Just bought a DeLorean today!!!

[91 zeee]

Hi. I'm in Virginia and just bought a DeLorean today. (So I thought I'd join the forum!)

Here is my first question......I have my VIN number, what information can I get with that? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[steve]

Welcome and congratulations. Who's did you buy? The Vin will tell you quite a lot.
We need more D's in Richmond.:hihi:

[DMC-81]

Welcome and congratulations!

Among other things, you can use the VIN to get a reproduction window sticker, and an original owner certificate from the Delorean Museum. https://squareup.com/store/the-delorean-museum-inc

[Delorean3610]

Find all the information you can on it's service history, and write down everything you do to the car. It will save you in the long run.

[91 zeee]

good info. I appreciate the help. I have no history on the car (other than the current owner who has had it for 5 years. I ran a Carfax and that shows virtually nothing. Any idea how I might get the service and previous owner history? (I do plan to order the documents that are currently available -- like the window sticker, etc...) I just don't know how to find subsequent owners and service history...

[Jonathan]

What does your VIN get you?

It used to indicate whether you were on a vendor's blacklist or not. Thankfully Special Ed is gone and took his silly lists with him.

You can share it here with us. It's not anything overly secret. Usually just a way to identify your car from all the other ones that are identical. Identical like snowflakes that is.

The number itself will tell you where in the overall chronology yours was built. That then gives you what your car (VIN) likely looked like when it left the factory. Meaning, while there were really only two options (manual or automatic trans, and black or grey interior), many things evolved over the years of production. Hood styles, wheel colour or spoke thickness, radio manufacturer, whether your door pull handles were loose or built into the door panel, location of the antenna, etc. There is quite a bit of variation if you are going to get into the weeds of it. Many of us do considering that owning a DeLorean borders on a bit of a sickness, or passionate hobby perhaps. We introduce ourselves like you might at an AA meeting anyway.

Your VIN can also help you figure out if any of the safety recalls for the car were done by the factory (typical on late cars, not so much on early cars). So too for which alternator your car has. Early ones were determined to be less than ideal so they switched part way through.

None of that is as good as just getting very familiar with your own car by inspecting it closely, inside and out and definitely from underneath. You'll benefit from making note of differences in your snowflake, especially if someone got creative with extra wiring or modifications to add something like cruise control or a thumping stereo or to try and fix something they didn't know how to fix properly. Don't forget that for about a decade in the mid 80s to mid 90s, there was no Internet nor good access to the spare parts inventory and so car conditions suffered as a result.

You can type your four (or five) digit VIN into the search bar on this forum too and see what comes up. Could be your car was owned by someone already on this forum. That's likely the best bet for the most info. Current info anyway. The DeLorean museum stuff is nice for showing at events, but is only going to tell you about the car's first days. If the car didn't come with service records when you got it, they will be hard to come by. You may get a vendor that recognizes your VIN to share some records with you if your car was taken to their shop, but that is really hit and miss. Rob from PJ Grady's seems very willing to do this for an owner when he has something to share.

Oh, and before any grammar police get you, VIN stands for Vehicle Identification Number. So saying VIN number is a little redundant, right? Like it's saying the same thing twice, get it? Like repetitive, you see? Like unnecessary, oui? Besides, you sound like a damn fool when you say it wrong (just kidding... prepare yourself for random BTTF references at about any moment in time from now on).

Congrats on getting your car and welcome aboard.

[delgato]

Here is an interesting little website with some very early history of our cars

http://deloreanpogs.com/

There may or may not be info on your particular car.

If you go through some of the links here you can get a lot of info that will lead you all over.

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?297-My-Favorite-DeLorean-Web-Sites-Part-I-of-II

Have fun

[Dangermouse]

Go ahead and post the last 5 digits here. As you can tell from the left hand side of these posts, most people are open with their VIN. There is really nothing to lose by posting it, and as Jonathan says, plenty to gain, particularly when you post a technical question, or a "should my car have" question.

There are also several members who keep unofficial lists of cars and may be able to share info

[steve]

Richmond is a small town. Their are only a hand full of people willing to work on them.

Steve

[cravings]

Richmond is a small town. Their are only a hand full of people willing to work on them.

Steve

i looked at it on the map and saw you have a neighboring town called "mechanicsville"... sounds promising.

:)

op: congrats on your new car!

[Drive Stainless]

Richmond is a small town. Their are only a hand full of people willing to work on them.

Steve

Hi Steve. I'm just a few hours north of you in the metropolitan D.C. area.

Do not trust your car with just anyone. Few shops really know how to work on these cars, but many will assure you that they can. The vendor prices may seem steep compared to your local shops, but it's far cheaper than a lawsuit. Ask me how I know!

A mechanic with 100 years of experience working on all makes and models is no match for a mechanic with 10 years of experience working solely on DeLoreans.

