Well, good luck in getting your house and hope you get what you want for the car.
Location: Tacoma, Wa
Posts: 2,208
My VIN: 4877
Club(s): (PNDC)
Well, good luck in getting your house and hope you get what you want for the car.
Rob Depew
Tacoma, Wa
'81 DeLorean 4877 Grey, Auto, 4 wheels
The Ressurection of 4877......
Website
YouTube
My Patreon
Location: Redmond, Wa
Posts: 21
My VIN: 10379
Thank you, both.
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 46
My VIN: 4372
Hi everyone,
My name's Mike and I'm not a D owner... yet. Owning one has been a dream of mine since I was a kid and I recently decided to give myself a deadline to ownership: 5 years. My "soft" goal is 2-3 years from today.
I've done a lot of research, some lurking around these forums, and a bunch of Googling. But I want to hear from the community: what are some things I need to do to be prepared to to be a responsible, caring Delorean owner?
I haven't worked on cars in the past and the nearest DMC location is 4 hours away in Humble, TX. So I'll likely have to develop the knowledge and skills to do basic upgrades and maintenance myself. What's a good way to learn more about doing this for a 30 year old car? How did you learn?
I'll be looking at Ds that are between the $27k-$35k range, with at least more than half of that amount saved as a down payment and a few thousand as a "buffer" for imminent fixes. What's a good option for financing the rest of that half? Try my current bank first or try one of those specialized classic car financiers? And how does that work for private sales? I can't find a good source on that.
And in general--what would I really be in for? I'm in for the long-haul here. What should I expect that isn't apparent from the outside?
Location: Tacoma, Wa
Posts: 2,208
My VIN: 4877
Club(s): (PNDC)
Welcome...hope you manage to get a good one in your price range. Financing might be tricky if you buy from a private seller, most banks dont like that.
Rob Depew
Tacoma, Wa
'81 DeLorean 4877 Grey, Auto, 4 wheels
The Ressurection of 4877......
Website
YouTube
My Patreon
Location: Atlanta OTP GA
Posts: 7,084
My VIN: 2743
Club(s): (SEDOC) (DCH) (DCUK) (DOC-UK)
What's a good way to learn about 30 year old cars?
Buy one
Get an old Golf or BMW and learn all about maintenance of those first. Oil, brakes, suspension etc. will provide a lot of carry over skills plus the metric tools you buy will be useful for the D.
Don't go crazy and buy a Citroen or it will ruin you
Dermot
VIN 2743, B/A, Frame 2227, engine 2320
I don't always drive cars, but when I do, I prefer DeLoreans
http://www.will-to-live.org
No-one is to stone anyone, even, and I want to make this absolutely clear, even if they do say "carburetor"
Location: Tacoma, Wa
Posts: 2,208
My VIN: 4877
Club(s): (PNDC)
Why bother with the vw or bmw..do what I did and go right to the D..hehe.
Rob Depew
Tacoma, Wa
'81 DeLorean 4877 Grey, Auto, 4 wheels
The Ressurection of 4877......
Website
YouTube
My Patreon
Location: France
Posts: 2,457
My VIN: 16951
Club(s): (DCO) (DOA) (DCUK)
Welcome to the forum
I think the best way to learn the basics on the car is to read all the "how-to" you can find on this website.
Take a look at the owners thread who already did a lot of job with their car, this will give you an idea on how to work on the car.
And, of course the best is to have another owner near your home to help you when you need it.
Hey there everyone,
The name is Paul from NJ. I currently do not own a DeLorean, but have been actively looking everywhere to land my first DeLorean. Joined the forums a few years ago, but haven't been active as work had consumed a lot of my time.
Looking forward to getting to know a lot of you and meeting up at the local shows/meets, pick your brains and hopefully be put in the right direction towards my first DeLorean purchase!
Location: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif.
Posts: 2,087
My VIN: 0934
Club(s): (NCDMC) (DCUK)
Replying to Post #644 above.
Hi Mike,
Welcome and happy hunting to you. You ask good questions, which is a great start for understanding classic car ownership.
About the financing for a classic like a DeLorean, yes, it complicates a deal with a private party but it happens all the time. Get in touch with one or more classic car lenders and get yourself in position to make offers when you are ready. They can quote you pretty fast nowadays but you might get a surprise no-quote response so it's better to know before you make an offer.
BEFORE you get in touch with lenders get your (free annual) credit report to be sure your credit records look right to you. Then see about buying your FICO credit score, which is based in part on your credit report. You'll probably need to be in the high 600's or over 700 but don't quote me - the credit score criteria is up to the lender. If you haven't established good credit then financing might not be right for you.
See this article listing some classic car financing firms: LINK: hagerty.com/finance/classic-car-financing/Potential-Providers
Oh, and if you haven't already done so then you must buy a copy of The Illustrated Buyer's Guide to DeLorean Automobiles by James Espey. 120 pages of vital shopping information to familiarize you with important aspects of the car.
Last edited by Rich; 08-09-2017 at 08:54 PM.
March '81, 5-speed, black interior