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GeneralLee01
10-17-2018, 11:27 AM
58306
I wanted to share this photo and explanation of how I almost became a DMC owner back in June of this year. A friend messaged me with this photo Monday June 4th, and said the car needed removed from a backyard at a jobsite he was working at, and they only wanted something like $1500 for it. He put me in touch with the lady who I thought owned the car, and I explained that I enjoy fixing up old cars and how I had been told about the Delorean in the backyard which was only about a mile from where I work. She said she had power of attorney over the car as well as a 1990 Corvette owned by her cousin who was in a nursing home but returning home soon. She claimed he was a hoarder and the cars had to go. I asked about the price to which she explained she had to talk to her husband first. The next day, Tuesday June 5th, I called to see how the discussion went, and she said that now the attorney was requiring that she list the car for sale before she would be legally allowed to sell it to me privately. I said okay but please let me know what to do because I really would like to own the car. The next day, Wednesday June 6th, she called and told me she sold the car to a local dealer. I was devastated, and called her back Friday June 8th to see if there was anything that could be done. She said she had not signed it over yet but was going to in two hours, and also that she now realized she knows my Dad and myself and is a member of our church. She said she felt horrible for not selling the car to me, and never would have done this if she knew who I was. I said I was going to call the dealer if she didn't mind, and ask him to let me buy the car since I had been the first caller. I did, and he refused. I have since tried calling him with no response and have written him a letter even offering to trade a '59 Cadillac. It may be the end of the road for me with this DMC, but I don't think my Delorean story is over just yet.

dn010
10-17-2018, 12:17 PM
For $1500, sure. For more $? - IMHO it may have been a good thing you didn't become owner of it. From the looks of it, I'd suspect it has sat where it is for a very long time and judging by the vegetation around it the frame is likely rotten in places, you'd spend the same amount fixing it as you would just getting one that is in okay shape to work on upgrading, etc. Don't give up though, I'm sure you'll find your D.

CFI
10-17-2018, 12:42 PM
This might be a blessing in disguise. Sure, you might have purchased it dirt cheap but the amount of work needed to bring this car up to speed will probably be tremendous.

Michael
10-17-2018, 01:14 PM
That car for 1,500 would be a blessing to someone to part out.

To restore would be more money and time than the final product would be worth even if she gave it to you.

GeneralLee01
10-17-2018, 01:48 PM
I appreciate the encouragement and the experts' opinion that the car may have been more problems than it would be worth. It sure has caused some loss of sleep over the whole scenario but has also made me realize changes must be made before I am really ready to own a Delorean. I have since purchased a good tow vehicle so I can haul one if needed, sold one car, and listed other cars for sale. I am very serious about turning this unfortunate situation around reasonably soon.

dn010
10-17-2018, 02:31 PM
That is a car that's stood for quite a time and has not been touched at all. Compared to my current car, 5003: the previous owner left the car in a lawn for years. One day, the son decides he wants to drive it to school. The parents, fulfilling the son's request, took the car to a shop to get it running. They spent thousands on fuel components and other things to get the car to pass inspection. After a time, the family finally decided it's too much to deal with. When I got the car (on a trade), I think it had around 50,000 miles on it. The engine ran rough, the steering was trash, interior sunburned, seats ripped, headliners stained, door seals ripped, etc, but hey-I had a DeLorean. Back then I didn't even know to look at the vulnerable frame and one day into my short ownership I took a sharp turn to get on a different street and heard a crushing sound from the front. I pull into a gas station to find a weak, rust ridden front end extension that had bent from the force of the swaybar. Two or three times I removed the frame attempting to fix the rust. The next time I removed the frame was to swap it with a good used one to end my rust issues altogether. I can't even tell you how many parts I've replaced.

I have a great car now but I paid probably 2X the amount I would have if I had just been patient and waited for a good one to come around. I spent countless hours working on the car when I could have been doing other things. It's all fun at first but gets very old quickly when you realize the extent of repairs needed.

