Would you rather buy a car that has only ever been owned by a little old ladyt or one that has had 15 different owners, and you have no idea who they are?
Would you rather have a car that someone has kept for a long time or one that people keep selling (getting rid of)?
Each owner buys the car for a lower price than the last one. Therefore in theory they might have less money and will run the car on a lower budget.
So maintainence might be scrimped on.
Not always the case but could be a reason why the least number of owners makes it more desirable.
Cars with loads of owners could suggest an unreliable car or one which the owners get fed up with paying to run it!
I would be more concerned about a car with a F(PEUGEOT)SH. Than one with several owners. The less time spent in the incompetence of Peugeot service departments the better. :x
If I was asked what to look out for when buying a cc it would be to accertain how many times the car has been back to the monkeys. The less the better and that includes servicing.
That said I would prefer to buy a car with the least amount of owners. Idealy none.
I would be cautious if considering a car that has relatively low Ks and a quite a few owners because the car may be a lemon and have intermittant problems that are not obvious when test driving but when they manifest themselves the owners may decide to unload it on some other poor b@stards.
I know on this site it's newer cars that are talked about mainly but on older cars 4 or 5 years onwards i wouldn't be too bothered about full dealer history coz a car that only gets serviced once a year can quite easily become a shed.