iaink

Ah, right you are. Presumbly that sort of thing is still done sometimes in BC, if only to make a vehicle more appealing to a buyer?

Legally though I see its not a requirement

Aviator

In BC, Aircare is a must for the lower mainland. Getting a BCAA inspection done can help with selling a used vehicle. The only govt. inspection is for commercial vehicles, and farm vehicles are exempt from all checks.

Piff Poff

Sorry but that is crap. As long as the car is realistically priced and correctly described and hasn't got any scary stuff going on with it then it will sell.

Only a couple of people have asked if the vehicles we have sold have been safetied - that's negotiating room as not all insurance companies will require one if the car is relatively new. (Our insurance company have only ever asked on our old stuff).

cityhog

People are hesitant to buy a used car if you're not the first owner, especially if you bought it from a used car dealer. Hard to check its history once passed through dealers. You can't imagine what they do to make money. At least that's my experience, in the US.

Piff Poff

We have privately bought and sold dozens of cars both here and in the UK, we have also bought from auction and then sold on later with very little trouble, you do get the odd person concerned with how many owners and how long have you had it and why are you selling it, but as I have said, if it is priced well and clearly looked after your not going to have a problem selling it.

However if you bought a basket case in the first place and paid top dollar for it and are trying to sell it for top dollar you ARE going to have a problem selling it and you ARE going to P1$$ potential buyers off if you describe your basket case as something it is clearly not - especially if they have driven 5 hours to look at your basket case.

Aviator

Of 16+ years in Canada, that has never been my experience or have I ever heard anyone say that. Even a one owner that ends up through a chop shop can be a major problem.

I would only buy from someone I know or a franchised dealer, regardless of how many owners. My daughter just bought a car from a reputable dealer, more than one owner, but don't how many. The dealer checked it out and told us it was OK and it is a great car. Why does it matter how many owners it has had? One owner can wreck a car or sell off a lemon.

cityhog

People are concerned and ask questions, not necessarily because they're odd people, but because they heard and read about dealers selling flood cars:

Aviator

Flood cars can be one or more owners, even new cars from a flooded dealership. The number of owners makes no difference to the risk. Or you could end up buying a stolen car, one with forged documents, one from a chop shop, or if paranoid, just buy a new car.

Piff Poff

Yeah we've had some of the flood cars up here too - they stink, I also didn't say the people were odd I said the odd person as in one or two out of twenty for example, where as you have implied that everyone is concerned if the car that is being sold has had more then 1 owner the buyers are going to be less likely to buy it.

I don't even know how you check how many owners a car has had here as there is nothing on the title to tell you. The best thing to do is check the car over thoroughly - lift carpets etc and if you don't know what your looking at get someone who does know have a look.

Things that will put buyers off are things like a dirty car, a car that smells, flat tyres, non starting, a car full of rubbish, split seats (put a seat cover on) and then you've got the buyers that can actually tell if it's full of filler, so if you have a car that has been accident damaged and you know and the buyer asks about it then fess up and tell the potential buyer what has happened and what the repair was.

cityhog

It's not about the number of owners but about dealers buying these junks and moving them around to other states and even to Canada/Mexico and then getting new titles and selling them.

cityhog

There's a vehicle identification # on your car, and so you can check its history, but the problem with these dealers is that they know how to get around the system.

Aviator

Your quote not mine! An unregistered car from a flooded dealership is no better than one that has had previous owners.

Piff Poff

Is that not a service you pay for?

Anyhow I couldn't care less how many people have owned my car(s) as long as my car is a good one and my OH won't let me drive anything remotely dodgy and if we ever buy anything from a dealer it would be a trade in that my OH has seen before the traders have come along and nabbed it. Again not caring if it has been owned by one or one hundred previous owners. Just because a car has had one owner doesn't necessarily mean it has been looked after, we have looked at big money one owner cars that have been just trashed.

cityhog

This, was a response to the above statement. I assumed s/he bought it from a used car dealer.

Aviator

Why?