 checks are 'really' don't it could take them more than a day. And the price of these 120 checks are borne by the next customer. Right?

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Summarizing, must say that one must go by the car's condition and service history to decide.

As the point has been raised, is there any rule / fixed number of owners one car can have before it is scrapped? Does RTO check on these?

Anurag.

[yogisays0909]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

When one goes to buy the car, same broker will overvalue it and say that this is a third owner car and the two previous owners were doctors (they may not even be MBBS doctors), whom even the R.C. and T.C. documents acknowledge as "doctors". And when doctors use the car, the value increases as it is considered as a "low mileage, single handed, best maintained" car.

Nowadays doctors cars are also not low run, doctors work as consultants in different hospitals located in different areas, even a doctors car runs fairly same like an normal non doctor individual's car.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

When one goes to buy the car, same broker will overvalue it and say that this is a third owner car and the two previous owners were doctors (they may not even be MBBS doctors), whom even the R.C. and T.C. documents acknowledge as "doctors". And when doctors use the car, the value increases as it is considered as a "low mileage, single handed, best maintained" car.

The same adage applies for the Parsi owned cars. Have seen many a car dealers proudly displaying the cars with a placard which reads Parsi owned. No doubt that Parsis were fanatic when it came to car maintenance but using that as USP to sell cars is too much.

Also its a mental perception that buying an used car & becoming the 3rd owner isnt befitting the social status. Theyy wouldnt give a damn on how well the car is maintained or runs.

[rohanjf]

Now this is going to give me a problem when I have to sell my car. I am the second owner of the car, even though I am the only guy who has driven the car.

I bought the through my then employer's lease policy, so the car was owned by that company for 3 years. Since the car is in my name since then, there are two entries in the RC book.

Will a buyer consider that this car has been driven by only one person? I am afraid not, because when it is time for the buyer to sell the car, she/he will be selling it to 4th owner.

I am looking forward to even lower resale value than I had thought I would get for my 5.5 year old Palio :-(

[amansanc]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

Now this is going to give me a problem when I have to sell my car. I am the second owner of the car, even though I am the only guy who has driven the car.

I bought the through my then employer's lease policy, so the car was owned by that company for 3 years. Since the car is in my name since then, there are two entries in the RC book.

Will a buyer consider that this car has been driven by only one person? I am afraid not, because when it is time for the buyer to sell the car, she/he will be selling it to 4th owner.

I am looking forward to even lower resale value than I had thought I would get for my 5.5 year old Palio :-(

Now-a-days, your situation is pretty common and many people understand it. So it shouldn't be an issue.

I for one would always give priority to a car's condition rather than the number of owners it has had or how old it is.

Cheers!
amansanc

[blacksport]

It is true that the condition of the car matters more than the number of owners.

But it is a sad reality that it is difficult to ascertain the condition of a car, at least in India. Those 50 point tests et al are not fool proof. And we do not have the luxury of Carfax and Autocheck.

Now, too many owners in too short a period of time should raise suspicion. The car may be a lemon, or there were accidents. That is why it is wiser to exercise caution.

Say, I am in the market for a used swift, and when there are a lot of them available, I'd rather err on the safer side going for a single owner car than one with multiple owners.

The dealers are just doing their jobs giving their customers what they want.