[ckugel]

Not that I am looking to sell my Elise, but with all of the talk about pricing (potential buyers finding endless "look, this one sold for "$X") and sellers saying "sure, but you get what you pay for and even salvage title cars are selling for "$Y", I was wondering if there may be a correlation to number of owners.

My guess, and just that, is that the really cheap ones being sold are ones that have gone through 2 or more owners and each has sucked up depreciation with a total of more than if just one owner (spreading the pain, so to speak). Of course, cars that have gone through multiple owners are probably more likely to have issues in the first place (not WILL, just more likey, in my opinion).

All said, my question to you all out there is, if you were buying an Elise (or any other similar "purpose built' car) would it be important to you to get a single owner car as opposed to say one that is on it's third owner in 3 years? I define "important" as "yes, and I would pay more to know I am buying from the original purchaser". For me, I would be inclined to say yes. Probably worth a few (4?) percentage points for each additional owner. So a 3 year old car being sold by the primary owner that I would pay 3$0K for, might be worth to me $28.8K if second owner, $27,650 if third, etc. Maybe this somehow explains why some cars really are being sold relatively cheap. Again, may be a case of getting what you pay for, but would help explain why and what the risk is that you are being allowed the discount.

Thoughts?

 

[dantediss]

Totally agree.With a 1 owner car if you look at it and its well maintained and clean,pristine you KNOW it was more than likely babied.With a multiple owner owned car all you know is the LAST(and or current)owner cared for it.Who knows what the other owners did to it

 

[dantediss]

Sorry for double post. But as far as ,Did the current owner only care for it so much just to get it to look nice and run right, Or to just cover up flaws and issues that will now be your problem

 

[ckugel]

I started looking at some of the for sale posts and on the low cost ones there really does seem to be a correlation. Things like "the prior owned did "X" or had an issue with "Y". I do really think this partially explains why folks can point out some low prices. The issue is that I think people then expect those low prices to be true indicators of what these cars should sell for, no matter what. Just food for thought next time you see these low price sales.

 

[dickedup]

Sports cars are just like chicks compadre!

Not that I am looking to sell my Elise,.

Thoughts?

You really don't want one that's been in... "too many hands".



rotfl


*It's a Friday*


Typically the one-owner car is not only better maintained but more consistently maintained. :up:

 

[jesterbot]

That's good to know, as I'm the original owner of mine but will be throwing it up on the market in a couple months while I wait for the Evora blown variant...

Anyone interested in a low miles (<7k), original owner 06 SY, let me know!

 

[RoadDad]

Every once in a while, DU makes me laugh.

 

[ckugel]

Jesterbot - yes, I would stress that when selling. For those looking for the "$25K or less" Elise, that may not matter, but should at least help explain to those folks WHY the low prices they often quote may have occured.

 

[jesterbot]

Very good point - I hadn't even thought about the correlation. But that peace of mind is definitely worth something... you're right. :up:

 

[MattG]

All said, my question to you all out there is, if you were buying an Elise (or any other similar "purpose built' car) would it be important to you to get a single owner car as opposed to say one that is on it's third owner in 3 years?

As a the original owner of a nearly five year old Elise, I believe my car, if I ever chose to sell it, should command a higher price than a similar car that has had multiple owners. I know the entire history of the car, can explain the maintenance history, every little paint chip, every track it's been on, every modification, you get the idea. Likewise, if I ever had to replace it, I'd seek out a one-owner car and would pay extra to get that. Well that's not entirely true, I'd actually try to convince the wife I needed a brand new Evora, but realistically, I'd end up with a used Elise.

 

[Furryferret]

I'll be in the market for one when I return from
Iraq in summer 2010...and looking at a car with let's say 10k miles with one owner let's me know he did all 10k miles the same style

Now a 10k car with 2-3 owners leads me to belive the first guy may not hve done the break in right, the second guy may have misused it and broke something and fixed it then sold it...just to many questions for someone the have with many owners...and i'm fully willing to pay $5-8k more for a single owner elise

 

[ewalberg]

i think part of that depends on the duration of ownership... ie. if looking at a car that was bought by the second owner with only 2-7k miles, but the vehicle now had over 40k-100k miles, then i'd be much more comfortable in thinking of it more like a single owner car than if the current owner had put few miles on it.

As long as you're not in a hurry to sell, it's all a moot point... put it on the market a little high and keep the price firm, and slowly drop the (firm) price until you start getting bites... and you may still have to drop the selling price after you start getting bites just becuase of who knows what details, and figure you might have to do a little last minute haggling just to lock the deal in... everybody likes to feel like they worked some kind of deal or got something thrown in with the deal.

In this way, it's possible that the ONLY people who bite in the beginning, when your price is actually high, are going to be people chopping on your price to get it closer to expectations... but if you have a legit story to why it's WORTH more, then they may reconsider because a discerning buyer often knows exactly what they want, and why... but then there's just the obnoxious buyer...

 

[dantediss]

There certainly are obnoxious buyers 24k anyone,But id prefer a 35k car that i talked down to 34k cause im anal with details haha...But the peace of mind makes all the difference in the end

 

[ckugel]

Furryferret:

"Now a 10k car with 2-3 owners leads me to belive the first guy may not hve done the break in right, the second guy may have misused it and broke something and fixed it then sold it...just to many questions for someone the have with many owners...and i'm fully willing to pay $5-8k more for a single owner elise"

Kind of what I thought. Thanks for confirming and quantifying, at least for what it is worth to you ($5-$8K).