Driving a low mileage car more frequently - your experience?

[AgentDL]

When I first bought my DMC two months ago, it had 12,800 miles on it – average < 400 miles per year for over thirty years. I've driven it 500+ miles in like 4 weeks. I have had an issue with the parking brake cable, my fuel pump died and had to be replaced, and now I'm having issues again with the fuel pump not operating properly and am in the middle of diagnosing the exact problem. In the 9 weeks I've owned the car, it's been operable for barely half that time.

Even though I bought a very well-restored car in great condition, I imagine that now that it’s being driven much more frequently than ever, things are going to go wrong more frequently. My hope is that once I've addressed all of the things that crap out over the next few thousand miles of frequent driving, all of the major kinks will be worked out and it will run much more smoothly over the long term.

Wishful thinking? Or somewhat realistic expectation?

[Jonathan]

My hope is that once I've addressed all of the things that crap out over the next few thousand miles of frequent driving, all of the major kinks will be worked out and it will run much more smoothly over the long term.


Wishful thinking?

No.


Or somewhat realistic expectation?

Yes.

This has been my experience in seven years of owning the car. Once you get all the neglected things sorted out, it will become as reliable as most other cars. You will still have things break at times, but not at the rate you see them failing right now. Some sort of variation on the bathtub curve where a car that sat goes back to it's right off the line-prone to problems phase.

Once you get it "back" to good condition and you are driving it regularly, it will continue to be reliable if you continue with maintenance. Not the break-fix stuff you might be doing now, but the preventative jobs to keep it from breaking. Best way to keep it in good shape is to keep exercising it. Just like your pet dog and just like you!! :)

[AgentDL]

Yes.

This has been my experience in seven years of owning the car. Once you get all the neglected things sorted out, it will become as reliable as most other cars. You will still have things break at times, but not at the rate you see them failing right now. Some sort of variation on the bathtub curve where a car that sat goes back to it's right off the line-prone to problems phase.

Once you get it "back" to good condition and you are driving it regularly, it will continue to be reliable if you continue with maintenance. Not the break-fix stuff you might be doing now, but the preventative jobs to keep it from breaking. Best way to keep it in good shape is to keep exercising it. Just like your pet dog and just like you!! :)
Exactly what I was hoping to hear. Thanks for the feedback! :cheers:

[David T]

Exactly what I was hoping to hear. Thanks for the feedback! :cheers:

It is like it's age is catching up. Yes, you will have a lot of things happening and yes, eventually, if you diligently keep up with things as they fail, you will end up with a reliable car. The problem is along the way too many people get frustrated at having all of these things happening and the constant threat of more trouble so they give up. Especially if they are not handy and can do at least the minor things themselves. If you have to travel and pay to have everything done it can quickly overwhelm an owner.

[Jonathan]

David is right about the "eventually" part and the possibility that an owner gives up before getting to that reliable stage of the car. These cars need a lot of time and resilience on the part of the owner. That can be very difficult sometimes when life gets in the way.

Best thing I can recommend to give yourself the greatest chance of getting to that proverbial finish line is to find a way that you can genuinely enjoy the car without it needing to be strictly while you're behind the steering wheel.

That might sound ridiculous, because we're talking about a car and not a piece of art hanging on your living room wall, and if you can't drive it, then what's the point? There will be times when you won't be driving it for whatever reason, so you'll want to have ways of enjoying being part of this DeLorean owners group and keep that enthusiasm fire going until you are behind the wheel.

That might be the forums, reading the history on the car and company, talking to other owners or going to tech days or club events, or just chatting about the car with your friends or family. All kinds of things. The key is to not base whether you're going to enjoy being a long term DMC owner on how many miles you put on the car.

You only have to look as far as the annual mileage poll thread to see that if all of us only based our enjoyment on how far we've driven the car, there would not be very many people keeping these cars for very long.

Oh, and one other thing. Have this kind of thinking ready to go when you will undoubtedly be hit with the "isn't that thing done yet?" questions from family at holiday get togethers or coworkers who you kept telling about the car and wonder where it is, or even other DMC owners who might start to think you don't even actually own one. You need to have a solid understanding of why you own the car in your own mind before you'll be able to laugh off these questions from those around you. Easier said than done sometimes.

[mluder]

This was my experience too...

My car had just over 8000 miles on it when I bought it and had just come from a minor restoration to make it derivable again after a long storage - brakes, fuel system, etc.
Then I got the car and started driving pretty regularly and things started failing regularly. Antenna stopped working, driver side exterior door handle broke, speedo stopped working because the angle drive gave out... you get the idea. My theory - all of the things that would normally have failed and been replaced through 30 years of ownership all started going with regular use.

