In short. Use numberOfPreviousOwners including the current owner and dateVehicleFirstRegistered for first registration with public authorities.
Definition: A vehicle listing can use Schema.org's
numberOfPreviousOwnersto describe the owner count, including the current owner, anddateVehicleFirstRegisteredfor the date of first registration with public authorities. Both properties belong toVehicle, the type for a device that transports people or cargo.
Key facts
- Schema.org's Vehicle definition places
VehiclebeneathProductand listsCaras a more specific type. - The numberOfPreviousOwners definition includes the current owner and accepts
NumberorQuantitativeValue, a structured numeric value. - The dateVehicleFirstRegistered definition expects a
Datefor the vehicle's first registration with the respective public authorities. - Schema.org's Date definition specifies ISO 8601 date format.
How does the owner count work?
As of October 2026, Schema.org's automotive documentation demonstrates the counting rule in its used-car example. The visible description says there is one previous owner excluding the current owner. Its structured data assigns numberOfPreviousOwners a value of two. A listing system whose field excludes the current owner therefore needs to reconcile that field with Schema.org's inclusive definition before exporting it.
The property reference also gives C62 as a typical unit code. A plain numeric value uses the accepted Number type; a QuantitativeValue object is the alternative when a structured value is needed. The property records an owner count, so the visible label should make the inclusion of the current owner explicit.
How should the registration date appear in markup?
Schema.org's registration property concerns registration with public authorities. Its Vehicle reference separately defines productionDate as the item's production date and purchaseDate as the date of purchase by the current owner. The same reference uses vehicleModelDate for a vehicle model's release date.
The W3C JSON-LD specification defines JSON-LD as a format for expressing linked data in JSON. This shortened adaptation of Schema.org's used-car example retains its example registration date and owner count, with the count expressed as a JSON number:
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org/",
"@type": "Car",
"dateVehicleFirstRegistered": "2008-06-12",
"numberOfPreviousOwners": 2
}
</script>
These values belong to the documentation example. In that example, the first registration is 12 June 2008 and the current owner's purchase date is 17 January 2010, showing how separate fields describe separate events.
How can the listing be checked?
As of October 2026, Google's structured data guidelines require marked-up information to be visible to readers and kept up to date. For these fields, that means displaying the first registration date and the owner count with the same counting convention used in the markup.
Schema.org's Markup Validator documentation describes validation from a page URL or directly supplied markup. The tool displays the extracted structured data graph and identifies syntax mistakes. A review can inspect the Car or Vehicle object and compare its registration and ownership values with the visible listing.
Related terms
- Structured data
- JSON-LD
- How can a used-car dealer mark mileage and the vehicle identification number?
- How does Schema.org validation differ from Google's Rich Results Test?
FAQ
Should I include the current owner in the count?
Yes. Schema.org's numberOfPreviousOwners definition includes the current owner. Its automotive example maps one earlier owner plus the current owner to a count of two.
Can I use the purchase date as the first registration date?
Use the date of first registration with public authorities for dateVehicleFirstRegistered. Schema.org's Vehicle documentation provides purchaseDate for the date the current owner purchased the vehicle.
Sources
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