Delorean market analysis opinions

[bttws]

Hello all, I will soon be in the market for a Delorean and have been trying to judge the current and near future markets for Deloreans. I would like to hear some input.

As for the current market I have noticed 2 things as opposed to this time last year.
1: prices are higher.
2: less cars are being put up for sale.

I am guessing that BTTF mania is the culprit here, but its just a guess. I think that as we approach October more people may hold on to their cars who would normally be willing to sell, so they can have it 0ct 21. On the other side people who are wanting a car or maybe rushing into a car without knowing what is involved in ownership are willing to pay more then what is worth ( i see this on ebay a lot ). This might be why there are less available and those that are selling have raised the prices that they are willing to take. I am guessing some of new owners may grow tired of the car after the BTTF craze wares off, which brings us to next spring......

Next spring/summer is my target for purchasing a car ( I want one by DCS 16 ) and here are my thoughts on what will happen....
As we get closer to Oct 21 sales will die off almost completely and most likely will stay slow over the winter ( It seem sales don't happen in the winter especially in the north where this is a large population of owners)
Once we hit spring some of the people who were holding off on selling for BTTF may feel that now is a their time to sell, and on the other side some of the new owners who rushed to buy one in 2015 have learned what its like to own and maintain a Delorean may want out and put their car up for a quick sale.

So, could spring 2016 be flooded with people wanting to sell their Deloreans? If there is a over saturated market, will it cause prices to go down? Will prices stay up? (I don't remember a time when a non running cars sold for $19000)
These are questions I would like your input on.

I am aiming for a budget of about $20,000 but should have a little more to work with, is that going to be enough to be a decent quality car?

Thanks
-Kevin

[Soundkillr]

Been following Facebook? How long has that stupid photo been going around that says, this was the year Marty Mcfly went to the future (and modified to correspond with the current year)? 5 years now? And it's been getting thumbs up, and likes. Point is, the general public has no clue what year Marty Mcfly went to the future, and they probably don't care, so I still maintain that there is no real bttf mania driving up prices. I think prices in general are just on the rise. I don't think there will be a massive sell off in 2016 with prices dropping. I think prices are increasing, and will continue to do so. If there was a new bttf movie coming out, MAYBE, but last I heard that's not happening anytime soon, and if it were, the probability of it being a Prius or something else lame would be pretty high....

[Kane]

I think a lot of people are giving too much credit for BTTF's effect on the market this year. I agree that prices are just finally rising and balancing out in the market.

I have a BTTF DeLorean and I am surprised how people get so excited about the car and then I mention "Oh, yeah. And this is the year they go to in the future" and they're like "Really? Oh I guess that's right."

My point being that the movie has gotten attention for 30 years and won't suddenly be forgotten on January 1st resulting in some mass sell-off. So don't read too much into the market and just look for your car when the time is right for you.

[davidc89]

I think BTTF may be making more people interested, but that doesn't mean they are buying. The people selling these cars for higher prices seem to be the ones that don't really know much about them, or just think they have a goldmine because of BTTF. People that buy DeLoreans are the people that actually enjoy the car. I hear people all the time saying "DeLoreans are cool, but I would never buy one." The prices have gone up, but that's to be expected to a point. Around that 20k mark should get you a decent car, but expect to do some work on it. Do your research and find the best car that suits you. Do not rush into anything or you may find yourself with more work than you expected.

[sdg3205]

I also see no correlation or causation between prices and the movie. None at all.

Prices are rising every year the cars sell for s bit more. This year more than last, and the year prior etc. A year or two from now they will be selling for more, and this BTTF theory will be history. No prudent or prospective buyer would wait for the anniversary if they had the knowledge that prices could/would be higher. Who would want to pay more for a car simply because of the anniversary a movie? Maybe in video bobs world.

People who are keen and aware of the real date Marty went into the future AND who want to buy a Delorean are the only possible demographic we can measure. Then there are the people who like the car, OR the movie. They don't count - it has to be mutually exclusive to drive the prices up to say that the 30th anniversary of the film is causing higher prices. No dice.

I stand by a post I made in 2010 on the old .com site. These cars WILL go up in value significantly at SOME point. Right now, nice examples of post WWII vehicles are often maturing in value at a grater rate than a mutual fund of equal value. Give it time.

[mr_maxime]

I'd say 20k is a good start that will possibly drive with some issues. I got mine for $21.5k but it is painted and had a difficult to find fuel issue which was thankfully sorted out by DMCMW. I didn't do to much research and it was the cheapest Delorean by at least 8k I had seen listed. I jumped on it because I just had to have it. I figured I'd run into issues but luckily nothing major has happened so far and DMCMW fixed pretty much the only running issue.

It was a rather reckless purchase on my part and so far I seem to be on the luckier side. It was all I could afford and didn't want to wait longer fearing that by the time I had more money the value would have gone up. To add to that, I was looking at saving for a testarossa back in Oct and when I looked a few weeks ago the price had double. Maybe someone knows why but it just seems like prices can skyrocket at random.

[Bitsyncmaster]

I don't even remember the year I bought my D (about 7 or 8 years ago) but then and up until the past year or two the prices seemed to hold pretty steady. I paid $15,000 for my running D which I drove home (about 250 miles) the evening I bought it. Prices now seem to be $5,000 to $10,000 higher for the same condition car. My guess is the people that grew up about the time BTTF was a movie for 10 year olds now can afford to own a classic car. The recent publicity also has stirred interest owning a DeLorean.

I do not think prices will drop much at all for any classic car. So when you see one you want and can afford, buy it. You can enjoy the car and just keep thinking, it can be sold for at least the amount you paid for it so your ownership cost you nothing. Now if you sink a lot of money into the car (paying someone else to fix things), don't expect to get all that money back.

[Gfrank]

Can't say I've been around a long time but IMO more cars have been poping up forsale recently then ever before

[Dangermouse]

While the general public may not be aware of the BTTF 2015 significance, the pool of potential buyers who are BTTF fans certainly are. How many new owners in the Introductions thread have started off with "of course I am a big fan of BTTF".

Just look at the big increase in BTTF conversions out there at the moment, over double the number that there were 3 or 4 years ago. Remember the days when a new replica was essentially judged (unfairly) on its accuracy by various people. That has now stopped as there are too many to keep track of and they are all different.

There has been a huge increase in BTTF 2015 tie ins and promotions this year keeping the car in the public eye, making it more desirable and therefore driving up the price.

Even in Belfast, home of the car, there was a BTTF car at the workers reunion and when a local artist created an art project, he used a BTTF car as the subject, not a stock car.

Just my opinion of course, but it has to be more than coincidence that the long awaited spike in values is coming in 2015 of all years.

[hmcelraft]

You should be able to find a good running car for around $25,000. Depending on your level of mechanical knowledge and experience you should use care to be sure the $ match the car. A safe way to go would be to go through a DMC shop. DMCH or affiliates or one of the DMC specialty shops like Grady, Beuerle, Industries, etc. They all have considerable experience and knowledge to minimize any issues and may have cars for you to examine for purchase.