Private Sale Car vs. DMC Dealer Car Sale.

[MrChocky]

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

There are people that'll swear up and down to not finance, but plenty who have done it and wouldn't have been able to otherwise. I was lucky enough to not need in both cases. However, there's a particularly long thread here:

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?78...-your-Delorean

Which has some fantastic commentary on the topic.

[jimgravina]

Haha thank you, I will have to read through this.

I am lucky enough where I would be able to pay the loan off pretty rapidly and not pay much interest at all. It just a matter of maybe needing a small loan to get a car tomorrow, as opposed to waiting about 8 months when I would definitely be ready financially.

Thanks for that link!
Jim

[jimgravina]

Get the buyer's guide, that's much better than listening to this confusion.

Already read through it twice and highlighted

[Henrik]

Already read through it twice and highlighted

That's what I did!

I spotted an opportunity in Oklahoma, hopped on a plane and read the Buyer's Guide on the way there. That was back in 2005 when they were a little more readily available.

[MrChocky]

That's what I did!

I spotted an opportunity in Oklahoma, hopped on a plane and read the Buyer's Guide on the way there. That was back in 2005 when they were a little more readily available.

Nice! Of course, things have changed a lot since. Whilst the guide is obviously excellent, I think it's better to characterize it as a "VIN inventory" with some other stuff. A comprehensive
buyer's guide could easily be 3 times as long. I think anyone here could easily come up with a long list of things to check on a given car that are not mentioned in it, as well as where
to find them, etc.

DMCTalk is increasingly, not the the place to find cars - yes, there are occasional listings, but there's 100 or so public listings per year on numerous websites, as well as (I estimate) another
100 private sales, including those from dealers, word of mouth, etc. In particular, many sales seem to happen with local club hookups - simply putting the word out to local
owners is a great way to get a car (it's how I got my first one), and in many cases the history of the car will be well known by other owners, plus you can easily go look at it.

[jimgravina]

I have been lucky enough in the past month or so to meet and engage with a few local Delorean owners that have been a huge help in getting me started in this process. It's nice to have a community that is so helpful, especially to "outsiders" who don't hae a car yet. I'm mainly interested in a black interior automatic with a grooved (no gas flap) hood. All of the other little differences I can work around. But per my original post, i was just trying to see if its something I should sit on and wait until a dealer gets that car, or grab it while I can no matter where its from, and just have them get it safe and drivable.

[dmcman73]

I have been lucky enough in the past month or so to meet and engage with a few local Delorean owners that have been a huge help in getting me started in this process. It's nice to have a community that is so helpful, especially to "outsiders" who don't hae a car yet. I'm mainly interested in a black interior automatic with a grooved (no gas flap) hood. All of the other little differences I can work around. But per my original post, i was just trying to see if its something I should sit on and wait until a dealer gets that car, or grab it while I can no matter where its from, and just have them get it safe and drivable.

- How mechanically inclined are you? Can you handle repairs on your own?
- How far are you from the nearest delorean dealer?

If you come across a car that is being sold privately for a good price and you can handle some of the repairs on your own (no matter how small), then go for it and don't wait. Engine work, brakes, suspensions, etc can always be worked on by any competent mechanic.

[jimgravina]

Yeah, I definitely have enough capabilities to do alot myself. Im not in the position to drop the engine out for example, but in all the smaller repair videos I have seen, I feel confident I can do alot of work myself. If I did get a private sale I would send it over to DMC to definitely do the euro spec suspension, redo the fuel system, and possibly throw on their stage 1 exhaust. And as long as its safe and running, I am prepared to handle any future repairs or upgrades myself short of hoisting out my engine or taking the body off of the frame.

[MrChocky]

I have been lucky enough in the past month or so to meet and engage with a few local Delorean owners that have been a huge help in getting me started in this process. It's nice to have a community that is so helpful, especially to "outsiders" who don't hae a car yet. I'm mainly interested in a black interior automatic with a grooved (no gas flap) hood. All of the other little differences I can work around. But per my original post, i was just trying to see if its something I should sit on and wait until a dealer gets that car, or grab it while I can no matter where its from, and just have them get it safe and drivable.

As it happens, that's exactly the car I'm restoring now. But realistically, it's going to be months yet until it's ready and likely you'll find a car well before then, but you never know.

[jimgravina]

As it happens, that's exactly the car I'm restoring now. But realistically, it's going to be months yet until it's ready and likely you'll find a car well before then, but you never know.

Keep me in mind, i'm not too far from you in Virginia