How Number Of Owners Affect Resale Value & Insurance Premiums Of Used Cars?
Soumi Roy 17-09-2025
Table Of Content
The used car market of India has always been booming as new cars in India are out of reach for the majority of Indians. However, this situation has changed to some extent after the announcement of GST 2.0 which will come into effect from the 22nd of September, 2025.
The prices of new cars will go down but even then, people would still gravitate towards used cars in India as their prices will also go down since used car prices are often benchmarked by dealers against new car prices.
If you are planning to buy a used car in India, please buy that vehicle that has the least number of previous owners.
Why Buy A Car That Had Few Previous Owners?
A used car that had just one or two owners tends to fetch high prices in the used car market.
A single owner car is cared for. Even if the owner serviced and repaired their car at a non-OEM approved garage, the vehicle’s overall preventative maintenance needs would have been met, on time!
One can also go for used cars with single owners who can readily provide a detailed and clear service, running repairs and preventative maintenance history in soft as well as hard copy formats.
In short – cars with the least number of previous owners are most of the time, in better condition both on the outside and inside!
How Number Of Owners Affect Resale Value Of A Pre-Owned Car?
A single owner car is likely to be properly cared for both on the cosmetic as well as mechanical fronts. Hence, expect to pay a premium price for such cars if you want to buy one. And if you are selling such a car, use the ‘single owner’ aspect of the car as a bargaining chip in a bid to justify its price to prospective buyers.
Used cars with multiple owners had to withstand different driving habits and inconsistent servicing schedules. Then there is the fact that pre-owned cars with no clear or documented service history is likely to be riddled with hidden mechanical issues. Hence, sellers of such cars should expect low balling from would-be buyers; and buyers can use this information to negotiate lower prices from sellers of such cars.
Additionally, for the best results, avoid those pre-owned cars like the plague that has been sold multiple times in a short timeframe! These vehicles are ‘lemons’ with unresolved problems – that should not concern you!
How Number Of Owners Affect Insurance Premiums Of A Pre-Owned Car?
The number of owners of a used car directly dictates what would be its insurance premium. There are several reasons behind this and they are as follows.
Premiums are IDV And Risk Profile Dependent
A high number of owners leads to a lower IDV due to depreciation and market value perception. Since the premium's "own damage" component is a percentage of the IDV, this factor pushes the premium down.
An inconsistent history and multiple owners create a higher risk profile for the insurer. The insurer charges an additional amount to cover this higher risk, which pushes the premium up.
The final premium is a balance of these two factors. While a lower IDV might make the premium seem cheap, the insurer's assessment of the car's high-risk profile means the final premium will be higher than that of a similar single-owner car in excellent condition.
Used Cars With Inconsistent Service History Entail Higher Premiums
If an insurance company runs a car service history check and finds out that it has been subjected to inconsistent servicing and maintenance then the insurance company would assign high premium on the comprehensive coverage of the used car citing that the current owner can file for a claim while fixing the underlying issue-riddled car.
Pre-Owned Cars With Multiple Previous Owners Aren’t Always Bad!
With everything stated in the above sections, one might think that any used car that have had multiple owners, is inherently bad and should not be bought. This is not the case. Just make sure that the pre-owned car’s current owner can provide you with a well-documented (and complete) service history. This is the proof for you that the pre-owned car has been maintained properly – which should allow you to make informed purchasing decisions! You can also seek help from vehicle history report service providers like AutoHealth India to ascertain that your money is spent on the perfect pre-owned car and not on a lemon!
Check Vehicle History @ ₹199*
Ownership Details | Registration Details | Service History For Car | Challan History | Check Car Accident History | Vehicle Engine Health | Recall Details | Maintainance Details | Vehicle Insurance Details
