Looking for veteran advice

[rickjames8]

Hello,

I went to see a Delorean for sale tonight and think I may have found a car I'd want to purchase. I have some reservations about some things I noticed during my inspection. I'd like to ask someone who more experience valuing Deloreans than me (that's everyone here). If you'd be willing to help me out with some advice, please PM me. I'd rather not post about it publicly just yet, as I do think it could be a deal that I'd like to try to buy without having to compete with other interested buyers. :)

Thanks,
-Rick

[cdrusn]

Since you don't list your location how is anyone else going to even know where to look to steal this deal from you? I think you will get some good advice if you just ask from all of us. :race:

[rickjames8]

Sorry about that - I just updated my profile. I know of one other person lurking in the 'for sale' section looking for pretty much the same car as me, so I'll be slightly secretive for the time being. :) The car is not hard to find - my secret sauce is knowing how much the seller will take for it.

[rickjames8]

So after thinking about it some more, and finding out some new info, I think I will pass on this car for now.

So here are the details. It's this car:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/272437247918?ul_noapp=true

The owner told me it had 4777 miles. Which I know is not a good thing, at least for what I want it for, which is to drive it. The current owner bought the car 4 years ago. He found it for sale 3 hours away, and told that seller if it was able to drive to his house under it's own power, he'd buy it. He's got a serious car addiction, and this is just part of his collection. When I was given his address to map, I also found a listing that his house is for sale so his story of downsizing checks out.

What doesn't check out is the mileage. I did a carfax (the free one which just tells you mileage) and it looks like it clicked over around 1996. Which is not all that bad. I prefer a car that's been driven. However, the odometer read 4772 in 2001, and reads 4773 in 2016. So there's been a broken odometer for some time.

The battery was dead when I arrived. We hooked the car to a portable jumper and it fired right up. We ran it for 3 minutes, drove it forward a few feet and back a few feet. The seller lived down dark twisty roads and I passed 4 deer on my way out and didn't want to drive the car in those conditions. I tried to restart it moments later as I didn't check if the windows worked - and this time the car would not start, even with the jumper attached. I'll chalk this up to electrical gremlins, which are to be expected, or a dead charger.

Now, what worries me is that the front fascia is not flush with the body, the front fender seems mis-aligned with regards to the driver door, and the door is not quite lined straight with the rear quarter panel (see photos). Normally, this would make me think there was a light impact on the driver front. But maybe this is par for the course for 30 year old Deloreans?

The frame looked good to my untrained eye. The underside of the car was amazingly clean and had very little rust anywhere. Certainly looked like a car that was stored in a climate controlled garage for most of it's life.

The interior was quite nice. 2 long cracks in the dash, but the binnacle, headliner, seats, glovebox were all nice.

The heater seemed to turn on, but not a lot of force coming from the vents.

Some wear on the weatherstripping, which also seemed like it should be par for the age.

The doors went up fine, but I think it could use new struts.

There is a small dent on the lower drivers side quarter panel (not easily seen) and a small dent on the passenger door top.

The front facsia has the typical eyebrows.

The engine looked good to my untrained eye. Accessory belts looked ok. There was some oil on the underside of the engine and trans, but no drips. Then again the car had just been moved, and I have no idea where it's previous spot was.

The owner said he'd take $18k to stop the auction. I told him I would need to think about it before buying. As I was leaving, he said "If you don't like the price, feel free to make an offer". I'm confident that $17k could buy it tomorrow. Which to me seems like a good deal. Other $22k cars I've seen seem to be in similar condition, but have been driven more recently. I wasn't attracted to the low mileage, but now that's irrelevant. However, I wonder if the $5k difference between this and a $22k car that's been run more recently is enough to make up for the things that might pop up with a car that may have sat for most of it's recent life? Considering that I plan to do 95% of work myself.

There are also a lot of upgrades I see done to the $22k drivers that I would want to do (upgrade fuse panel, SS clutch line, R134 conversion, upgrade alternator, etc). I'm wondering if it'd be better to wait for a $22 - $25k car that had these upgrades done? The R134 upgrade for instance I think requires someone licenced to do that work.

The car is an auto, and I wanted a 5 speed. However, if it's a good deal, I'd rather not pass it up waiting for the right transmission.

In my mind I just thought that a running and complete car would be worth $17k. But with the misrepresented mileage, I now wonder what else could be lurking. Any thoughts?

Photos: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx...0xLSnlZM3Bpdmc

[rickjames8]

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0Bxba0p9ECFKhU0xLSnlZM3Bpdmc

[David T]

From what pictures are available the car looks pretty clean cosmetically. Because of the low mileage you can figure the car is going to need a lot to get it into a reliable driver. $17-18K is a fair price considering you will be putting in around $10K. I do not see any deal-stoppers but of course I did not see the car in person.