3 owners on a Y reg - should I be worried?

Anonymous · January 8, 2005, 01:47

I'm hoping to take the plunge tomorrow and get myself an MR2. I've found one I like the look and sound of - Y, 20k miles - but it has had three owners -should that be a concern?

Thanks for any help!

Almost forgot - Hello! Great forum - very useful.

Michael

Slacey · January 8, 2005, 08:43

I wouldn't have thought so with such low mileage, but keep an eye out for problems anyway - and good luck! s:)

s:)

Anonymous · January 8, 2005, 11:57

I would voice a little caution here. The car has changed hands very quickly in a relatively short space of time. You have your doubts about it as a result, and so will your buyers when you come to sell it in the future.

Furthermore, the car is out its warranty period now, so if there was a real compelling reason why these owners wanted to get shot of the car, then you might end up paying through the nose to get it corrected!

Its a buyer's market with the MR2 - and there are loads out there. Keep on looking, be patient and within no time you'll have your dream machine.

HTH

Ash s8)

s8)

Anonymous · January 8, 2005, 13:09

Tend to agree with SD here.

Three owners in that time is a lot. It could be all all legit and just a toy they got bored of. As with any second hand car buy - caution is your friend. Best of luck.

s8)

s8) s8)

s8)

MRMike · January 8, 2005, 15:08

I agree with Sundance too, get an AA check on the car. However you should also consider that the MR2 is one of those cars that you could fall in love with then, when the practical side of running a car sets in soon fall out of love. Just because we all love it and can get by with the luggage space etcdoesn't mean other will. See if you can be cheeky and look in the glovebox and find the previous owners and give them a call if your not sure..

darrenjuggins · January 8, 2005, 15:15

Hi,

I would say a HPI check is warranted just to check for Finance, Etc.

Any Euro Import car purchased from places such as Trade Sales, Motor Point, etc as "New" will even though they have about 5 miles on when you pick it in, actually put you as the second owner on the V5, as they are effectively buying the car and selling it to you stright away....

Therefore most "euro" origin car will have at least two owners anyway.

As mentioned above, a AA check (not sure of cost) might be a prudent option, as well as enquring about purchasing an extended warranty (with Toyota, or a third party) as issues such as cat faliure and bore wear can appear out of no where.... (Check forum for instances of this).

As with any "Private" sale, remember the legalities of Sold as Seen, you have far less rights in a private sales as opposed to a garage sale.

Hope you find some of the suggestions useful.

Cheers

Darren J

Anonymous · January 11, 2005, 20:15

I agree withmost of what has been said above but I wouldn't bother with an AA inspection. The guy that bought my X type (18 months old, immaculate and fully loaded with 25k on the clock with Jaguar as the first owner) had an AA check done and I couldn't believe the report that made the car out to be about 20 years and 100k miles old. Luckily the guy ignored the report and took the car anyway.

Having the car checked is a good idea though, take it to a friendly body shop to have them give it a once over for accident damage. Any reputable owner with nothing to hide will have no problem with this.

Anonymous · January 11, 2005, 22:29

Quote from: "stevewarbs"Any reputable owner with nothing to hide will have no problem with this.

s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Not mentioning any names though s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Ash s8)

s8)

Anonymous · January 12, 2005, 07:26

i bought an MR2 last week . . the AA have stopped doing inspections but the RAC now do them, you can book one from the RAC website (£180 if member) I know 180 seems alot but not in comparrison to what you will be spending on the car if something should be seriously wrong.

I now know my car is really ... nice .... has a few scratches, 12v socket is abit loose and the key fob broken. 4 days till i pick it up s:)

s:)

but nothing serious.

GSB · January 12, 2005, 09:07

12 volt socket is an easy fix, the key fobs (i.e. The alarm controls on the key) are ridiculously expensive... Don't reckon on getting much change from £300 for a new key... s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

Dont mean to bring you down BTW, but you might ask yor dealer to throw a new key in for you?

GSB · January 12, 2005, 09:10

Quote from: "darrenjuggins"Any Euro Import car purchased from places such as Trade Sales, Motor Point, etc as "New" will even though they have about 5 miles on when you pick it in, actually put you as the second owner on the V5, as they are effectively buying the car and selling it to you stright away....

Didnt know that, although my Euro import had me as the first owner from new as I bought it into the UK myself. (Incidentally, if anyone wants my old car, its still languishing at the dealers that took in Px for my new car. They must be itching to get rid of it by now... s:)

s:)

Anonymous · January 12, 2005, 09:47

Did Mef buy then? I know of a couple of nice cars for sale still s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · January 14, 2005, 21:37

Thanks for all the replies, and sorry for taking so long. Been stuck away from the internet for the last few days.

I had a look at the car, and I don't think it had been well looked after - lots of nasty chips all around the car, lots of scuffs, so I walked away. I'm still looking, but I'm pretty busy for the next few months, so we'll have to see.

Anonymous · January 16, 2005, 07:08

yes they gave me a new key fob and are fixing that one, they also did up the scratches - so it looks fantastic, picked it up yesterday evening so waiting till its light to have a good look!