Valuation - DeLorean is "one of the hottest collector cars"

[Michael]

Well, let's compare with the cheapest fixed price I see right now (there is an auction ending shortly, present at 25K).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1981-DeLore...AAAOSwHt9d1Y7H

So for 30K, you get what appears to be good condition on the outside, lots of wear and on the inside and various corrosion on the
underbody. Lots of photos. The replaced radio and engine pictures to me suggest at least some work has been done here. And
being a dealer, there's a good chance they have full records.

LOL, That dealer is BHCC who is notorious for selling pieced together (sometimes not even that) heaps to unsuspecting dreamers. The radio tells me nothing, the original coolant tank speaks volumes. The car appears to have not been driven regularly in some time. That said this is the nicest car I have seen them sell but I can assure you that is no peach. That car will be full of surprises because there is one thing I know for sure; when it comes to DeLoreans, pics hide a lot. Almost any DeLorean looks good in pictures, it's when you get close (or know where to look) that things show their true colors. That car needs a LOT to be a nice car. If you are serious about owning a car, wait till a well known and loved car pops up here from a trusted member. The 25k rule is now the 35k rule, and most likely 40k+ for a primo example.

Figure on interior refresh, wheel refresh, new tires, about 2k minimum in the engine compartment, say another 2k(minimum) for unknowns like pads, rotors, coolant lines, etc. I could easily see you spending the better part of 10k just to make it reliable.

Do not plunk down 25 to 30k for a car like that when just a little more saves a lot of headache and regret.

[Riley88]

LOL, That dealer is BHCC who is notorious for selling pieced together (sometimes not even that) heaps to unsuspecting dreamers. The radio tells me nothing, the original coolant tank speaks volumes. The car appears to have not been driven regularly in some time. That said this is the nicest car I have seen them sell but I can assure you that is no peach. That car will be full of surprises because there is one thing I know for sure; when it comes to DeLoreans, pics hide a lot. Almost any DeLorean looks good in pictures, it's when you get close (or know where to look) that things show their true colors. That car needs a LOT to be a nice car. If you are serious about owning a car, wait till a well known and loved car pops up here from a trusted member. The 25k rule is now the 35k rule, and most likely 40k+ for a primo example.

Figure on interior refresh, wheel refresh, new tires, about 2k minimum in the engine compartment, say another 2k(minimum) for unknowns like pads, rotors, coolant lines, etc. I could easily see you spending the better part of 10k just to make it reliable.

Do not plunk down 25 to 30k for a car like that when just a little more saves a lot of headache and regret.

Cant agree more. There for awhile we had a BHCC themed thread actually, look if you can find it. They specialize is selling to people overseas who want project cars. Dont cheap out to save 10-15k because well. Like Michael said, you will pay double getting it where you want plus its not worth the risk. It hasn't ran in forever, what if it needs an engine rebuild etc? Ooof.

[Rich_NYS]

I just looked at some completed listings on eBay. There was recently a few cars go for 35K-40K, they were very nice, but not pristeen. I've seen non-running, rough projects go for close to 20K tis past year.

Makes me wonder: what's the current valuation of a very nice condition non-runner?

[Hill Valley PD]

Bring a Trailer (BAT) is a good indiction of the prices these things actually sell for. Unlike eBay, they are selective on what they allow to be listed on their site, so typically there are better examples found there. The average purchase price of the 15 DeLorean's SOLD on BAT since 2016 is $40,656 (not including the hovercraft). This is with 5% buyer's fee added that BAT charges, and I will include this fee in the below analysis. Range between cheapest and most expensive sold car was $21,262-$55,125.

Now if we break it down for cars sold within the last year (Dec. 2018 - Dec. 2019), there were 8 to include a black painted one, which had the lowest selling price at $33,338, while the highest sale price for a stainless example was $55,125. I'd consider the painted car an outlier since painted cars are always worth less than an equivalent stainless car. With that removed, the average SOLD price in the last year was $45,223. Even with the painted car included the average sold price was $43,808.

Now if we break it down to "bid to" prices but not sold, there were 9 cars with an average bid to price of $29,313. These cars tended to be lesser examples that people did not pull the trigger on with a few nice exceptions. Range for bid to prices was $16,800 - $47,250.

Now if we look at all 24 auctions (excluding hover craft) on BAT since 2016 to include sold and bid to pricing, the range is $16,800 - $55,125 with an average end of auction price of $36,402 for all sold and unsold cars. Bear in mind 20 of these cars were listed between 2018-2019 with only 4 listed between 2016-2017, so the trend is that they are coming up for sale more often.

Do you know what this means? It means that this damn thing doesn't work at all!

Seriously though, the above analysis shows that auction prices on BAT are on the rise but not skyrocketing and that more cars are being listed more often.

[MrChocky]

Seriously though, the above analysis shows that auction prices on BAT are on the rise but not skyrocketing and that more cars are being listed more often.