In short, don't lose sleep over this, be grateful.

valdez
10-17-2018, 04:53 PM
Don't worry. It will show up again soon. Only it will have been rinsed off with a garden hose and another zero added to the price.

Just watch, that is the way it always goes with the cars that are projects at project prices. They become priced the same as a decent car by some yahoo looking for a flip who sees the selling prices online when they are anything but a decent car.

Andrew
10-17-2018, 05:15 PM
The flap hood alone is worth more than the asking price. At this point, I would value a parts car with good stainless and a clean title at $10K minimum. If the frame is good and the engine turns, the price would go up from there.

CFI
10-17-2018, 05:20 PM
I spent countless hours working on the car when I could have been doing other things. It's all fun at first but gets very old quickly when you realize the extent of repairs needed.


This is exactly why I wanted a running, driving, road worthy DeLorean. I’ve waited years to own one. Now that I finally have one I want to drive it NOW.

Michael
10-17-2018, 06:15 PM
The flap hood alone is worth more than the asking price. At this point, I would value a parts car with good stainless and a clean title at $10K minimum. If the frame is good and the engine turns, the price would go up from there.

As a 1,500.00 parts car it's a dream. As a resto project, it's a nightmare that you will not wake from (for about 2 or 3 years).

David T
10-17-2018, 11:00 PM
This is just the kind of car BHCC will buy cheap, wash and resell with at least another zero on the price. Someone thinking they are buying a runner will gladly pay the price and get their surprise when it gets delivered. Only a Delorean owner with deep mechanical experience or dealer should buy this kind of a car because it will need EVERYTHING and will take a long time to do it. To pay someone to bring this car back from the dead is going to cost WAY too much. if you really want a Delorean you should look for the best one you can afford, not the nearest POS you can find.

jackb
10-18-2018, 07:48 AM
This is just the kind of car BHCC will buy cheap, wash and resell with at least another zero on the price. Someone thinking they are buying a runner will gladly pay the price and get their surprise when it gets delivered. Only a Delorean owner with deep mechanical experience or dealer should buy this kind of a car because it will need EVERYTHING and will take a long time to do it. To pay someone to bring this car back from the dead is going to cost WAY too much. if you really want a Delorean you should look for the best one you can afford, not the nearest POS you can find.

Nailed it

You dodged a bullet, OP. Don’t beat yourself up; give thanks.

GeneralLee01
10-18-2018, 08:48 AM
Thanks for the encouragement, it sounds like the frame could have been a major problem on this car considering the appearance of the neglected exterior, the fact it sat in grass, and just the climate of Pennsylvania. I am mechanically inclined and have restored several cars, so a non-running DMC would not scare me too badly, but I now know how fragile the steel frame can be. I have a Delorean buyers guide on the way as well to further the learning process. Honestly though in the months since this happened I have seen very few cars available under $20,000. I did however get to look at a $30,000 DMC only 5 miles from my house which I was thinking about showing in another post since it is now sold and long gone.

Dangermouse
10-18-2018, 11:43 AM
Did you get it's VIN so we recognize it when it reappears?

GeneralLee01
10-18-2018, 11:55 AM
Did you get it's VIN so we recognize it when it reappears?
No I didn't and I wish I knew what it was. The dealer who bought it will not give me the time of day.

Maritime-elf
10-18-2018, 11:56 AM
Thanks for the encouragement, it sounds like the frame could have been a major problem on this car considering the appearance of the neglected exterior, the fact it sat in grass, and just the climate of Pennsylvania. I am mechanically inclined and have restored several cars, so a non-running DMC would not scare me too badly, but I now know how fragile the steel frame can be. I have a Delorean buyers guide on the way as well to further the learning process. Honestly though in the months since this happened I have seen very few cars available under $20,000. I did however get to look at a $30,000 DMC only 5 miles from my house which I was thinking about showing in another post since it is now sold and long gone.

