Whenever I see a car with low mileage - 50k that has had 3 or more owners I steer clear of it. Do y'all think this is a bad indication or that maybe the owners had no clue what it was going to take to maintain it and dumped it as soon as they could?

I'm referring to late model MB's. I'm wanting to eventually pick up another station wagon and don't consider those with low miles/many owners.

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Jim

Not sure. Seems a lot of people like to change cars more often. Not a lot of people hold on to them for years and years like many of us do.

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Sent from an agnostic abacus

2014 C250 21,XXX my new DD ** 2013 GLK 350 18,000 Wife's new DD**

- With out god, life is everything.
- God is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance that's getting smaller and smaller as time moves on..." Neil DeGrasse Tyson
- You can pray for me, I'll think for you.
- When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

Good idea.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Keep in mind, when you lease a car the title is in the lease holder or banks name. When you buy out the lease a new title is issued in your name. If you then trade it in another title is issued in the name of the dealer, if they wholesale it at an auction the new buyer gets yet another title issued this can all happen within a few months. Some states allow assignment of title so a new title is only issued if the car leaves that state. New Mexico does not allow that a new title has to be issued every time the vehicle changes hands. Carfax and other auto history companies do not state why a new title was issued and count each title issue as a new owner. Both my current Mercedes were lease returns. 1 purchased from the original selling dealership and the second purchased from Carvana The dealership one shows me as the 3rd owner in Carfax.( Lease co, Dealer, Me.) The Carvana one shows me as the 4th owner in carfax ( Lease co, Dealer, Carvana, Me) but there is less than 100 miles between the second title issue and my purchase 3 months later. So far both have been good vehicles with no surprises. Multiple owners in a short period of time is not always bad but you have to do your homework before you buy.

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Dave
88 300E 250K Sold
2000 C230K Totaled @104K
2003 ML320 156K Sold
2009 E350 4Matic Sport 46K Sold
2011 ML350 60K Sold
2014 GLK350 46k
2012 GL450 55K

Ok thanks for the explanation. It makes sense.

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Jim

A dealer level pre purchase inspection is warranted at todays cost of used cars. Anything less is starting to look foolish at the used car prices around here.

This is anything but the time to buy with rose colored glasses. Steadily dealer maintained with records. Depending on the dealer might be the best option. With the vehicle in private hands for sale.

Over 50% of new imported luxury cars are leased. The typical lease is 36 months.

A lot of people have "short automotive attention spans," and want a new, or another car every few years. My doctors said it best: "I like having new stuff, and getting a new car is a lot cheaper than getting a new wife."

The manufacturers subsidize leases with inflated residuals. They do this to stimulate demand and therefore simulate production for their cars. It also keeps their dealer networks healthy since the typical lease turn-in goes right to that dealer's used car inventory. With leasing, dealers usually get to sell the same car twice.

Those short-automotive-attention-span people usually don't take as good care of a car as somebody who buys a new car and keeps it ten years. That' why "one owner" cars are worth more than ones that have changed owners a few times.

BMW's get an unusually thick shot of clear coat on the horizontal surfaces (hood, roof, trunk). That's so they can be heavily polished before going onto the BMW dealers' used car lots.

BMW's get free oil changes for the first three years or 36k miles, but only every 10k miles or once a year. That's can be too long, causing sludge and varnish. Don't expect a lessee to change the oil more frequently.

Lots of information out there. That factory recommended oil changes may be far too long on todays vehicles. Shortens lifespan of the engines is claimed.

The majority of cars today are used in a severe service catagory. This is not 10K oil change territory. Five K much better if you want to see a car last.

I have been following a senior Toyota service techs videos on Utube. Guy seems both knowledgable and skilled. He explains a few things better than I have ever heard. Not sure how Toyota feels about him doing this. He tells you the Toyota products to avoid. As he states run from them.

His description of their latest engine was interesting. No coolant thermostat and no EGR circuit.

Bottom line is you can see 400,000 miles doing what he suggests with little to no trouble. I am finding the wives Toyota after ten years to be much better than any other cars we have ever owned myself. For that period of time.

It still feels like the day we purchased it. You may pay a little more when you buy one but the resale value is there. More than enough to cover any additional cost of buying.

Do I really like them as cars? Not the greatest in some ways. They still will give you the lowest overall ownership cost per mile by quite a margin though. I have been looking at the new car price stickers. Perhaps time to stop treating our daily drivers as just disposable items.

I've been doing 8k-mile oil changes in my cars for the last 15 years or so, with no visible deposits in the engines (looking down the oil fill hole). The BMW's use a synthetic "super-oil." Our Hondas and Chevy's got Mobil 1 or Pennzoil Platinum, and were running like new when we sold them (Honda at 147k miles, Chevy at 125k miles).

Personally when I see a car with low mileage I think it's a good opportunity, because that means it doesn't run much and therefore it's in good condition.

If you could do a compression check would be better. But compression checks are not easy. Some people are too stupid to get oil changed.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Thanks for the suggestions