Excellent analysis. If my predictions are right about appreciation, let's generously say they go up 5% in 2020. Of course, it seems like you could easily spend that 5% in maintenance to maintain that value; so it's not really an "investment", but it's clear you could do a lot worse when getting a car.

Couple more:

https://classiccarswest.com/1981-delorean-dmc-12/

I actually know the owner of the dealership in passing; he told me it was sold in the late summer - unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to peek at it. I don't know why it's still listed. And one of those fateful $15k cars, posted here just yesterday:

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?17...-Interior-5096

Well noted on the "cheaper cars". I've read and taken this truly onboard. What I'm trying to get at is what I'm seeing (or not seeing!) in such posts. I couldn't find the "BHCC thread", but did see a lot of commentary. Seems best avoided.

So I think my current goal is to bug Rich_NYS all year about 4728 ;-)

[Michael]

So I think my current goal is to bug Rich_NYS all year about 4728 ;-)

I said a trusted member!

Seriously, Rich's car (when he decides to put it up for sale) would be absolutely ideal for you as it has been properly converted to a carbed setup.

[dodint]

Bring A Trailer might be the worst indicator for market pricing for any marque. There is a social component to BaT, kind of like bidding on a televised Mecum auto auction, it's fun to overpay and one-up someone for internet points. Look how many cars on there get sold two, three, four times. It's a show.

There is a joke among car guys; the best way to make money with cars is to buy an old piece of crap 80s car, give it a respray and clean up the interior, then find two nostalgic morons on BaT with big checkbooks and you're printing money.

[Rich_NYS]

Bring a Trailer (BAT) is a good indiction of the prices these things actually sell for. Unlike eBay, they are selective on what they allow to be listed on their site, so typically there are better examples found there. The average purchase price of the 15 DeLorean's SOLD on BAT since 2016 is $40,656 (not including the hovercraft). This is with 5% buyer's fee added that BAT charges, and I will include this fee in the below analysis. Range between cheapest and most expensive sold car was $21,262-$55,125.

Now if we break it down for cars sold within the last year (Dec. 2018 - Dec. 2019), there were 8 to include a black painted one, which had the lowest selling price at $33,338, while the highest sale price for a stainless example was $55,125. I'd consider the painted car an outlier since painted cars are always worth less than an equivalent stainless car. With that removed, the average SOLD price in the last year was $45,223. Even with the painted car included the average sold price was $43,808.

Now if we break it down to "bid to" prices but not sold, there were 9 cars with an average bid to price of $29,313. These cars tended to be lesser examples that people did not pull the trigger on with a few nice exceptions. Range for bid to prices was $16,800 - $47,250.

Now if we look at all 24 auctions (excluding hover craft) on BAT since 2016 to include sold and bid to pricing, the range is $16,800 - $55,125 with an average end of auction price of $36,402 for all sold and unsold cars. Bear in mind 20 of these cars were listed between 2018-2019 with only 4 listed between 2016-2017, so the trend is that they are coming up for sale more often.

Do you know what this means? It means that this damn thing doesn't work at all!

Seriously though, the above analysis shows that auction prices on BAT are on the rise but not skyrocketing and that more cars are being listed more often.

Great post!

~snip~

So I think my current goal is to bug Rich_NYS all year about 4728 ;-)

Bug away, sir....it'll keep me motivated to get 4519 on the road!

Teaser pic; here's the most recent [albeit crappy] shot I have of the front frame area:

0624192313a.jpg

I said a trusted member!

Seriously, Rich's car (when he decides to put it up for sale) would be absolutely ideal for you as it has been properly converted to a carbed setup.

I'm planning to have a packaged Kjet setup as well, in case a potential buyer wants to convert back.

[Hill Valley PD]

Bring A Trailer might be the worst indicator for market pricing for any marque. There is a social component to BaT, kind of like bidding on a televised Mecum auto auction, it's fun to overpay and one-up someone for internet points. Look how many cars on there get sold two, three, four times. It's a show.

There is a joke among car guys; the best way to make money with cars is to buy an old piece of crap 80s car, give it a respray and clean up the interior, then find two nostalgic morons on BaT with big checkbooks and you're printing money.

I agree with this somewhat, but the same would go for any auction to include eBay, Mecum, Barrett Jackson etc. The point is DeLoreans have been on the rise the last few years in price, and some really nice examples went through BAT. Basically, it reinforces the that the old Rule of 25 is more like the Rule of 35-40 nowadays.

[Rich]

For those with lots of time on their hands here's a link to the The "BHCC Thread" which to date features about 200 posts.

I think the consensus is as noted in bold in the post below:

...Well noted on the "cheaper cars". I've read and taken this truly onboard. What I'm trying to get at is what I'm seeing (or not seeing!) in such posts. I couldn't find the "BHCC thread", but did see a lot of commentary. Seems best avoided.