Don't give up my friend.....everyone in the forum is correct, these cars can be a real money pit. Especially if they have sat outside for long periods of time. I originally bought my Delorean, 14 years ago, from a guy that literally could not afford to keep it. When I bought 3349 I didn't really know what I was looking at or getting into (no buyers guide at the time) and although it was running there were some serious problems the previous owner had jerry rigged back together. Considering the state of the car I probably overpaid(but, I did not know any better) I had no idea of the problems until I started to drive it with one problem after another jumping out and surprising me. I fixed what I could but the mounting costs were incredible. At one point, I placed the car in storage for 5 years, until I had the money to pull it out and start investing into it the way it needed to be done. Even though 3349 was stored properly, in climate control, the initial "Make Run" after storage was 2500. Then came all the other stuff which was needed and neglected from the previous owner and me. I had the car moved to three different shops, including two of the Delorean suppliers/vendors eventually finishing some of the non specialty work at myself and at my local mechanics. It took me a year and a half after taking her back out of storage. My point is, they are wonderful cars if maintained properly and invested in correctly. But do not rush to inherit someone else's problem, if the previous owner could not repair the problems correctly or did not know how or just plain neglected them. you will pay for it in the long run.

Good Luck in your Search.

GeneralLee01
01-07-2019, 03:35 PM
Just a little update on this DeLorean: A friend of mine was at the dealership where the car now resides last week, and said the mechanics there are very frustrated with being unable to get it running. Apparently they attempted to start the car without doing any maintenance or repairs to the Bosch fuel system and have caused some damage. He tried to purchase the DeLorean from them for me, but was not successful.

Riley88
01-07-2019, 04:38 PM
Just a little update on this DeLorean: A friend of mine was at the dealership where the car now resides last week, and said the mechanics there are very frustrated with being unable to get it running. Apparently they attempted to start the car without doing any maintenance or repairs to the Bosch fuel system and have caused some damage. He tried to purchase the DeLorean from them for me, but was not successful.
They weren't sending their best. I have read about this sooooo many times and its quite common. The k jet system is not a system you just add fuel and go with if its been sitting for years. My car is stored 30 mins from me at a buddy sgarage and i drive over every 4 days to let her run for 30 minutes because i know if you let the fuel system rest for too long, bad things can happen. Pat yourself on the back for dodging the bullet, and that dealership should of done research before touching the car let alone any other non familiar car before even trying a single thing tbh.

Michael
01-07-2019, 05:29 PM
And those same "mechanics" will not miss one chance to badmouth the car and blame it for their inept skill.

"Yeah I had one of those in the shop once. Biggest piece of shit on the planet".

opethmike
01-07-2019, 05:41 PM
And those same "mechanics" will not miss one chance to badmouth the car and blame it for their inept skill.

"Yeah I had one of those in the shop once. Biggest piece of shit on the planet".

Well, they are pieces of shit, but slightly below average in size. Certainly not biggest.

David T
01-07-2019, 09:40 PM
All too often a newbie buys a car and then finds out what he really bought. All kinds of "hodge-podge" repairs meant to get it going by techs who aren't familiar with Deloreans. Most of us have seen many of them including jumpers to get the fuel pump going, hoses plugged off and things misadjusted on the motor to try to get it to idle, wiring hacks to bypass things, brakes that leak and don't work, bad struts with the torsion bars wound all the way up, tacks to hold up the headliners, bent up LCA's by hack tow truck drivers, and so on. Pretty soon the car IS the POS that they say it is and it is BECAUSE of them. The unfortunate thing about this is the newbie wants to do the "right thing" for the car but is now overwhelmed by the cost of trying to fix the car up. He didn't have it inspected before he bought it, stretched his budget to buy it and now can't drive it and can't afford to keep it. He takes it to a shop like DMC or PJ Grady and they tell him the truth and then they get blamed for it saying that they are trying to rob the poor guy. No one wins and the car's reputation suffers. This story repeats with all too much frequency. For those of us who have been on this forum for a while, we get to see the cycle repeat. Pretty soon we will be seeing all the posts about everyone's broken air conditioning again.