Private Sale Car vs. DMC Dealer Car Sale.

[jimgravina]

Hello!

This is my first post on here and happy to be a part of this community! I am in the market for a Delorean and have been researching for several months. I know every car is different, but I am on the fence on whether to try and find a private sale car that I would send to a DMC dealer to get up to snuff, or...whether I should just deal with a DMC dealer directly for everything. Im sure a lot of it is what style car I want and whats available, but is there a general consensus here?

How have you acquired your car?

Thanks alot!
Jim

[Helirich]

You need to decide if you want "concourse" or "driver". If you want concourse, I would go directly to DMC. If you want a driver, I would look for private sale. There are a lot of upgrades that you could get (and want) in a private sale and not pay extra.

I will say, the market is rather slim right now, so you might not have a lot of choice. Good luck!

[jimgravina]

Yeah, that makes sense. Thank you!

[dmcman73]

You need to decide if you want "concourse" or "driver". If you want concourse, I would go directly to DMC. If you want a driver, I would look for private sale. There are a lot of upgrades that you could get (and want) in a private sale and not pay extra.

I will say, the market is rather slim right now, so you might not have a lot of choice. Good luck!

What does concourse VS driver have to do with anything? The DMC vendors sell "driver" cars, they do not spend the cash on refurbishing cars to "concourse" condition unless a purchaser requests it.

If the OP wants a reliable driver car and he's thinking of buying one privately to send to a vendor to have reworked....they may as well just purchase one directly from a Delorean vendor.

[jimgravina]

The DMC vendors sell "driver" cars, they do not spend the cash on refurbishing cars to "concourse" condition unless a purchaser requests it.

If the OP wants a reliable driver car and he's thinking of buying one privately to send to a vendor to have reworked....they may as well just purchase one directly from a Delorean vendor.

To this point...I was under the assumption that all DMC Dealer bought cars would have a full frame-off restoration before they resell it. But you are saying I could buy a car they may have on hand and just have them do minimal work to get it drivable and only certain things I may also want done (as opposed to a full restoration?)

Thanks!
Jim

[dmcman73]

To this point...I was under the assumption that all DMC Dealer bought cars would have a full frame-off restoration before they resell it. But you are saying I could buy a car they may have on hand and just have them do minimal work to get it drivable and only certain things I may also want done (as opposed to a full restoration?)

Thanks!
Jim

Contact them, they will be more then happy to describe what service they perform on their cars prior to selling them. But I can say that at basics they will perform safety checks on the car and replace parts as needed to make sure that it is safe and reliable to drive. As far as what other items you would want done above making the car drivable, you can request what other services you want and they will do what ever you want to pay for.

[jimgravina]

Yeah, I should be speaking with Mike either today or tomorrow actually, just wanted to get some general knowledge before we talked.

[David T]

Buying from a dealer is much more convenient than buying from a private party BUT, you will pay more, have a much better idea of what you are buying, the car will be safe and drivable, and they can do all of the paperwork including financing and transportation. If you are handy and willing to get your hands dirty and have some automotive knowledge, you can save a LOT of money buying privately BUT, it is up to you to inspect the car and know it's condition and pay a fair price, fix the car, get and transport the car, do all of the paperwork and financing. Some owners enjoy working on the car, some just want something they can drive right away. It's up to you to decide how you want to buy the car.

[MrChocky]

Well, the early advice in this thread was spectacularly bad and/or nonsensical. And the word is "Concours". It's weird that DavId T has enough attention to detail to win such an award, but can't get the spelling.

Anyway, from the guy who looks at pretty much all the for sale listings, there is quite a shortage of private listings at the moment - sure, if you wait a bit your car will come along, and maybe you should. But
if you want to get a car soon, and that's likely to be sorted in the condition and specs you want, then talking to a dealer right now is gonna be the best bet, especially for the reasons already mentioned.

[jimgravina]

Yeah, that all makes sense. Obviously I WANT a car yesterday, lol but I don't NEED it now. I am just trying to prepare myself for when the right car comes along, I will know what to do about it. I am leaning more towards working with the dealer, but just to get a car safe and up and running, knowing I can do some future repairs and upgrades myself. I dont need a full frame off restoration.

One of you mentioned "financing" but I was told (at least from DMCMW) they don't offer financing. I don't PLAN on financing, but I want to keep that option on the table.

Jim