These thread titles would have anyone believing that these cars are crap..

I check DMCTalk more than once a day, and I notice that almost every thread involves someone looking for advice on how to fix something that is broken. It is great that we have such a fantastic community that rallies together to help keep these cars on the road. I am always amazed when I post a question and there is a solution from David T or Dave S (and many others) literally within five minutes!
The thing is that when I look at other automotive sites, people are always bashing the DeLorean. They say that the cars have zero reliability and are crap. Looking at the titles on this forum, one could easily come to the same conclusion!
So after my rant here, tell me what is great about your car...why you enjoy it, and lets dispel the myth that these cars are crap!

John

The issues I have had don't discourage me. It's an old car, and with that the happiness I get from driving it as well as the smiles it brings to people far out weights any of its issues and makes it worth every moment of my time

Almost all forums are like that. Even cars that are considered reliable (Toyota, Honda, etc.), you can check their forums and there are posts about electrical issues, cars not running, etc.

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Originally Posted by John U

The thing is that when I look at other automotive sites, people are always bashing the DeLorean. They say that the cars have zero reliability and are crap.

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People, especially on the internet, have a tendency to bash others to bring themselves up. It's called insecurities. Nowadays all you need to be a tough guy is a keyboard and an internet connection.

Every car on the roads have problems. Just look at Chevy, Ford or any model car sites. Old cars have more questions because most owners do there own repairs.

Even if we have a lot of "whats good" about the car threads, non owners don't look at those threads.

Only brake down I've had in years was because I had modified the ignition ECU. Never needed a tow (knock on wood since I'm driving it about 6 hours tomorrow).

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Originally Posted by Riley88

The issues I have had don't discourage me. It's an old car, and with that the happiness I get from driving it as well as the smiles it brings to people far out weights any of its issues and makes it worth every moment of my time

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The two main reasons you see so many questions about repairs is:

1) The cars are old and many were never properly taken care of.
2) Many owners are not as mechanically inclined as they are motivated to learn how to take care of their car. Between them being novices and the technical literature assuming a high level of skill, they do what everyone does nowadays, get on the Internet and get information.

Like all old cars, the better you take care of it the more reliable it becomes. Many new owners have a limited budget and they are trying to stretch it by doing as much work on their car as they can. I try to encourage it so we can have as many Deloreans on the road for the public to see as possible. "Back In The Day" when I first got mine we didn't have the Internet but other owners helped me. Today it is SO much easier to get information. In fact many will start typing before even trying to fix a problem. I also find it interesting all of the different ideas from the larger community on how others fixed their problems, not always the way I would have thought of either.
Bottom line, no matter how reliable the Delorean was when new, adding 30 years and not always the best of care does not usually lead to a high degree of reliability now. Especially if the car was neglected, abused, forgotten, fixed by Jack the Ripper (that's what I call most of the people who attempted electrical repairs) and so on. Part of the *fun* of ownership is taking care of the car besides cleaning, showing, and driving it. Some don't live anywhere near a shop that can fix them anyway.

Maybe it speaks more to the type of person drawn to the Delorean, and our love for the car.

If this was a Honda Civic, or a Taurus, would I really go through everything I do the keep the car in top condition? Who really cares about fixing their Acura themselves, you take it to the mechanic, and when its getting tired you just get rid of it because it's just another car - easily replaced with just another car.

Whatever your daily driver is - when you see another one at the grocery store, do you think to yourself that the other owner is a kindred spirit? No, like you they drive it to get around, no bonding there.

The other part of it, IMO, is that the car is so unique in its engineering. How could you have a Mustang thread about graining stainless, or torsion bars, or how to fix the delaminating composite material in the roof section? A lot of innovative technologies went into our cars that is virtually unique to the Delorean. On top of that, we have to work together to maintain the cars. Rock Auto doesn't help us find parts, our community does. Perhaps our community is more willing to help others because we all know the other owners love their cars too, and when we find something that helps us care for or maintain our cars we genuinely want to share it with others. That generates a lot of threads.

And finally, why do the Ford Ranger forums not get filled up with questions about how to handle over-adoring fans at car shows, how they just passed another Ford Ranger in West Hollywood or how to make their truck look like the famous one from the movie featuring, a Ford Ranger. Our car, and the man behind it is unique.

I take it as a compliment that every part of our cars can be found in a thread here. That every part of the experience of owning, maintaining, and driving the cars is represented here. It's a car worthy of discussion, and worthy of our time and interest.

Who would ever write a question about something that wasn't broken?

"Hi - new owner here, just asking for advice, my clutch works fine, what should I do about it?"

I agree with the point of views of the community here. All cars have problems and no one has all the answers, which is why car enthusiasts seek out forums and communities to solve problems and happily lament over their technical challenges. Dave T's point that we start typing before we try fixing it, is spot on but, I think that's just the kind of community we are because we all share the same goal of keeping Deloreans on the road.

I do think that the Delorean's movie star status and it's marketing principle of "living the dream," has attracted much more attention and scrutiny among the classic car community and journalists. The technology the Delorean tried to bring to the market was ahead of its time and after a few more iterations, it could've been incredible but, there was so much pressure on that first impression that any imperfection would of tarnished it's memory. But that memory has inspired so many people, many of which are people in this community. TTait said it best, we are a community that's totally involved in every aspect of this car, including its hardships, but it's worth it to us because we care about keep John Delorean's legacy alive.

The Jeep WJ forum and Miata forums I am also on are no different.

Each forum has the "What have you done to your _______ today" thread, the same questions asked over and over by newbies (miata forum NOT kind to newbies) etc etc.

I live in an area where classic cars of all kinds grow like weeds. Even high dollar cars like Ferraris, Corvettes, and Lamborghinis have issues. Just part of the experience with owning a classic car or an exotic car.

Learn how to work on them yourself as much possible and save some money in the process.

Deloreans are a lot of fun and I love them to death, but you just got to realize that you have to tinker with them sometimes.

My friends the Hollers have over 500,000 miles on their Delorean. I also have a Delorean friend in Seattle drives his DMC across country every summer with no issues ( and it's a three digit VIN at that!!).

So there is hope. Just got to give it a chance...