The ONLY things I would allocate to a local, but extremely trustworthy shop are:

1. Alignment
2. New tires (if I'm bringing them the wheels separately)
3. Paint (if I'm bringing them the parts separately to be painted)

Everything else, if I can't do it myself, then I'm headed to a well-known DeLorean vendor.

[Mark D]

Hi Steve. I'm just a few hours north of you in the metropolitan D.C. area.

Do not trust your car with just anyone. Few shops really know how to work on these cars, but many will assure you that they can. The vendor prices may seem steep compared to your local shops, but it's far cheaper than a lawsuit. Ask me how I know!

A mechanic with 100 years of experience working on all makes and models is no match for a mechanic with 10 years of experience working solely on DeLoreans.

The ONLY things I would allocate to a local, but extremely trustworthy shop are:

1. Alignment
2. New tires (if I'm bringing them the wheels separately)
3. Paint (if I'm bringing them the parts separately to be painted)

Everything else, if I can't do it myself, then I'm headed to a well-known DeLorean vendor.

Your list is one longer than mine...When talking paint I'd take my car to a vendor since they've already got the correct colors and finish matched out and you'll most likely be able to see a sample of what you're going to get (refinished fascias, wheels, etc)

I've had my car to a local alignment shop that has an old school mechanic that specializes in classic vehicles. For tires I put my car up on jack stands and brought in the individual wheels myself to have tires mounted and balanced. I made sure to specify I wanted sticky weights only so they didn't ruin my wheels with those ugly clamp on style weights on the outer lip.

Anything else I couldn't do myself or didn't have the tools to do properly I've taken to DMCMW.

[homeselljeff]

I have one too I'm near Charlottesville


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[steve]

Matt, hello and thanks for the advise. I work on them at my shop. 2 their now.
Very interested in your Shock kit. Is it a Pro Tek?

Steve

[steve]

Sorry to say I don't think their are Mechanics in Mechanicsville. At least Delo Mechanics.

[Lwanmtr]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Delorean...Here, have a cookie. As has been said, its kinda like an online AA meeting here...hehe.
Did it run when you got it?

For mechanics, definately try and find Delorean specialist near you...Im lucky to have DMCNW just 40 miles from here, so thats where mine will be going.

Whats the VIN?

[Alan]

Hi, my name is Alan and I own 1121.

Congratulations on your new obsession, 91 zeee. Unlike any 12 step program, here you'll find lots of support for indulging your new obsession. People here on the forum may not always agree but will always try to watch out for you the best way they know how. My advice to you is to learn who on the forum matches your "ownership style" and pay the most attention to them.

[Rich_NYS]

Hi, my name is Alan and I own 1121.

Congratulations on your new obsession, 91 zeee. Unlike any 12 step program, here you'll find lots of support for indulging your new obsession. People here on the forum may not always agree but will always try to watch out for you the best way they know how. My advice to you is to learn who on the forum matches your "ownership style" and pay the most attention to them.

+1

Congratulations and welcome...!!

[Morpheus]

Congrats and welcome to the forum!

You will find that none of your other possessions (automotive or otherwise) will actively try to make you hate itself quite like your DeLorean will, but that's why we all love these cars. :)

[91 zeee]

Thanks for all the info.

Here is the last 5 of the VIN....001607. I googled the VIN and found nothing. uuggghh.....

I did notice that it has twin turbos. I googled them and they look like 'island turbos'.

I have never posted pics on a forum, so, I'll try.... here goes:4205342054

[91 zeee]

Welcome and congratulations. Who's did you buy? The Vin will tell you quite a lot.
We need more D's in Richmond.:hihi:

Steve, I bought it down in Chesapeake. It was owned buy a guy who happened to get it in some sort of business deal, but he knows virtually nothing about the history and has no records. I would love to figure out who owned it. Picked it up last night; here is a pic on the way home:
42055

[91 zeee]

What does your VIN get you?

It used to indicate whether you were on a vendor's blacklist or not. Thankfully Special Ed is gone and took his silly lists with him.

You can share it here with us. It's not anything overly secret. Usually just a way to identify your car from all the other ones that are identical. Identical like snowflakes that is.

The number itself will tell you where in the overall chronology yours was built. That then gives you what your car (VIN) likely looked like when it left the factory. Meaning, while there were really only two options (manual or automatic trans, and black or grey interior), many things evolved over the years of production. Hood styles, wheel colour or spoke thickness, radio manufacturer, whether your door pull handles were loose or built into the door panel, location of the antenna, etc. There is quite a bit of variation if you are going to get into the weeds of it. Many of us do considering that owning a DeLorean borders on a bit of a sickness, or passionate hobby perhaps. We introduce ourselves like you might at an AA meeting anyway.

Your VIN can also help you figure out if any of the safety recalls for the car were done by the factory (typical on late cars, not so much on early cars). So too for which alternator your car has. Early ones were determined to be less than ideal so they switched part way through.

