I am considering buying an 81 Delorean. VIN 2294 because owner lives close (in Phoenix, AZ). I am not really a car collector, but like owning cars that either stand out or are special, without being ridiculously expensive exotics. I like cars, but I don't work on cars with the exception of changing a flat tire. This particular car has low mileage (unless the odometer rolled over), of 14,000. I have read that this could be bad, meaning the car could have been sitting for most of the past 30 years. The owner said it was restored, but he has had it mostly stored, starting and occasionally driving it over the past 7 years. Says he is selling because he just doesn't us it enough. He replaced the door shocks (and the doors open well). The car started fine and ran what seemed to be fine, I have no benchmark to compare it to in terms of what to expect. I owned a lexus LS400 from new for 21 years, and it was 21 years old and had 130,000 miles and started and ran much more smoothly than this 36 year old Delorean, but they are completely different cars. I had a Lotus Elise and it was much faster and handled much better than the Delorean, but it was only a few years old and was designed to be close to a race car experience. The seller is asking $35,000 but said he would take $30,000, but below $30K he would just keep it.
I had a Tesla Model X signature which I sold back to Tesla. I have a Tesla Model 3 on order, but after my model X experience I don't want one of the first ones, and figure I will be waiting 8 months to a year before I can get that car. That will be my primary driver. I was planning on getting maybe a 5 year old Prius, or a newer SmartCar. Something where I won't loose my shirt in depreciation if I only own the car for 1 year. If I get a collector car like the Delorean, then I could see keeping it as a collector car, Driving it regularly, but not dependent on it. I work mostly out of my house, be don't want to be stuck home because my car is always in the shop.
I have seen posts recommending the buyers guide to other buyers. I would almost certainly buy this book before making an offer on the car.
One questions that keeps popping to mind is that on first glance this seemed like a great price because Delorean on autotrader nationwide was considerably more, $49,000 to $70,000. But people selling on the this forum, have cars that seem have lots of extras, have been more meticulously restored, but are still not considered Concourse cars, and they seem to be listed for months and months and either not sell or sell for significantly less than this guy is asking. Also, I think it was Humphreys that showed expected expected value for Deloreans and it said $35,000 - $40,000 was a concourse price. Why are the cars on Auto trader so expensive, are they actually special or are they just looking for suckers.
If $30,000 is not outrageous for this car, then I would want a mechanic to check the car out. Do I need a mechanic who has special knowledge of Deloreans, or will any mechanic experienced with 40 year old cars be able to tell me if it is likely to be a money pit or not.
Current owners of cars in good running conditions, assuming you drive the car at least several miles at least once a week, what would you expect to pay in a year to keep it in the same good running condition, (best case, and worst case), assuming no accidents.
Sorry, I do not have pictures. I would certainly post pictures before I buy to get community advise.
Thanks, I look forward to hearing from true enthusiasts.