Reasonably Priced Dream Car

[CriticalB]

Hi All, I'm new to the forum, but owning a DeLorean has been a lifelong dream. For one reason or another, I've never been in a position to make it a reality, but I've finally gotten approval from both my wife and my bank to start searching. Obviously I want the best car for the lowest price - who doesn't? I'm not looking for something to flip - I fully intend for this car to be with me for many years. However, I know what to expect within my budget, which is mid-20's. My general preferences are probably no-brainers: (relatively) low mileage, manual transmission, clean interior, nice clean body (a few dings aren't deal breakers). I enjoy a project here and there, but I'm not looking for a project car. I can handle replacing some trim, but don't want to re-upholster a seat. Change the oil, replace a starter? No problem. Rebuild an engine? I like to think I could, but I'd rather not practice on my dream car. I might add a few nods to Back to the Future here and there at some point, but if you plan to build a time machine, why rush?

I've checked around the obvious spots, e-bay, hemmings, craigslist, but I'm either finding really nice DeLoreans that I couldn't justify talking down to my budget or questionably conditioned cars where the photos are too blurry and the descriptions too vague. I'm hoping there are folks here who are either looking for a reason to sell or could point me in the right direction if they were to run across something that fits the bill.

I guess that's about it - I know this is my first post so I hope I don't come off as an outsider trying to take advantage of the community here. However, if you guys can help me make this happen I hope to have a reason to contribute for many years to come!

[DaraSue]

If you're not looking for a project car, avoid the ones with low mileage, because that frequently means they've been sitting with the rubber components rotting and/or the coolant system rusting for most of the last 30 years. (Why yes, I'm speaking from experience.) Your best bet is to keep an eye out around here or in other DMC communities for people selling their daily driver, or if there's a club near you, get in touch with them and ask for people to keep you in mind if they decide to sell or know somebody with a good car who's looking to get rid of it. You can look at DMCH & their franchises too but not sure how much they'll have in your price range. Ebay & other classic car dealers are a crapshoot, avoid buying sight unseen if you possibly can. Have you gotten a DeLorean Buyer's Guide yet? It gives you some good ideas what to look out for when shopping.

[tianlung4028]

If you're not looking for a project car, avoid the ones with low mileage, because that frequently means they've been sitting with the rubber components rotting and/or the coolant system rusting for most of the last 30 years. (Why yes, I'm speaking from experience.) Your best bet is to keep an eye out around here or in other DMC communities for people selling their daily driver, or if there's a club near you, get in touch with them and ask for people to keep you in mind if they decide to sell or know somebody with a good car who's looking to get rid of it. You can look at DMCH & their franchises too but not sure how much they'll have in your price range. Ebay & other classic car dealers are a crapshoot, avoid buying sight unseen if you possibly can. Have you gotten a DeLorean Buyer's Guide yet? It gives you some good ideas what to look out for when shopping.

Hey DaraSue. Do you know where I can find a buyers guide? Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[DaraSue]

Hey DaraSue. Do you know where I can find a buyers guide? Thanks!

Here's their site: http://deloreanguide.com/ The links on the right are different places you can order (Amazon, B&N etc.) The blog has a lot of useful info too although last time I looked at it, a lot of the pix were broken.

P.S. CriticalB SEDOC is probably your closest owners' group and they look pretty active so you could probably get some assistance in your search from them. http://dmctalk.org/forumdisplay.php?...s-Club-(SEDOC)

[CriticalB]

If you're not looking for a project car, avoid the ones with low mileage, because that frequently means they've been sitting with the rubber components rotting and/or the coolant system rusting for most of the last 30 years. (Why yes, I'm speaking from experience.) Your best bet is to keep an eye out around here or in other DMC communities for people selling their daily driver, or if there's a club near you, get in touch with them and ask for people to keep you in mind if they decide to sell or know somebody with a good car who's looking to get rid of it. You can look at DMCH & their franchises too but not sure how much they'll have in your price range. Ebay & other classic car dealers are a crapshoot, avoid buying sight unseen if you possibly can. Have you gotten a DeLorean Buyer's Guide yet? It gives you some good ideas what to look out for when shopping.

This is good advice - especially the bit about mileage, I hadn't thought about it that way. I agree with your other observations. I figure places like this are more likely to have cares that have been CARED for than what I would find at a classic car dealer across the country. As for local clubs, I live in MS, so there's not really a high density of owners around. I also wasn't aware of the buyer's guide, so I'll check that out tonight. Thanks!