None of that is as good as just getting very familiar with your own car by inspecting it closely, inside and out and definitely from underneath. You'll benefit from making note of differences in your snowflake, especially if someone got creative with extra wiring or modifications to add something like cruise control or a thumping stereo or to try and fix something they didn't know how to fix properly. Don't forget that for about a decade in the mid 80s to mid 90s, there was no Internet nor good access to the spare parts inventory and so car conditions suffered as a result.

You can type your four (or five) digit VIN into the search bar on this forum too and see what comes up. Could be your car was owned by someone already on this forum. That's likely the best bet for the most info. Current info anyway. The DeLorean museum stuff is nice for showing at events, but is only going to tell you about the car's first days. If the car didn't come with service records when you got it, they will be hard to come by. You may get a vendor that recognizes your VIN to share some records with you if your car was taken to their shop, but that is really hit and miss. Rob from PJ Grady's seems very willing to do this for an owner when he has something to share.

Oh, and before any grammar police get you, VIN stands for Vehicle Identification Number. So saying VIN number is a little redundant, right? Like it's saying the same thing twice, get it? Like repetitive, you see? Like unnecessary, oui? Besides, you sound like a damn fool when you say it wrong (just kidding... prepare yourself for random BTTF references at about any moment in time from now on).

Congrats on getting your car and welcome aboard.

I just posted the last 5 of the VIN (you're right...not VIN 'number' ... :) I can't find anything...if anyone else can, please let me know. Thanks

[91 zeee]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Delorean...Here, have a cookie. As has been said, its kinda like an online AA meeting here...hehe.
Did it run when you got it?

For mechanics, definately try and find Delorean specialist near you...Im lucky to have DMCNW just 40 miles from here, so thats where mine will be going.

Whats the VIN?

I just posted the VIN a few minutes ago. No, it doesn't run at the moment. Battery is out and it hasn't been started in about a year. Supposedly a year ago it was running and driving. I have a lot of work to do ...

[Jonathan]

I just posted the last 5 of the VIN (you're right...not VIN 'number' ... :) I can't find anything...if anyone else can, please let me know. Thanks

Here's a start...

http://www.citizenkidd.com/dmc/pages/vinview_disp.asp?start=1607

[Rich_NYS]

Picked it up last night; here is a pic on the way home:
42055

:thumbup:

I still enjoy seeing trailer pics, it reminds me of my trip home with 10372:

42056

Great feeling, eh?

The car has a nice stance, looks like it could be Euro-spec height.

Got any pics of the undercarriage?


Enjoy! :rock_on:

[Dangermouse]

Nice.

Dk grey wheels.

Black Manual, I assume??

Sorry but that VIN seems to have been off the grid for a while

How did you acquire the car? I mean - was it listed for sale somewhere?

[dodint]

Nice.

How did you acquire the car? I mean - was it listed for sale somewhere?


Steve, I bought it down in Chesapeake. It was owned buy a guy who happened to get it in some sort of business deal, but he knows virtually nothing about the history and has no records. I would love to figure out who owned it.

;)

[SProfita]

Congrats on the new ownership! You will love driving it!

[Dangermouse]

;)

Thanks for those quotes, but they don't state whether it was listed for sale anywhere, or whether he bought it from a friend of a friend, or at an estate sale, or in exchange for a goat, or whatever.

Sometimes how an owner comes by a car can be quite a story in itself.

[91 zeee]

Thanks for those quotes, but they don't state whether it was listed for sale anywhere, or whether he bought it from a friend of a friend, or at an estate sale, or in exchange for a goat, or whatever.

Sometimes how an owner comes by a car can be quite a story in itself.

Actually it was at a business. A friend of mine was there for a class, saw it, knew I had always spoke about them and asked the company if it was for sale. They said it had sat in their warehouse for 5 years; sure... they'd sell it. I called the company. Asked for the history (which they really did not know anything) and I bought it.

They have had it since 2011. The county sticker and state tags are 1991 (which means it's been off the road since 1991). I ordered the origin document and window sticker from the delorean museum today...I guess I will contact the first owner and start working my way up.....

[91 zeee]

:thumbup:

I still enjoy seeing trailer pics, it reminds me of my trip home with 10372:

42056

Great feeling, eh?

The car has a nice stance, looks like it could be Euro-spec height.

Got any pics of the undercarriage?


Enjoy! :rock_on:

not yet. but I will get some and post them

[91 zeee]

Nice.

Dk grey wheels.

Black Manual, I assume??

Sorry but that VIN seems to have been off the grid for a while

How did you acquire the car? I mean - was it listed for sale somewhere?

well... I checked out 'citizen kidd' like jonathan recommended and it says 'black' interior. but.... check out these seats... they sure look factory; but they are cloth... and grey fronts....could they possibly be factory?

4206442065

[Dangermouse]

Nope. All factory cars were leather.

I have seen a could of cloth ones so I assume someone offered them aftermarket in the 80s.

Nice story on your acquisition there.

[DMCVegas]

Those look like the seat covers that Garden Grove started selling.