An old car is a labor of love so don't feel too bad about it and take comfort in the fact that at least you'll get to know the car a little better.

[Rich]

Even though I bought a very well-restored car in great condition, I imagine that now that it’s being driven much more frequently than ever, things are going to go wrong more frequently. My hope is that once I've addressed all of the things that crap out over the next few thousand miles of frequent driving, all of the major kinks will be worked out and it will run much more smoothly over the long term.

The part in bold here tells us what you thought you bought. Your car wasn't in great condition. The parking brake cable and the fuel pump/system aren't supposed to last >30 years without a fix.

As you now realize, you are in the process of catching up on what the PO's of this car neglected. Or what somehow hadn't gone south already on the car.

Even if a pro had gone over the car it's unlikely a soon-to-die fuel system component or a parking brake goof would have been caught. If this is all that's gone wrong consider yourself lucky and properly inducted into DeLorean ownership. Depending on how the car was stored and looked after you might expect more hiccups in places, especially around wiring/connections. Fuses, connectors, grounds, relays. You can do preventive work to increase your peace of mind - you sound a little worried about breakdowns - or wait til they show up. Just hope your PO didn't go and get creative with the wiring.

And hang in there on the fuel system. The Bosch hardware and the electrics are all sortable and the car will run fine when the sorting is done.

[Jedidentist]

Hey, at least you're in SE Florida...you've got DMCF not far away. I'd be a lot less worried if that was my case. My car is sitting there with 6900 miles right now, and in great shape, but I'm still balancing the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" vs. "get every possible little thing replaced while I can" mentality.

[chris williams]

This exactly the thing I tell all prospective buyers in the UK who purchase cars, things will/do break. More so for the UK/Europe buyers who are buying cars from the US where they may have been sat for a while. The jump from being idle to having loads of miles put on in a year does cause lots of little issues. Usually nothing major (angle drives, otterstats) some times fuel related as well. It just seems to be part and parcel of buying a DeLorean.
Chris

[cdrusn]

Ideally you could repair items before they end up ruining your trip or your weekend. But that won't happen. However, if you go through the forum you will find plenty of experienced information and a lot of repair suggestions that just weren't available in past years. If when you are driving your car you are also carefully listening for potential problems it will pay off. Usually needed repairs will show themselves in a noise, a temperature reading, stiff hoses, overdue changes of belts/radiator cap/flushing of coolant/oil changes/brake inspections/tire pressures/etc. You need to give it more attention than just gas and go. I finally got mine reliable after fixing the last problem, a sticking right rear parking brake. That was after several thousands in upgrades, repairs and maintenance. You're going to love that car!

[kings1527]

My goal when I got my car was to have it look as original as possible yet update as much mechanically/internally as I could so it would be a reliable driver, no matter the distance I wanted to take it. I've definitely accomplished that and to echo what so many have said, the car is MEANT to be driven. If you don't drive it, the car tends to get weird with you. Drive the car as much as you possibly can. A functional K-Jet system with the B28 engine equals a very reliable car. Finicky? Yes, if it's not dialed in. Lack in performance? Sure. We're talking about a car that was designed in the late 70's. But I've had my car in order for about the last year and haven't had a hint of trouble with cold starts, hot starts, idle or idle seeking, nothing. When you get it back in fighting shape, it'll run just like anything else.

Some of the most modern and useful updates (fan sequencer, fuel pump/sender combo, Dave's solid state RPM relay, just to name a few but maybe the most critical) are readily available and easy to handle by yourself in the garage. I had pretty limited mechanical knowledge when it came to working on cars but my know-how has skyrocketed in a pretty short period of time with a lot of help from this forum.

The car is very straightforward and easy to work on. But I'm very big on preventative maintenance. If I'm working on my car and have it in pieces, I'm always looking to replace that ever prevalent "while you're in there" part so I don't have to do it later and save myself the labor. Working on the AC and replacing all of your seals on original hoses? Might as well tear out the 33 year old hoses and replace them with something new and modern so you won't have to worry and do the job again in the near future. Original fuel pump ensemble? Get it out of there and go with the new combo unit. Tackling all of these major things will turn your car into an extremely reliable daily driver. In fact, I think the majority of people here wouldn't hesitate to take their car on a 500 mile drive at the drop of a hat. The only downside to that drive is the 13.2 gallon tank.