[louielouie2000]

Nice cars still trade hands in the 20s, you just have to watch the market like a hawk. Monitor this site daily, along with eBay, autotrader, autotrader classics, Hemmings, Craigslist, and a few others I'm forgetting. Also, when you find a decently priced car jump on it- I learned that myself earlier this month. After looking at a prospective car I went to lunch to weigh my decision and the car sold during that time. The market for these cars is wholly different from when I bought my first DeLoreans in the early 2000s.

That being said, I'd caution against buying the first car you go look at. Meeting up with local owners and seeing their cars and hearing their experiences is absolutely invaluable. Odds are good one of them may help you inspect a prospective purchase, too.

[GCMW Deloreans]

Hi All, I'm new to the forum, but owning a DeLorean has been a lifelong dream. For one reason or another, I've never been in a position to make it a reality, but I've finally gotten approval from both my wife and my bank to start searching. Obviously I want the best car for the lowest price - who doesn't? I'm not looking for something to flip - I fully intend for this car to be with me for many years. However, I know what to expect within my budget, which is mid-20's. My general preferences are probably no-brainers: (relatively) low mileage, manual transmission, clean interior, nice clean body (a few dings aren't deal breakers). I enjoy a project here and there, but I'm not looking for a project car. I can handle replacing some trim, but don't want to re-upholster a seat. Change the oil, replace a starter? No problem. Rebuild an engine? I like to think I could, but I'd rather not practice on my dream car. I might add a few nods to Back to the Future here and there at some point, but if you plan to build a time machine, why rush?

I've checked around the obvious spots, e-bay, hemmings, craigslist, but I'm either finding really nice DeLoreans that I couldn't justify talking down to my budget or questionably conditioned cars where the photos are too blurry and the descriptions too vague. I'm hoping there are folks here who are either looking for a reason to sell or could point me in the right direction if they were to run across something that fits the bill.

I guess that's about it - I know this is my first post so I hope I don't come off as an outsider trying to take advantage of the community here. However, if you guys can help me make this happen I hope to have a reason to contribute for many years to come!

Good Afternoon,

Feel free to give me a call anytime 239-495-8550 or 239-405-7253 we are known for selling quality Deloreans here at Gulfcoast Motorworks. I have many cars in stock, some ready for sale, others awaiting restoration, concourse level, etc... Last year alone I made 12 New Delorean customers very happy with the cars they purchased from me and I continue to do so for many years to come.

Let me know if I can help you out.

Have a great day,

Mike Fiore

[Domi]

Welcome to the forum, I hope you'll be able to find your dream car soon

[rickjames8]

Hi All, I'm new to the forum, but owning a DeLorean has been a lifelong dream. .... my budget, which is mid-20's. My general preferences are probably no-brainers: (relatively) low mileage, manual transmission, clean interior, nice clean body (a few dings aren't deal breakers). I enjoy a project here and there, but I'm not looking for a project car. ....

Wow - I wrote almost the exact same post, verbatim, in October.
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?14...l=1#post207753

Then, less than a month later, I pulled the trigger:
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?14...as-a-new-owner!

I'd agree with the person who said don't buy the first thing you see, but that's exactly what I did. I ended up getting it for well under my budget, so much so, I figured I could afford to fix unseen issues.

So a couple things I'd note on your post
1. Don't count out the automatics. I was certain I wanted a 5-spd because sports cars are designed to be 5-spd's and I love driving stick - it was even in the title of my wanted post. But an awesome deal came up that happened to be an automatic, and a grabbed it. And I'm happy I did. I realized that what I really wanted was a Delorean, and that was 95% of the want. I love driving it, and never find myself wishing it was a stick. In fact, it's kind of nice cruising along. Who knew? If you don't go see a car because it's an auto, you may miss a good deal.
2. My car has (I estimate) about 120,000 miles on it. I often take apart something and find evidence of a PO who's fixed a problem. Cars that get driven get attention. I would not even worry about mileage. High or low has it's good and bad, in my mind they more or less even themselves out, unless like others said, it's very low and hasn't been driven in a long time, that can mean a lot of potential issues.
3. As others have said, check ebay often. That's where I see the most activity, although somewhat over market value. Depends on the flow. More cars selling, prices drop a bit.
4. Set up a google alert for Deloreans on Craigslist. https://www.google.com/alerts then enter "site:craigslist.org delorean" without quotes. You get an email anytime anyone in the US puts up an ad with the word Delorean. Disclaimer, this includes Lego Deloreans which make up 90% of the emails.
5. Thank the wife - you've got a good one!

-Rick

[SamHill]

Rick's car is awesome. You can tell from the DeloreanWorld magazines that there was a brief period when cars were joining the 100K mile club with some regularity and that has slowed way down.

I recommend taking someone from this board with you to look at the car. Many are happy to help.